Initialization and Connection

Inkplate 6COLOR uses ESP32 to handle WiFi connections. This page demonstrates how to connect your Inkplate board to an existing WiFi network.

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WiFi connection example

from inkplate6_color import Inkplate
import network
import time

# WiFi credentials
SSID = "YOUR_SSID_HERE"
PASSWORD = "YOUR_PASSWORD_HERE"

inkplate = Inkplate()

inkplate.begin()

# Connect to a WiFi network using given SSID and PASSWORD.
sta_if = network.WLAN(network.STA_IF)

connected = False

if not sta_if.isconnected():
    inkplate.println("Connecting to network...")
    sta_if.active(True)
    try:
        sta_if.connect(SSID, PASSWORD)
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Wi-Fi connect error: {e}\n")
        print("Check your credentials!")
    else:
        timeout = 30  # seconds
        start = time.ticks_ms()

        while not sta_if.isconnected():
            if time.ticks_diff(time.ticks_ms(), start) > timeout * 1000:
                print("Failed to connect within timeout")
                break
            time.sleep(0.5)
        else:
            connected = True
else:
    connected = True

if connected:
    inkplate.print(f"CONNECTED: \n{sta_if.ifconfig()}")
    
inkplate.display()

network.WLAN()

Create a WLAN network interface object and connect to WiFi access point

Function parameters:

Type	Name	Description
int	interface_id	Set to network.STA_IF to connect to an access point, or network.AP_IF to let other WiFi clients connect to the Inkplate

WLAN.active()

Activates or deactivates the network interface. Called with no argument, it returns the current state instead.

Returns value: Returns current state if no argument is provided

Function parameters:

Type	Name	Description
bool	is_active	Activate/Deactivate network interface if arguments is passed

WLAN.connect()

Connect to the specified wireless network, using the specified key (only works in STA interface)

Function parameters:

Type	Name	Description
string	ssid	Network SSID
string	key	Network password

WLAN.isconnected()

Check the connection status

Returns type: bool

Returns value: Returns True if connected to a WiFi access point and has a valid IP address. In AP mode returns True when a station is connected, otherwise False

WLAN.ifconfig()

Get/Set network interface parameters: IP address, subnet mask, gateway and DNS server

Returns type: Tuple

Returns value: When called with no arguments, returns a 4-tuple with the above information

Function parameters:

Type	Name	Description
Tuple	(ip, subnet, gateway, dns)	Network parameters

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Full example

example_network.py

Example showing how to connect to WiFi and get data from the internet.