The website http://www.cnx-software.com shared very interesting news. The Alternative to very popular WiFi chip – ESP8266 (ESP-12, ESP-01 and another.) which is called RTL8710.
Generally, we can say that ESP8266 (and modifications of this) is the most popular WiFi chip ever, hence the ESP8266 has huge community support.
If you use the ESP8266 maybe you found limits of this component and so Espressif Systems released new WiFi chip – ESP8285. Website hackaday.com wrote that’s ESP8266 killer.
Nevertheless, check this very interesting WiFi chip – RTL8710 by Realtek company.
RTL8710 WiFi chip contains ARM Cortex-M3 core @ 166 MHz, bigger RAM up to 48 KB for user and audio support. You can find it for $5 on ebay.com.
Comparison of Realtek RTL7810 and Espressif ESP8266
| Realtek RTL8710 | Espressif ESP8266 | |
| Package | QFN-48 (6×6 mm) | QFN-32 (5×5 mm) |
| CPU | ARM Cortex M3 @ 166 MHz | Tensilica LX106 @ 80 / 160 MHz |
| RAM | 48KB available to user | 36KB available to user |
| Flash | 1MB Built-in | 1, 2, 4, 8 or 16 MB |
| WiFi | 802.11n up to 150 Mbps, 802.11g up to 54 Mbps | 802.11n up to 65 Mbps, 802.11g up to 54 Mbps |
| GPIO | Up to 21 | Up to 17 |
| I2C | Up to 3 | Up to 1 |
| PCM | Up to 2 | None |
| PWM | Up to 4 | |
| UART | 2x high-speed UART, 1x low-speed UART | Up to 2x UART |
| Power | Voltage: 3.0 to 3.6V; Current: 80 mA | |
| Temperature range | -40 to 125 ?C | |
| Standard certifications | FCC/CE/TELEC/SRRC/ WiFi Alliance | FCC/CE/TELEC/SRRC |
As you can see, RTL7810 offers more possibilities than ESP8266, but the price is higher of course.
Download SDK (documentations, example codes etc.) https://www.rtl8710forum.com/viewtopic.php?t=9
