Teyleten RobotMega2560 + WiFi R3 USB-TTL CH340G ATmega2560 ESP8266 Memory 32Mb

This thing seems like nothing but trouble. The WiFi features did not work out well for me. Other than a JPG product image, there's not much documentation. They give you some basic operation of the dip switches in the product images, but I have yet to find settings for the dip or com switches that will let me communicate with the Mega 2560's regular Serial header pins to an external device, so I have not yet even been able to use it as a regular Mega 2560 to communicate with an external ESP8266 module or anything else. So far, I can only access the com ports of the Mega 2560 module (TX/RX) through USB and internally to the built-in ESP8266 module. Another really BIG issue is that the USB port causes driver issues on every Windows PC and laptop I've tried it on. Unlike any other Arduino clones I've used in the past 5 years, I consistently have problems getting the USB drivers for this to load or stay working, and I am an IT professional with 20 years of experience fixing these exact issues. (Hint: Hard-code the USB-Serial port for this to use com 3 or 4 in Device Manager setting and make sure nothing else on your computer is using those com ports. You may need to reboot with the USB cable connected to get it to work.) The absolute worst issue that makes it pointless to buy is that the ESP8266 module is unstable. I've tried powering it with a separate power source using the correct voltage and mA, but it still performs very poorly and intermittently. I have not tested the Bluetooth module. Even using an external antenna and being 5 feet from the wireless access point, I can only get a few pings through to the same subnet, and the ones that do are often in the 400-500ms range. With another stand-alone ESP8266 module right next to it running the same firmware, I'm getting pings in 4-7ms with no dropped pings. What a waste of time and money! It looks like a nice idea that is really poorly executed. I would not recommend buying this until they figure out how to fix the ESP8266 WiFi module. As most "good" Mega 2560 boards don't usually have enough power through their 3.3v output pins to power most ESP8266 modules properly, especially if there is anything else on the Mega2560 drawing power, I'm wondering if it's just not an inherent design flaw. I don't think any major brands make a board like this (For example, this does not seem to be a clone of an actual Arduino product), and I've read reviews of other, similar Mega 2560 + ESP8266 boards having the exact same issue. Because of the small form factor, however, I would be happy if I could just figure out how to make the ESP8266 WiFi module work properly with the Mega 2560 components by powering it separately (see update below). I could also have a defective device, but the time I've spent on this already seems beyond the low cost of the unit and the trouble of returning it, and I knew it was a risk when I bought it, and that's on me. I was just hoping that it might work, but it didn't. Too bad! I use both the Mega 2560 and different types of ESP8266 boards, and this form factor would have been really convenient.Update: After setting the dip switches to use both modules independently (all set to OFF), powering the ESP8266 through its header pins and also connecting to the TX/RX pins using the same header pins in the middle of the board, and not powering the Mega2560 module, I was able to get the ESP8266 to perform much better, but depending on which WAP I connect to, I get different results. All WAPS I tested are running 2.4Ghz networks with WPA2, and I've never had an issue connecting, getting an IP address, etc, but the stability of the connection varies greatly depending on which AP I'm connected to. My newer WAP is very unstable with this unit. It will do OK for a moment, and then it will start getting very long ping times and quickly drop pings for a few seconds, minutes, or sometimes it never comes back. Older WAPS seem to work very well with this unit, but all WAPS and ESP8266 modules I've tested are configured the same (2.4Ghz, WPA2, etc). Again, other ESP8266 devices with the exact same firmware don't have this problem. The fact that I can get it to work well with older WAPs running the same configuration, and the fact that I have no issues connecting initially tells me that it's probably not a defective unit, but something about it is strange, and newer WAPs don't seem to like it. If it failed outright with one or more WAPs, that would make sense, but it connects to all of them with no issue, but the stability of the connection is the problem, depending on which WAP you're connected to. I also find it interesting that for a very long time there were no reviews of this product until mine, which sadly wasn't very good. However, within a day or so after my not-so-great review, a 5 star rating came in, but it doesn't look like they left a review. Two stars and five stars average out nicely to 3.5 stars. Just an observation. My advice is to find a good ESP8266 shield for your standard, stand-alone Mega 2560 board, if you want a small footprint.

Always having issues downloading programs with this board.... definitely going back to my trusted brands get free