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I'm planning on buying a Sparkfun Thing and the customer support recommended that I buy a FTDI breakout with it.

I found this one, but I'm not sure it will connect with the Thing and when I asked them, they told me it hasn't been tested. Could you tell me if, hardware related, it would work?

Also, I was wondering what was the purpose of that FTDI breakout? The Thing already has a USB port to connect, so why would I need the other one?

Thank you for your help!

anonymous2
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Cyril N.
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1 Answers1

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Yes, the SparkFun FT231X breakout board will work. In fact, more or less any USB to Serial/UART converter with 3.3V levels will work.

The SparkFun ESP8266 Thing requires an additional USB board because the USB port on the board is only used for power supply (as an alternative to the LiPo connector). It is not used for data transfer. See the schematic and in particular the USB port in the top left corner: the USB data lines D+ and D- are not connected.

For that reason, you might be better off with another ESP8266 board that has a USB port capable to program the MCU.

Codo
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