I have 13 ESP32-C3 devices in a room sending messages at a rate of up to 10 messages per device per second. All the devices are within wifi range of each other, and all the messages are sent as single-packet ESP-NOW transmissions. Each message is sent on the same wifi channel, and all messages are broadcast to everyone. There are no other wifi devices in the vicinity.
It seems, though I have not confirmed, that a significant fraction of ESPNOW messages are being dropped (20%?). How likely is it that I would see significant packet drop on the ESPNOW protocol at ~130 messages per second?
Is it more likely to be a transmission queuing problem on the sending side, or a receive queuing problem on the receiving side, or interference between simultaneous transmissions?
(I am coding in C using ESP-IDF 5.1. I am working with the ESP32-C3-DevKit2 board.)
ESPNOW messages being dropped
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Penguin_Helper
- Espressif staff

- Posts: 156
- Joined: Tue Jul 11, 2023 6:55 am
Re: ESPNOW messages being dropped
Hi, the most likely cause of your packet loss is the degree of channel congestion. You may consider assigning different channels to your devices.
We tested the round-trip delay time and packet loss rate during the testing of both unicast and broadcast packet transmission by the subdevices. You can use this result as a reference.
We tested the round-trip delay time and packet loss rate during the testing of both unicast and broadcast packet transmission by the subdevices. You can use this result as a reference.
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bhuvanchandradv
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Wed Feb 19, 2025 4:53 am
Re: ESPNOW messages being dropped
Hello,
Sorry for hijacking the thread.
Based on our tests, the round-trip latency in the broadcast looks okay. However, in the pictures, I see an increase in round-trip latency as the range increases. I would like to know if there is any relationship between latency and range in ESP-NOW devices.
Sorry for hijacking the thread.
Based on our tests, the round-trip latency in the broadcast looks okay. However, in the pictures, I see an increase in round-trip latency as the range increases. I would like to know if there is any relationship between latency and range in ESP-NOW devices.
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