Esp-mdf vs esp-wifi-mesh vs esp-mesh-lite vs esp-now vs thread etc. not being able to decide due to confusion

[yuemko]

Hello,
I want to build a mesh network with approximately 512 nodes. It should operate in non-router mode when there is no router, and connect to the router and access the internet when one is available. In both cases, the network should be able to self-heal. I believe ESP-WIFI-MESH can be used with the ESP-MDF framework, but this framework seems quite old. Is there any issue with using it? If you don't recommend it, would it make more sense to use ESP-NOW in SoftAP+STA mode or ESP-MESH-LITE directly? What would you suggest? I looked into OpenThread, but it requires certification, and it seems an additional device acting as a transceiver is also necessary. Is there really no other alternative? For now, ESP-WIFI-MESH seems like a good option. I'll be happy to work with you, but please clear up this confusion

[nopnop2002]

ESP-MDF is available here, but has not been maintained since 2021.

https://github.com/espressif/esp-mdf

ESP-WIFI-MESH is one of the functions of ESP-MDF.
ESP-MDF also includes Mwifi and Mespnow functions in addition to ESP-WIFI-MESH.

ESP-MDF is for ESP-IDF V4.3.1 and does not support ESP-IDF V5.
Naturally, ESP-MDF is not compatible with the ESP32C series.
ESP-Mesh-Lite is compatible with the master branch of ESP-IDF and is also compatible with the ESP32C series.

[laniakea]

I have implemented a project about roadlight， it's very similar to you.
I tried both mdf and mesh-lite, mdf is better.
chip: esp32c3 4MB
idf: esp-idf release/v4.4
cloud: aliyun IOT
node: test at most 100 nodes per topology.

for mdf, the number of nodes must can be more.
but as a iot gateway, case the esp32c3 has no enough ram to bridge the data, so it at most 100 nodes.

[martins]

ESP-MDF is available here, but has not been maintained since 2021.

https://github.com/espressif/esp-mdf

ESP-WIFI-MESH is one of the functions of ESP-MDF.
ESP-MDF also includes Mwifi and Mespnow functions in addition to ESP-WIFI-MESH.

ESP-MDF is for ESP-IDF V4.3.1 and does not support ESP-IDF V5.
Naturally, ESP-MDF is not compatible with the ESP32C series.
ESP-Mesh-Lite is compatible with the master branch of ESP-IDF and is also compatible with the ESP32C series.

I forked the MDF and made it somehow compatible with ESP-IDF v5: https://github.com/mmrein/esp-mdf. You can give it a try, but NO GUARANTEE. Should be compatible with ESP32, ESP32-S2, ESP32-C3 and ESP32-S3.

ESP-Mesh-Lite seems limited in number of connections significantly. It seemed as it should be replacement for MDF, but it is not, it is just different product for different use case.