ESP32-C5 connect to wifi

[nirvine]

This is my first attempt at using an ESP32 device, and I am having trouble. I cannot connect a new EPS32-C5 to wifi.
I have flashed the device with espectre-2.6.0-esp32c5-ota.bin.
Options for adding wifi network:

1. BLE - Using ESPHome ##Builder/ in Home Assistant (desktop) how can I add the wifi network details without overwriting the entire thing?
2. USB - device is connect to the laptop. Using https://web.esphome.io/, I get the error message "An error occurred. Improv Wi-Fi Serial not detected"
3. Captive Portal - the page http://192.168.4.1 gives an error message: "This site can't be reached"

If i use the file "[espectre-c5.yaml]" (https://raw.githubusercontent.com/francescopace/espectre/main/examples/espectre-c5.yaml)
in ESPHome Builder i can see the device in Settings - Devices, but it only has one entity (disabled).

What am I doing wrong?

[francescopace]

Hello @nirvine, and welcome to ESPectre 🙂

You are very close, the main issue is likely the firmware file used for first flash.

For a new device, please flash the factory image (espectre-...-esp32c5.bin), not the OTA image (...-ota.bin).
The OTA binary is only for updates when ESPectre is already installed.

Also for ESP32-C5:

• improv_serial (USB provisioning via web.esphome.io) is not supported yet on C5, so Improv Wi-Fi Serial not detected is expected.
• Please provision Wi-Fi using either:
  1. BLE: ESPHome app / Home Assistant Companion app
  2. Fallback AP: connect you laptop to ESPectre Fallback wifi, then open http://192.168.4.1 (HTTP, not HTTPS).

Recommended recovery steps

1. Erase flash (full erase).
2. Flash espectre-2.6.0-esp32c5.bin (factory image).
3. Reboot and wait ~20-30s.
4. Configure Wi-Fi via BLE or fallback AP.
5. Check Home Assistant discovery again.

If it still does not connect, please share install method used abd I can help you step-by-step from there.

[nirvine]

That worked - thank you.
I have had to run through the setup a few times as I broke it when I was trying to add a second espectre device. Some instructions in the setup.md about how to add multiple devices would be helpful.

[francescopace]

Thanks @nirvine for the feedback.

At the moment, we already have a few related sections, but they may not be explicit enough for the “add a second device safely” flow:

• README.md → Single or Multiple Sensors
• SETUP.md → Dashboard Examples (including the “Multiple devices?” note about name_add_mac_suffix)
• SETUP.md → Network Impact / External Traffic Mode (multi-device traffic recommendations)

If you’re open to it, could you share what specific step was confusing or easy to break?
For example: naming, provisioning flow, Home Assistant entities, dashboard import, or something else.

Also, if you already tested a reliable step-by-step procedure and solved the issues, a PR would be super welcome — even a small documentation improvement helps a lot for new users. I’d be happy to review and help refine it.

[nirvine]

I do not (yet) have enough understanding to update the documentation, but I may be able to help when we we sort out the remaining concerns. And unfortunately, I have changed so many things that I cannot now document what happened in what order.

Attached is a screen shot of my ESP Home Builder panel in HA. espectre-2-829c84 is currently unplugged - I tuned it off so that I did not overwrite it but it is working just fine.

I have tried adding a second device. I flashed it using ESP Connect, then went to Home Assistant.
At first I had two entries for Espectre devices - espectre-2-829c84.yaml and espectre.yaml. Deleting the espectre.yaml entry deleted both yaml files, and I had to flash the device again.

After powering on only the second device, and clicking on the button for "Show discovered devices" I get 5 entries.
I have taken control of espctre-e31940.yaml.
I now have this:

So my concerns are:

1. Why do I have two entries in ESP Home Builder for each device?
2. At what stage do I edit the yaml files to uncomment the multiple devices line?
3. Can I edit the wifi settings to assign a static ip at the same time?
4. Can I edit the tuning parameters at the same time?
5. How do I edit the file to give the devices a consistent name across both ESP Home Builder and the entities created?

[francescopace]

Thanks a lot for the detailed report, this is super helpful.

No worries at all about not opening a PR yet. Your real-world feedback is already valuable, especially for first-time ESPHome users.

What you describe is consistent with a confusing UX in ESPHome Dashboard (not related to ESPectre) when adding multiple devices. A few clarifications:

1. Why two entries per device?
   Usually one is the local YAML config entry in ESPHome Dashboard, and another can appear in discovered devices / integrations flow.
   This can look like duplicates even when only one physical device is active.

2. When to enable name_add_mac_suffix?
   Best before finalizing the first install for that device.
   If enabled later, entity IDs can change, so dashboards/automations may need updates.

3. Can static IP be set at the same time as Wi-Fi setup?
   Yes. You can edit the YAML and add static IP (manual_ip) in the wifi: section before flashing (or reflash/update later).

4. Can tuning parameters be edited at the same time?
   Yes, absolutely. You can set tuning values in the same YAML before install/update.

5. How to keep names consistent between ESPHome and HA entities?
   The key fields are in esphome:

   • name: (used for entity IDs / host naming)
   • friendly_name: (display name in HA)
     For multi-device setups, using explicit per-room names (for example espectre_living_room, espectre_office) is often clearer than relying only on MAC suffixes.

Hope this helps