ESP32 AP operation, uses data on another network

[davefes]

Probably just the lack of knowledge on how an AP works. I have an ESP32 running as an AP server on 192.168.4.1 and notice that data is being used on a router, which is on another network (192.168.8.1).

Do APs search around for other networks and do something that consumes small amounts of data (10-20KB) every couple of minutes? I can get 4 hours gaps where no data is used, which is random.

When I want to send a file from the AP I change to STA-mode, send the file and switch back to AP-mode. This might happen once a day.

Any clues as to what I need to read-up on?

[davefes]

Using LinSSID I thought I would confirm what channel the ESP32 AP was on. LinSSID says channel 1 but it is about 3 times the bandwidth of the router.

I tried changing the channel on the AP to 6 but nothing happens, even after a power-on-reset. So, I thought I'd move the router to channel 8 and see if that fixes the problem.

Looking in esp32/network_lan.c I don't see any esp_wifi_set_bandwidth so guess it is not possible to change it. Also, read comments that the default is 40MHz so seeing 60MHz is unexpected.

Maybe, the AP channel can be changed to 11 ... but that then possibly interferes with my other modem.

Am I out-of-luck?

[davefes]

I see that there have been issues raised for related problems.