Building IoT hardware under the assumption that Wi-Fi in Nigeria…
By Abel Bajeh ·
Building IoT hardware under the assumption that Wi-Fi in Nigeria is stable is a great way to guarantee your project fails.
Here is how I tackled that problem:
I just finished building an asset manager for the library and engineering labs. Because sudden network drops are our daily reality, the goal was simple: automate checking out books and keep tabs on lab gear, completely independent of the school network.
Here is how it actually went down:
The Tracker (ESP32 + GPS + SIM800L) Getting the GPS to lock was easy, but the cellular module was a bit of a challenge.
The 2G Hunt: I had to learn the basics of AT commands and figure out which network providers still actively keep their old 2G infrastructure alive around here.
The Power Issue: The SIM800L pulls about 2A when transmitting. Using thin jumper wires on a breadboard caused the voltage to drop significantly, sending the ESP32 into a constant boot loop. I had to swap to thicker wires, slap 2000µF capacitors across VCC/GND, and solder the traces directly to make it stable.
The HTTPS Problem: Firebase requires SSL encryption, which this legacy 2G chip can't handle. I had to write a quick Flask proxy on PythonAnywhere to act as a bridge.
The Library Kiosk (ESP32 + RFID) This part was straightforward. It scans tags to handle book checkouts. To keep the host laptop's Wi-Fi free for other tasks, I configured it to talk to the Python desktop UI over BLE instead of the local network.
Going from a mess of wires on my desk to a working system that handles hardware, cloud routing, and desktop apps was a massive headache.
But beyond figuring out the local infrastructure workarounds, the real lesson here was time management. Juggling this build while simultaneously developing the firmware and local AI pipelines for my main final-year project (a stationary Mechatronic Tutor with Edge AI capabilities) forced me to ruthlessly prioritize my schedule. It taught me that real engineering isn't just about writing code or soldering components—it's about managing multiple complex systems at once without burning out.
#EmbeddedSystems #IoT #Python #ESP32 #HardwareDev #NigeriaTech #TimeManagement