Turning a $5 Microcontroller Into a Network Monitoring API
In Part 1, we took an ESP32-C3 SuperMini and an SSD1306 OLED display to create a standalone network gauge that collects Wi-Fi parameters and checks WAN reachability. While having a tiny screen on your desk is convenient, an isolated gadget is only half the story.
The real power of an IoT device unlocks when its telemetry is liberated from the breadboard.
By turning the ESP32-C3 into an ultra-lightweight REST microservice, any browser, terminal, or full-stack dashboard on the local area network can query its status in real time. However, moving from an offline microcontroller to an HTTP server introduces modern networking challenges: defining structured JSON schemas within memory constraints, overcoming browser security barriers like Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS), and navigating the quirks of zero-configuration local service discovery (mDNS).
1. Designing an Embedded REST Endpoint
The goal is simple: whenever an HTTP client sends a GET request to /api/status, the...
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