Teensy 4.x + ESP32-C5 Stacks Support 5GHz Wi-Fi Operation
This Teensy 4.x + ESP32-C5 stack is the same as the C6 stack with 2 major differences.
First, the ESP32-C5 adds 5GHz W-Fi operation in addition to the standard 2.4GHz operation that is available on the C6. The C5 is the only ESP32 model to support 5GHz operation.
The other major difference is that the C5 ‘requires’ the use of an external antenna. It ships with a 3″ wire antenna, but that can be replaced with a larger mounted antenna if desired.
These C5 stacks come in the same available configurations as the C6
- Teensy 4.0 + ESP32-C5 stack
- Teensy 4.1NE + ESP32-C5 Stack
- Teensy 4.1NE includes 8MB PSRAM / 16MB Flash upgrade
- Teensy 4.1NE includes 16MB PSRAM upgrade
- Teensy 4.1NE includes 32MB PSRAM upgrade
- Teensy 4.1NE includes 8MB PSRAM / 256MB (2Gbit) Flash upgrade
- Teensy 4.1NE includes 16MB PSRAM / 256MB (2Gbit) Flash upgrade
This setup uses the Seeed Studio XAIO ESP32-C5 module. It was chosen for a few reasons:
- Very small 14-pin footprint
- Good Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth capability + 5GHz Wi-Fi operation
- Built-in support for Zigbee and Thread for home automation applications
- Overall excellent build quality and manufacturer documentation
- Compared to the C6, it has a faster 240MHz clock and larger 8MB of Flash and 8MB of PSRAM but smaller SRAM
- Compared to the C6, it requires an external antenna which can be a negative. The C6 can switch between an internal or external antenna
- None of the edge pins have boot functionality that could cause issues with the Teensy pins at boot time.
- Seeed XAIO ESP32-C5 Wiki
All pins are connected between the Teensy and ESP32 except for the 3.3V and the Teensy GND / D1 pin on the ESP32.
As with the C6 version, the ESP32 Serial1 pins are remapped in software to line up with the Teensy Serial5 pins to establish a high-speed serial link. 4Mbps has been tested and found to be very reliable. Theoretical maximum should be 5Mbps based on the ESP32 spec.
Note that the ESP32 Serial1 pins can just as easily be remapped to line up with Teensy Serial1 if you want to use the Teensy pins 20 & 21 (Serial5) for other purposes.
If you don’t care about 5GHz, the C6 is generally the best choice. If you want 5GHz or you need the faster speed or larger memory and don’t mind the antenna, then the C5 might be the better choice for you.
There is a thread on the PJRC Teensy forum regarding these ESP32 stacks: https://forum.pjrc.com/index.php?threads/teensy-4-x-esp32-stack.78071/
Click the link to go to the Teensy 4.x / ESP32-C5 stack page: https://protosupplies.com/product/teensy4-esp32c5-stacks/
