Easily create home automation scenarios and sensor networks

Updated 2026:

RF24Ethernet now supports the lwIP stack!

Faster devices (>50mHz) will automatically use the lwIP stack instead of the uIP stack, providing a better, faster and more reliable way to connect.

To define manually, define USE_LWIP 1 or edit the RF24Ethernet.h file and add define USE_LWIP 1

RF24Ethernet requires the RF24, RF24Network and RF24Mesh libraries

Documentation & Setup Info: http://nRF24.github.io/RF24Ethernet

Downloads: http://tmrh20.github.io/

Note: Recent changes to support NRF5x boards prevent usage of RF24 devices with NRF5x boards. Users must use the internal radio with RF24Ethernet. See the nrf_to_nrf Arduino library.

RF24 communication stack general usage

graph TD
    subgraph "Sensor Nodes (Arduino/ESP32)"
        S1[Sensor 1<br/>10.1.2.2] --- R1[RF24 or RF52 Radio 1]
        S2[Sensor 2<br/>10.1.2.3] --- R2[RF24 or RF52 Radio 2]
        S3[Sensor 3<br/>10.1.2.4] --- R3[RF24 or RF52 Radio 3]
    end
 
    subgraph "Wireless Mesh"
        R1 -.-> M[Mesh Relay / Router]
        R2 -.-> M
        R3 -.-> M
        M -.-> RF24_or_RF52_Radio[Data In/Out]
    end
 
    subgraph "Gateway (Raspberry Pi)"
        RF24_or_RF52_Radio --- RFG[RF24Gateway]
        RFG --- TUN[TUN/TAP Interface]
        TUN --- LNX[Linux Routing]
    end
 
    LNX === Internet[Local LAN / Internet]

RF24 communication stack vs. OSI Model Mapping

This table illustrates how the RF24 ecosystem aligns with the standard OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) model, highlighting the role of RF24Ethernet as the primary bridge to standard internet protocols.

OSI Layer	RF24 Component	C++ Header	Primary Function	Real-World Equivalent
7. Application	User Sketch / RF24Mesh	RF24Mesh.h	Data generation & node ID management	HTTP, MQTT, DHCP
6. Presentation	nrf_to_nrf (CCM)	nrf_to_nrf.h	Hardware AES-CCM Encryption/Auth	TLS, AES-GCM, IPsec
5. Session	RF24Ethernet (lwIP / uIP)	RF24Ethernet.h	Socket state & connection management	BSD Sockets, NetBIOS
4. Transport	RF24Ethernet (lwIP / uIP)	lwip/tcp.h or uip.h	TCP/UDP transport & flow control	TCP, UDP
3. Network	RF24Network	RF24Network.h	Octal routing & IP-over-RF24 encapsulation	IPv4, IPv6, ICMP
2. Data Link	nrf_to_nrf / RF24 Core	RF24.h or nrf_to_nrf.h	MAC (Pipes), Auto-ACK, & Framing	Ethernet (MAC), 802.11
1. Physical	nRF24L01+ / nRF52	SPI Hardware	2.4GHz GFSK Radio Frequency	Fiber, Copper, WiFi PHY

Key Implementation Details

Secure Lower Layers: When using nrf_to_nrf, the stack can utilize the nRF52 hardware CCM module to provide Authenticated Encryption (AES-CCM). This ensures data privacy (Layer 6) and packet integrity (Layer 2) with near-zero CPU overhead.
The IP Bridge: RF24Ethernet acts as the "Network Interface Card" (NIC) driver, allowing standard IP stacks (uIP for memory-constrained AVR or lwIP for high-performance ARM/ESP32) to run over the radio mesh.
Modernization: nrf_to_nrf serves as a modernized, high-efficiency replacement for the legacy RF24 core library, specifically optimized for integrated nRF52 radio hardware.

## Licenses

IF USING the lwIP STACK:

RF24Ethernet.h, RF24Ethernet.cpp, RF24Server.h, RF24Server.cpp, RF24Client.h, RF24Client.cpp, RF24Udp.h, RF24Udp.cpp

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program. If not, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.

IF USING THE uIP STACK:

Licenses include, but are not limited to the following.

RF24Ethernet.h, RF24Ethernet.cpp, RF24Server.h, RF24Server.cpp, RF24Client.h, RF24Client.cpp, RF24Udp.h, RF24Udp.cpp, utility/mempool.h, utility/mempool.cpp

Copyright (c) 2014 tmrh2.nosp@m.0@gm.nosp@m.ail.c.nosp@m.om, github.com/TMRh20 Copyright (c) 2013 Norbert Truchsess norbe.nosp@m.rt.t.nosp@m.ruchs.nosp@m.ess@.nosp@m.t-onl.nosp@m.ine..nosp@m.de All rights reserved.

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program. If not, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.

utility/uip.c, utility/uip_arp.h, utility/uip_arp.c, utility/uip_arch.h, utility/uip.h, utility/uipopt.h

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
Neither the name of the Institute nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE INSTITUTE AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE INSTITUTE OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

uip-conf.h, utility/uip-neighbor.h, utility/uip-neighbor.c, utility/uip_timer.h, utility/uip_timer.c, utility/uip_clock.h

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
Neither the name of the Institute nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE INSTITUTE AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE INSTITUTE OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

Dhcp.h, Dhcp.cpp

DHCP Library v0.3 - April 25, 2009 Author: Jordan Terrell - blog.jordanterrell.com

as included in Arduinos stock Ethernet-library, no special licence mentioned here

Dns.h, Dns.cpp

clock-arch.h, clock-arch.c

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA