ESP-12F(ESP8266MOD)

ESP-12F(ESP8266MOD) is the Ai-Thinker ESP-12F Wi-Fi module built around the Espressif ESP8266EX - the module-level order code for designs that do not want to lay out a radio. In a 24 x 16 x 3 mm surface-mount footprint it carries the 2.4 GHz radio (2412 MHz to 2484 MHz) with an on-board PCB antenna; per the current Ai-Thinker specification, transmit power is 16 dBm ±2 dB for 802.11b at 11 Mbps, 14 dBm ±2 dB for 802.11g at 54 Mbps and 13 dBm ±2 dB for 802.11n HT20 at MCS7, receive sensitivity is -85 dBm (802.11b, 11 Mbps), -70 dBm (802.11g, 54 Mbps) and -67 dBm (802.11n HT20, MCS7), and continuous-transmit current averages about 71 mA with 500 mA peaks. The selection point is integration: RF matching and the antenna are finished at the module factory, so a host controller gains Wi-Fi with the module as a single placed part, a pattern used across smart plugs, lighting controllers and sensor nodes. Selection advice: this page covers the Ai-Thinker module, not the bare ESP8266EX chip (also listed) - choose the module when antenna design and RF approval effort matter more than the last increment of unit cost, and confirm the exact ESP-12F(ESP8266MOD) marking when ordering, since the ESP-12 family also contains variants with different antenna layouts. Parameters verified against the Ai-Thinker ESP-12F Specification (2022-08-07), Table 1.1.