RMII PHY or SPI Chip

RMII boards (original ESP32, P4) use the chip’s internal MAC with a LAN8720 or IP101 PHY: lowest CPU load, but about 9 GPIOs are taken and a 50 MHz clock is needed. SPI boards (W5500 on S3, C3, C6) need only an SPI bus plus a couple of pins, and the W5500 handles the TCP/IP offload itself if you want it to.

Power over Ethernet

PoE boards take power from an 802.3af PoE switch or injector, so you don’t need a power supply at the device. Good PoE modules are isolated; never connect USB and PoE to a board at the same time unless the manufacturer says it’s safe.

Programming Port

The WT32-ETH01 has no USB at all, so you need a USB-to-serial adapter to flash it. ESP32-S3 Ethernet boards have USB-C on board, which makes development and recovery much easier.

Memory and Extras

For web servers, MQTT bridges and ESPHome Bluetooth proxies, more RAM helps. Boards with 8 MB PSRAM, a TF card slot and a camera connector can grow into camera streamers and data loggers.

Industrial Features

For control panels, look for isolated inputs, relays, RS485 or CAN and a DIN-rail or enclosure option. These turn an Ethernet board into a proper building-automation or PLC-style controller.

This is our top pick bundled with its 802.3af PoE module, so the board takes both power and network from one cable. Plug it into a PoE switch or injector and mount it wherever the cable reaches: in a ceiling for a presence sensor, beside a door for an access panel, or on a pole for a camera. Everything else is the same as the board-only version, including 8 MB PSRAM, the W5500 Ethernet chip, the camera interface and TF card slot. It has about 4.4 stars from 25 ratings, with only 2 in stock when we checked.

If the Waveshare PoE bundle is out of stock, this listing from reseller UeeKKoo is the best-reviewed alternative (about 4.6 stars from 46 ratings) and has better availability. It’s an ESP32-S3R8 Ethernet board with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a PoE module, giving you network and power over one cable. The listing comes in four versions: board only, with an OV2640 camera, with PoE, or with both; this is the PoE version. Check the listing images to confirm the layout matches your enclosure or project plans.

Wi-Fi is the weak point of most ESP32 cameras, so a wired PoE camera is a big upgrade for doorbells, driveways and workshops. This version of the UeeKKoo board ships with both the PoE module and an OV2640 camera, giving you a single-cable camera that streams over Ethernet with the ESP32-S3’s extra processing power and 8 MB PSRAM. Pair it with the esp32-camera driver or ESPHome’s camera component. It has about 4.6 stars from 12 ratings, with 18 in stock.

Once you’ve flashed one WT32-ETH01, you’ll probably want more: one per room for an ESPHome Bluetooth proxy, a wired sensor hub in the garage, or a serial gateway for an old device. This 2-pack gives you two of the same modules as pick 2 at a lower per-board cost. Reviews are excellent but few (about 4.8 stars from 5 ratings), and 6 were in stock when we checked. Remember you’ll still need a USB-to-serial adapter to program them.

The ESP32-Ethernet-Kit is Espressif’s own Ethernet development board, sold by Espressif on Amazon, and it’s the hardware ESP-IDF’s Ethernet examples are written around. It uses an ESP32 module with 4 MB of flash and 8 MB of PSRAM, an RMII Ethernet PHY wired to the ESP32’s built-in MAC, and USB for programming and debugging. Espressif designed the kit around an optional PoE daughterboard, so check the listing images to see exactly what’s included. If you’re developing Ethernet firmware in ESP-IDF, or need a known-good reference to compare a custom board against, this is the one to have. Reviews are few but perfect (5 stars from 2 ratings), with 16 in stock.

For building automation, pumps, gates or a small PLC-style controller, Waveshare’s industrial 8-channel ESP32-S3 relay module is a ready-made answer (about 5 stars from 9 ratings). It combines an ESP32-S3 with eight relays, digital inputs, RS485 for Modbus devices and a PoE Ethernet port, all protected by power isolation and optocoupler isolation circuits. It can be controlled over Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or RS485, and Waveshare supports the Arduino IDE. A version with an isolated CAN interface (B0F93SYY5G) is also available. Safety note: if you switch mains loads, have the wiring done or checked by a qualified electrician.

Large LED installations, such as house outlines, holiday displays or shop signage, are exactly where Wi-Fi struggles and wired Ethernet shines. GLEDOPTO’s Elite WLED controller is an ESP32 box built for addressable LED strips (WS2811, WS2812, SK6812, WS2815) with a plug-and-play Ethernet port, a sound-reactive microphone, an energy-saving relay that cuts strip power when the lights are off, and a 20 A pluggable fuse. It runs WLED, so it integrates with Home Assistant and the WLED app straight away. It has about 4.4 stars from 76 ratings.

When a project needs serious processing on a wired network, such as a PoE touch panel, an H.264 camera recorder or a voice assistant, the ESP32-P4 is the chip to use. Like the original ESP32 it has a built-in Ethernet MAC, and this board pairs it with a 100 Mbps RJ45 port, a PoE module and headers for displays, cameras and speakers. The listing highlights AI speech demos that connect to online large-language-model platforms. Note that the P4 has no Wi-Fi of its own, so this board is wired-only. It has about 4.8 stars from 4 ratings, with 4 in stock. Our ESP32-P4 buying guide covers more P4 Ethernet and PoE options.

General wired projects?

The Waveshare ESP32-S3-ETH: USB-C, 8 MB PSRAM and free GPIOs.

Cheap ESPHome or Bluetooth proxy?

The WT32-ETH01, or the 2-pack for several rooms.

One cable for power and data?

The ESP32-S3-ETH + PoE, or the UeeKKoo S3 PoE board.

Wired camera?

The S3 PoE + OV2640 bundle, or the ESP32-P4 PoE board for H.264.

Relays, RS485 or Modbus?

The Waveshare 8-channel industrial relay with PoE Ethernet.

Big LED installation?

The GLEDOPTO Elite WLED controller with Ethernet.

Which ESP32 chips have built-in Ethernet?

The original ESP32 and the ESP32-P4 include an Ethernet MAC and connect to an external PHY over RMII. The ESP32-S2, S3, C3, C5, C6 and H2 have no Ethernet MAC, so boards built on them use an SPI Ethernet controller such as the W5500. ESP-IDF’s esp_eth driver supports both approaches.

How do I flash a WT32-ETH01?

Connect a 3.3 V USB-to-serial adapter to the TX0, RX0 and GND pins, power the board, and connect IO0 to GND before resetting to enter download mode. Upload your firmware, then disconnect IO0 from GND and reset. Our ESP32-CAM guide includes a reliable FTDI adapter that works well for this.

What do I need for PoE?

A PoE board or PoE module on the ESP32 side, and an IEEE 802.3af PoE source on the network side, either a PoE switch or a single-port PoE injector between your router and the device. Use a normal Cat5e or Cat6 cable. Don’t use passive 24 V or 48 V injectors with 802.3af modules unless the manufacturer says they’re compatible.

Do ESPHome and Arduino support ESP32 Ethernet?

Yes. ESPHome has an ethernet component that supports RMII PHYs such as the LAN8720 and SPI chips such as the W5500, and the Arduino-ESP32 3.x ETH library supports both too. In ESP-IDF, use the esp_eth component with the matching PHY or SPI driver.

Can I use Ethernet and Wi-Fi at the same time?

Yes, on boards that have both, such as the WT32-ETH01 and ESP32-S3-ETH. Common setups use Ethernet as the main link with Wi-Fi as a fallback, or run the ESP32 as a Wi-Fi access point bridged to the wired network. ESP-IDF lets you manage both network interfaces separately.