W5500 SPI Ethernet Network Module (Lite) with Hardware TCP/IP Stack

Specifications

• Core Network Chip: WIZnet W5500

• Network Protocols: Hardware TCP, UDP, IPv4, ICMP, ARP, IGMP, PPPoE

• Hardware Sockets: Supports 8 independent sockets simultaneously

• Host Interface: High-Speed SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface)

• Operating Voltage: 3.3V DC (IO pins are 5V tolerant)

• Clock Frequency: 25.000 MHz onboard crystal oscillator

• RJ45 Jack: HR961160C with integrated magnetics

• Dimensions: 26mm (W) x 25mm (D) x 13mm (H - RJ45 only)

Key Applications and Projects

• Industrial Sensor Gateways: Polling Modbus or I2C sensors in a factory environment and pushing the telemetry data to a local server without relying on spotty Wi-Fi.

• Arduino Web Servers: Upgrading an older Arduino Uno or Mega to host a local webpage that controls relays and reads sensors, using the hardware stack to prevent memory crashes.

• Wired Smart Home Nodes: Hardwiring an ESP32 or Raspberry Pi Pico to create ultra-reliable, low-latency Home Assistant nodes that won't drop offline.

Unlock New Capabilities (Project Evolution) The Ultimate Wi-Fi to Ethernet Bridge: Why choose between wired and wireless? If you are building a smart home gateway using an ESP32, you can wire this W5500 module to the ESP32's SPI bus. Program your ESP32 to act as a failover system: it primarily uses the hardwired W5500 Ethernet connection for low-latency MQTT messaging, but if the Ethernet cable is unplugged or the switch loses power, the ESP32 seamlessly falls back to its internal Wi-Fi radio to maintain connectivity. This creates a bulletproof, enterprise-grade IoT device!

PACKAGE INCLUDED

• 1 x W5500 SPI Ethernet Module (Lite Version)

• (Note: Pre-soldered with two rows of male yellow pin headers)

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)

1. What is the main chip on this module? The board is powered by the WIZnet W5500 integrated circuit.

2. How does this communicate with my microcontroller? It uses the SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) bus, utilizing the MOSI, MISO, SCLK, and CS pins.

3. What is the operating voltage? The module requires a stable 3.3V power supply connected to the 3V3 pins.

4. Can I use this with a 5V Arduino Uno? Yes. While the board must be powered with 3.3V (do not supply 5V to the power pins), the SPI data/IO pins on the W5500 chip are 5V-tolerant, meaning you can wire them directly to a 5V Arduino's logic pins without a level shifter.

5. What is the advantage of the W5500 over the ENC28J60? The W5500 has a hardwired TCP/IP stack built into the silicon. The ENC28J60 does not, meaning your microcontroller has to run the massive TCP/IP stack in software, consuming huge amounts of RAM and processing power.

6. Does this module support PoE (Power over Ethernet)? No, this specific "Lite" module does not have the necessary traces or extraction pins to support standard 802.3af PoE.

7. What do the LEDs on the RJ45 port indicate? The green and yellow LEDs correspond to the "Link" (connection established) and "Active" (data transmitting/receiving) statuses.

8. What does the "NC" pin mean? "NC" stands for Not Connected. You do not need to wire anything to this pin.

9. Do I need to connect the INT pin? The Interrupt (INT) pin is optional. It is used for advanced programming to wake up your microcontroller when a packet arrives, rather than constantly polling the SPI bus.

10. Do I need to connect the RST pin? The Reset (RST) pin allows your microcontroller to forcefully reboot the W5500 module. It is highly recommended to wire this to a GPIO pin to clear network lockups.

11. Does the module come with a MAC address? No, the W5500 does not have a unique, factory-assigned MAC address burned into it. You must assign a MAC address in your initialization code.

12. Are the pin headers already soldered? Yes, the module comes exactly as pictured with the yellow male header pins pre-soldered to the board.

13. What is the clock speed of the onboard oscillator? The module features a 25.000 MHz crystal oscillator to drive the W5500 timing logic.

14. How many simultaneous connections can it handle? The W5500 hardware stack supports up to 8 independent hardware sockets simultaneously.

15. What are the exact dimensions of the module? The footprint measures 26mm across the pin headers and 25mm deep. The RJ45 jack itself is 16mm wide and 13mm tall.

16. What library should I use for Arduino? The official Arduino Ethernet library natively supports the W5500 in modern IDE versions. Alternatively, the Ethernet2 or Ethernet3 libraries are explicitly built for WIZnet chips.

17. What is the HR961160C component? This is the metal shielded RJ45 connector. It is a "MagJack" which means it contains the internal isolation transformers (magnetics) necessary for Ethernet communication.

18. Why are there two GND pins on one side? Providing multiple Ground (GND) pins ensures a stable return path for the electrical current and makes wiring on a breadboard more convenient.

19. What is the maximum SPI clock speed it supports? The W5500 chip technically supports SPI clock speeds up to 80MHz, allowing for very high-speed data transfer between the MCU and the network module.

20. Can I use this to add Ethernet to a Raspberry Pi Zero / Pico? Absolutely. Any microcontroller with hardware or software SPI capability can interface with this module using the appropriate networking libraries (e.g., CircuitPython's WIZnet5k library).