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How about if I want to monitor the apartment as a whole? Would 100m2 be too much for one sensor to handle?

It really depends on the environment: wall materials, interference, signal strength, and even temperature and humidity all play a role. Honestly, 100 m² is probably too large for a single sensor to cover reliably.

That said, ESP32 boards are very inexpensive, you can find them online for around €1 or even less.

Is the ESP-S3 your recommendation? Or should one look into the ESP-C6 / another model? The prices I'm seeing here in Sweden are more around €10 rather than €1, but I guess that's still much less than the average presence detector.

The price difference can vary wildly by region, but €10 is still super cheap compared to a dedicated presence sensor!

Regarding the chip recommendation, it’s a classic trade-off:

ESP32-S3: This is what I mainly recommend today. It gives you more raw processing power (dual-core), which is great for managing the OS, MQTT, and the CSI analysis without hiccups.

ESP32-C6: I just ordered a C6 myself to run extensive tests! The C6 might have a superior quality Wi-Fi module and better internal CSI extraction capabilities due to hardware improvements.

Would you recommend multiple routers for this case, since the distance from sensor to router is important?

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