ping component seems to break the network connection

[sbluhm]

I have an Olimex ESP32 POE board that works fine on WLAN and Ethernet.

After adding the ping module to the ethernet port, 3 pings get send out (1 ping per second) and then the network interface seems to shut down. (log view over network stops, switch port shows no link on the device, I cannot ping the device's IP anymore).

After a module restart, I can connect to it again and see that one or two pings are send out. Then the log connection disconnects again. But I can ping the device's IP and the switch port still show it connection. Also I can use ESPHome to do an OTA firmware update.

I extended the ping time and the reporting time to 10 seconds and the module seems to be more stable but I keep getting disconnected every minute from the log connection.

Is the device maybe going into a standby/sleep mode?

My configuration:

sensor:
  - platform: ping
    ip_address: 172.217.16.68
    num_attempts: 1
    timeout: 10sec
    loss:
      name: Packet loss
    latency:
      name: Latency
      accuracy_decimals: 3
    update_interval: 10s

My aim: send ping every second to get a time profile when exactly the internet connection goes down and up (as a proof to the network provider)

Log excerpt:

INFO Successfully connected to webmonitor @ 192.168.0.235 in 0.001s
INFO Successful handshake with webmonitor @ 192.168.0.235 in 0.059s
[12:03:11][D][sensor:094]: 'Packet loss': Sending state 0.00000 % with 0 decimals of accuracy
[12:03:11][D][sensor:094]: 'Latency': Sending state 0.01200 s with 3 decimals of accuracy
[12:03:12][D][ping_esp32:104][ping]: --- 172.217.16.68 ping statistics ---
[12:03:12][D][ping_esp32:109][ping]: 1 packets transmitted, 1 received, 0% packet loss, total time 12ms avg time 12ms
[12:03:21][D][sensor:094]: 'Packet loss': Sending state 0.00000 % with 0 decimals of accuracy
[12:03:21][D][sensor:094]: 'Latency': Sending state 0.01200 s with 3 decimals of accuracy
[12:03:22][D][ping_esp32:104][ping]: --- 172.217.16.68 ping statistics ---
[12:03:22][D][ping_esp32:109][ping]: 1 packets transmitted, 1 received, 0% packet loss, total time 12ms avg time 12ms
[12:03:30][I][safe_mode:041]: Boot seems successful; resetting boot loop counter
[12:03:30][D][esp32.preferences:114]: Saving 1 preferences to flash...
[12:03:30][D][esp32.preferences:143]: Saving 1 preferences to flash: 0 cached, 1 written, 0 failed
[12:03:31][D][sensor:094]: 'Packet loss': Sending state 0.00000 % with 0 decimals of accuracy
[12:03:31][D][sensor:094]: 'Latency': Sending state 0.01200 s with 3 decimals of accuracy
[12:03:32][D][ping_esp32:104][ping]: --- 172.217.16.68 ping statistics ---
WARNING webmonitor @ 192.168.0.235: Connection error occurred: [Errno 104] Connection reset by peer
INFO Processing unexpected disconnect from ESPHome API for webmonitor @ 192.168.0.235
WARNING Disconnected from API
INFO Successfully connected to webmonitor @ 192.168.0.235 in 0.001s
INFO Successful handshake with webmonitor @ 192.168.0.235 in 0.049s
[12:04:11][D][sensor:094]: 'Packet loss': Sending state 0.00000 % with 0 decimals of accuracy
[12:04:11][D][sensor:094]: 'Latency': Sending state 0.01400 s with 3 decimals of accuracy
[12:04:12][D][ping_esp32:104][ping]: --- 172.217.16.68 ping statistics ---
[12:04:12][D][ping_esp32:109][ping]: 1 packets transmitted, 1 received, 0% packet loss, total time 12ms avg time 12ms
[12:04:21][D][sensor:094]: 'Packet loss': Sending state 0.00000 % with 0 decimals of accuracy
[12:04:21][D][sensor:094]: 'Latency': Sending state 0.01200 s with 3 decimals of accuracy
[12:04:22][D][ping_esp32:104][ping]: --- 172.217.16.68 ping statistics ---
[12:04:22][D][ping_esp32:109][ping]: 1 packets transmitted, 1 received, 0% packet loss, total time 13ms avg time 13ms
[12:04:31][D][sensor:094]: 'Packet loss': Sending state 0.00000 % with 0 decimals of accuracy
[12:04:31][D][sensor:094]: 'Latency': Sending state 0.01300 s with 3 decimals of accuracy
[12:04:32][I][safe_mode:041]: Boot seems successful; resetting boot loop counter
[12:04:32][D][esp32.preferences:114]: Saving 1 preferences to flash...
[12:04:32][D][esp32.preferences:143]: Saving 1 preferences to flash: 0 cached, 1 written, 0 failed
[12:04:32][D][ping_esp32:104][ping]: --- 172.217.16.68 ping statistics ---
[12:04:32][D][ping_esp32:109][ping]: 1 packets transmitted, 1 received, 0% packet loss, total time 14ms avg time 14ms
[12:04:41][D][sensor:094]: 'Packet loss': Sending state 0.00000 % with 0 decimals of accuracy
[12:04:41][D][sensor:094]: 'Latency': Sending state 0.01400 s with 3 decimals of accuracy
[12:04:42][D][ping_esp32:104][ping]: --- 172.217.16.68 ping statistics ---
[12:04:42][D][ping_esp32:109][ping]: 1 packets transmitted, 1 received, 0% packet loss, total time 14ms avg time 14ms
[12:04:51][D][sensor:094]: 'Packet loss': Sending state 0.00000 % with 0 decimals of accuracy
[12:04:51][D][sensor:094]: 'Latency': Sending state 0.01400 s with 3 decimals of accuracy
[12:04:52][D][ping_esp32:104][ping]: --- 172.217.16.68 ping statistics ---
WARNING webmonitor @ 192.168.0.235: Connection error occurred: [Errno 104] Connection reset by peer
INFO Processing unexpected disconnect from ESPHome API for webmonitor @ 192.168.0.235
WARNING Disconnected from API
INFO Successfully connected to webmonitor @ 192.168.0.235 in 0.001s
INFO Successful handshake with webmonitor @ 192.168.0.235 in 0.056s
[12:05:30][D][sensor:094]: 'Packet loss': Sending state 0.00000 % with 0 decimals of accuracy
[12:05:30][D][sensor:094]: 'Latency': Sending state 0.01400 s with 3 decimals of accuracy
[12:05:31][D][ping_esp32:104][ping]: --- 172.217.16.68 ping statistics ---
[12:05:31][D][ping_esp32:109][ping]: 1 packets transmitted, 1 received, 0% packet loss, total time 15ms avg time 15ms
[12:05:40][D][sensor:094]: 'Packet loss': Sending state 0.00000 % with 0 decimals of accuracy
[12:05:40][D][sensor:094]: 'Latency': Sending state 0.01500 s with 3 decimals of accuracy
[12:05:41][D][ping_esp32:104][ping]: --- 172.217.16.68 ping statistics ---
[12:05:41][D][ping_esp32:109][ping]: 1 packets transmitted, 1 received, 0% packet loss, total time 12ms avg time 12ms
[12:05:50][D][sensor:094]: 'Packet loss': Sending state 0.00000 % with 0 decimals of accuracy
[12:05:50][D][sensor:094]: 'Latency': Sending state 0.01200 s with 3 decimals of accuracy
[12:05:51][D][ping_esp32:104][ping]: --- 172.217.16.68 ping statistics ---
[12:05:51][D][ping_esp32:109][ping]: 1 packets transmitted, 1 received, 0% packet loss, total time 14ms avg time 14ms
[12:05:53][I][safe_mode:041]: Boot seems successful; resetting boot loop counter
[12:05:53][D][esp32.preferences:114]: Saving 1 preferences to flash...
[12:05:53][D][esp32.preferences:143]: Saving 1 preferences to flash: 0 cached, 1 written, 0 failed
[12:06:00][D][sensor:094]: 'Packet loss': Sending state 0.00000 % with 0 decimals of accuracy
[12:06:00][D][sensor:094]: 'Latency': Sending state 0.01400 s with 3 decimals of accuracy
[12:06:01][D][ping_esp32:104][ping]: --- 172.217.16.68 ping statistics ---
WARNING webmonitor @ 192.168.0.235: Connection error occurred: [Errno 104] Connection reset by peer
INFO Processing unexpected disconnect from ESPHome API for webmonitor @ 192.168.0.235
WARNING Disconnected from API
INFO Successfully connected to webmonitor @ 192.168.0.235 in 0.002s
INFO Successful handshake with webmonitor @ 192.168.0.235 in 0.069s
[12:06:33][D][api:103]: Accepted 192.168.0.43
[12:06:33][D][api.connection:1446]: Home Assistant 2025.1.0 (192.168.0.43): Connected successfully
[12:06:33][D][sensor:094]: 'Packet loss': Sending state 0.00000 % with 0 decimals of accuracy
[12:06:33][D][sensor:094]: 'Latency': Sending state 0.01300 s with 3 decimals of accuracy
[12:06:34][D][ping_esp32:104][ping]: --- 172.217.16.68 ping statistics ---
WARNING webmonitor @ 192.168.0.235: Connection error occurred: [Errno 104] Connection reset by peer
INFO Processing unexpected disconnect from ESPHome API for webmonitor @ 192.168.0.235
WARNING Disconnected from API
INFO Successfully connected to webmonitor @ 192.168.0.235 in 0.001s
INFO Successful handshake with webmonitor @ 192.168.0.235 in 0.064s
[12:07:13][D][api:103]: Accepted 192.168.0.43
[12:07:13][D][api.connection:1446]: Home Assistant 2025.1.0 (192.168.0.43): Connected successfully
[12:07:14][D][sensor:094]: 'Packet loss': Sending state 0.00000 % with 0 decimals of accuracy
[12:07:14][D][sensor:094]: 'Latency': Sending state 0.01300 s with 3 decimals of accuracy
[12:07:15][D][ping_esp32:104][ping]: --- 172.217.16.68 ping statistics ---
[12:07:15][D][ping_esp32:109][ping]: 1 packets transmitted, 1 received, 0% packet loss, total time 15ms avg time 15ms
[12:07:24][D][sensor:094]: 'Packet loss': Sending state 0.00000 % with 0 decimals of accuracy
[12:07:24][D][sensor:094]: 'Latency': Sending state 0.01500 s with 3 decimals of accuracy
[12:07:25][D][ping_esp32:104][ping]: --- 172.217.16.68 ping statistics ---
[12:07:25][D][ping_esp32:109][ping]: 1 packets transmitted, 1 received, 0% packet loss, total time 13ms avg time 13ms```

[trombik]

It is hard to tell from the provided log. Connect serial console logger and see what is logged on the device.

[venerdi]

@trombik
I had a similar issue with random ESP32 reboots/reconnections. The console debugger shows a stack overflow in the ping task. Increasing the task stack size in ESP_PING_DEFAULT_CONFIG() from 2048 to 4096 solves the problem.

[venerdi]

Measurements taken on ESPHome version 2026.1.4 showed that the uxTaskGetStackHighWaterMark() function recorded a maximum used stack size of 2248 words.
Therefore, a stack size of 2048 words, as in the current code, is insufficient, while 4096 is clearly excessive.
A stack size of 2560 words looks reasonable to me, leaving 300+ words (1KB+) free.