🔗 LOCALINK

Connect Locally, Communicate Instantly

Offline local network chat powered by ESP8266, WebSocket, LittleFS, and Captive Portal.

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📖 Overview

LOCALINK is a lightweight offline chat platform built on ESP8266 that allows users to communicate in real-time without requiring internet access.

Users simply connect to the LOCALINK WiFi network and instantly gain access to a modern web-based chat room through their browser.

No internet. No cloud server. No mobile application.

Just connect and chat.

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✨ Features

🌐 Network

• ESP8266 Access Point Mode
• Offline Communication
• No Internet Required
• Captive Portal Support
• Automatic Login Redirection

💬 Chat

• Real-Time Messaging
• WebSocket Communication
• Multi User Chat Room
• Instant Message Broadcast
• Online User Counter
• Chat History Support

👤 User Management

• Username Login
• Role-Based Access
• Admin
• Operator
• Staff
• Guest

🎨 User Interface

• Modern WhatsApp Style Interface
• Responsive Mobile Design
• Desktop Compatible
• Dark Mode
• Sidebar Navigation
• Toast Notifications

💾 Storage

• LittleFS Storage
• Persistent Message History
• Automatic Chat Recovery

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🏗 Architecture

            ┌─────────────────┐
            │    ESP8266 AP   │
            │    LOCALINK     │
            └────────┬────────┘
                     │
         ┌───────────┼───────────┐
         │           │           │
         ▼           ▼           ▼

      User A      User B      User C

         │           │           │
         └────── WebSocket ──────┘

                 ▼

          LOCALINK CHAT

📸 Screenshots

Login Page

Chat Room

Admin Sidebar

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⚙ Hardware Requirements

Component	Description
ESP8266 NodeMCU V3	Main Controller
USB Cable	Programming
Smartphone / Laptop	Client Device

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📦 Software Requirements

Arduino IDE

Recommended:

• Arduino IDE 2.x

Required Libraries

• ESP8266WiFi
• ESPAsyncTCP
• ESPAsyncWebServer
• LittleFS
• DNSServer

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📂 Project Structure

LOCALINK/
│
├── Localink.ino
│
├── data/
│   ├── index.html
│   ├── chat.html
│   ├── style.css
│   ├── app.js
│   ├── logo.svg
│   ├── manifest.json
│   └── messages.json
│
├── screenshots/
│   ├── login.jpg
│   ├── chat-room.jpg
│   └── sidebaradmin.jpg
│
├── README.md
├── LICENSE
└── .gitignore

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🚀 Installation

Clone Repository

git clone https://github.com/farhanadeata/LOCALINK.git

Open Arduino IDE

Load:

Localink.ino

Install Required Libraries

Install all required libraries listed above.

Upload Firmware

Board:

NodeMCU 1.0 (ESP-12E Module)

Upload sketch to ESP8266.

Upload LittleFS Files

Upload all files inside:

data/

using LittleFS Data Upload Tool.

Connect To LOCALINK

SSID     : LOCALINK
Password : Frnyx2708

Open:

http://192.168.4.1

or allow Captive Portal to redirect automatically.

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🎯 Use Cases

• School Communication
• Local Events
• Emergency Communication
• Community Networks
• Rural Areas Without Internet
• Temporary Communication Systems
• Correctional Facility Communication Experiments
• Offline IoT Demonstrations

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🛣 Roadmap

Version 1.0

• Offline Chat
• WebSocket Realtime
• LittleFS Storage
• Captive Portal
• Responsive UI
• Dark Mode

Future Versions

• Private Messaging
• Emoji Support
• User Presence Status
• Multi Room Chat
• ESP32 Version
• File Sharing
• Voice Notes
• Mesh Networking

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🤝 Contributing

Contributions, feature requests, bug reports, and pull requests are welcome.

Feel free to fork this repository and improve LOCALINK.

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📄 License

This project is released under the MIT License.

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LOCALINK

Connect Locally, Communicate Instantly

Built with ❤️ using ESP8266, WebSocket, LittleFS and Captive Portal