[fotbr]

Regarding other software / platforms, HTTP GET seems easy enough to work with.

My issue with wifi is really just a matter of too-many-networks and interference making it a bad solution for me.

But I understand the appeal of the ESP8266 (and the rest of that family of chips) and don't blame you one bit. IIRC it has a serial port on a couple of pins, so that's another comm option.

In any case, I look forward to seeing your progress. Good luck!