Testing and using a ESP8266 board
Electronic Setup
Supply the board with 3.3V on VCC, best run with a voltage regulator that can deliver 300mA. Initial testes just with a ftdi usb to serial converters show unstable wifi connections, sometimes even board startup is impossible (the esp8266 board draws too much current).
Testing the Board with AT Commands
full reference of all AT commands: http://bbs.espressif.com/download/file.php?id=256
AT+RST - resets the board:
ATE1 (verbose)
ATE0 (non verbose)
AT+CWMODE=1 access point mode