Communication between three NodeMCUs such that one in in AP mode, second one in AP+STA mode and the third NodeMCU in STA mode
The two network interfaces (station and SoftAP) of the middle esp8266 must have different IP address range. If the top esp8266 has SoftAP with 192.168.4.x, set for the SoftAP of the middle esp8266 IP for example 192.168.5.1. Because with same IP address ranges the esp8266 doesn't know to which network do you want to connect a TCP socket or send an UDP message.