Recently, I'm unable to obtain an IP address for an application that runs a TCP server. Even the example tcp_server.c application fails in a similar fashion. ESP-IDF version 3.1.1 (though 3.3 beta-something behaved similarly) Netgear Nighthawk R8500 router (though other WiFi networks that bypass tha...

Several options. Depends on your goals and level of experience.

See main http://esp32.net/ page, scroll down to section titled "Development". I use ESP-IDF framework with the usual make build process.