Wow I LOVE this Ambient Weather WS-5000. Don’t waste your time on lousy competitor models! I had an AcuRite Atlas for a couple years, but I got tired of constantly losing the historical weather trends every time we had a brief power outage. The AcuRite has a major design flaw by not having any kind of time sync (no Internet NTP or even radio time sync) the AcuRite Atlas resets the clock back to factory default time, and then all the weather data is messed up. While the AcuRite Atlas takes less time to install (it is all one piece unit, no assembly needed), this WS-5000 blows it away as far as the careful thought that Ambient Weather put into the display and presentation of information. For example, the AcuRite Atlas shows 48 hour rainfall on the display. Why not 24 hour? The WS-5000 has all the info laid out in a way that I can see the useful stats at a glance, very intuitive and in a beautiful presentation. The AcuRite display is also very pretty looking, but I can tell that the Ambient Weather WS-5000 display was designed by weather gurus who probably debated each icon for many weeks before deciding how to show it on the screen. But perhaps what I love the most about the WS-5000 is to be able to show the swimming pool temperature on the display using the optional WH31P waterproof thermometer probe sensor. It’s nice to have the pool temp always shown right next to the weather station stats, because this has the ability to set the extra info display onto a single sensor, in addition to the choice of cycling between sensors. It’s also very cool to be able to use the optional soil moisture and air particulate sensors with this. The Ambient Weather iPhone app features are better than the AcuRite app. The historical data charts are super useful, and I can use this with more home automation features like IFTTT. The WS-5000 can tie in with Wunderground hyper local weather, which is fun to contribute to, and to see other people’s weather station info in the neighborhood and how the microclimate varies. While I am super excited about the WS-5000 so far, this product is not perfect. If the manufacturer is reading this, I hope they can address some things in the next design. The instruction manual is terrible, and so is the user interface for the display buttons. It is not intuitive which buttons to press and what they do to navigate the various display menus. These buttons should be scrapped and go with a touchscreen design next time. It would be better to have a wall mount bracket to make it easier to line up and level to mount on the wall rather than two screw hanger notches on the back (which are always tricky to mark and line up on the wall). Also, I had to to a factory reset before it would recognize the main sensors, and wasted time being puzzled why it wasn’t working straight out of the box. Finally another minor improvement would be to not show the humidity circle on the display if a sensor does not have the humidity feature. I have to look at a blank humidity circle all the time for my pool temp sensor. It’s very minor, but would be more beautiful and less cluttered without this inactive item on the screen. Overall, I highly recommend this weather station! I think this may very well be the best one for residential use on the market at any price (the more expensive pro models from other brands have extremely antiquated info displays).

I'm having fun with this. The overall setup went very smoothly without any issues. The wind speed sensor has no moving parts (that's right, no anemometer, and no wind vane). It uses eight ultrasonic transducers to measure wind velocity and direction. This is a huge advancement since both anemometers and vanes have mechanical bearings that can get dirty or stuck. Just look at a variety of stations on Ambient weather's site and you'll see a number of weather stations reporting no wind and/or wind always coming from the same direction a big clue that the sensor has a problem. I now own the lightning detector, the air quality monitor, and I'm currently trying out the soil moisture sensors. All connected up easily and are working. Go to ambientweather.net and check out my station (search for Dana Ave. Weather Station, Ridgecrest). The ambient weather site is quite good but has a few bugs. Be sure to click the chart button to see weather data plotted as a function of time.

Just received this weather station today. I had it up and running in about 45 minutes, I’m not using the WIFI part on this so skipped all that. I got this one to replace my old Vantage vue that kind of stopped working. The display looks great and it synced up very quickly. The way this system measures the wind is quite sensitive and pretty cool, and I now can see if there is even a light breeze out there. This is day one so we will see how it holds up, very pleased so far.

The only reason I didn't give this 5 stars is the setup. Several people talk about the difficulty with setup. I thought this would impact sensor detection or WIFI. The sensors are detected very easily. The difficulty is entering IDs and passwords for WIFI and other setup. I was not sure how to do this from the manual. I found some Ambient produced You Tube videos that were very helpful. The console does not have a touch screen. Everything is done with buttons that control direction or upper/lower case. It is quite tedious. Once you get through that, the system is WONDERFUL! I debated about the WS-5000 or a model with a combined sensor including the mechanical wind sensor. I decided to go top of the line. I am glad I did. The wind sensor works well. I have had a weather station for about 17 years. I replaced a La Crosse Technology setup where I had two consoles, one on a desk in the family room and one in the office. The consoles had built in temperature sensors for indoor temperatures. The WS-5000 comes with one indoor sensor that is separate from the console. I ordered a second sensor - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MG4HW8C?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 . I also ordered a second console https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08F6PGMJP?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details . Be careful you get the correct sensor. I originally ordered another indoor sensor. You can only have one of those. The one I am using is an indoor/outdoor sensor. The console doesn't list the WS-5000 but it works. I was able to label both of the indoor sensors the way I want on the WS-2000 console. I could only change the name for one of them on the WS-5000 console. I don't know why Ambient doesn't allow a name change on the WS-5000 console. Not a big deal. I never bought a Davis system because I don't like the console. The Ambient consoles aren't as graphically rich as some of the cheaper systems. The screens are very clear and nice to look at. There is a lot of data on the screen. You can have a light or dark background. You switch by pushing a button. You can turn off the screen with a button as will so it won't bother you at night if you have it your bedroom I had the rain sensor for the La Crosse system on bird feeder pole with a cheap plastic cutting board on top. I put the WS-5000 rain sensor on this same platform. Here is the link to the pole https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01J4QGDK6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 The WS-5000 temperature/wind sensor needs to be mounted in direct sunlight. I ordered two of these - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08Z72XMP7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1 and used poles from them both to get enough height. I only have one place in my yard that stays in direct sunlight. I did not want to do a roof mount because of radiant heat and because at my age, it's not prudent to climb that high. The pole is too small to bolt the sensor to. I taped one of the pole sections to the top and used a small piece of plastic to make it big enough. I would have liked to have used the Ambient pole with the large base. It would have taken too much space in the lawn and would have required weights. This setup has prongs that go into the ground and works great. The manual isn't clear on what app to download. I found the correct one and included a screen shot. The app is great. It has a lot of detail. You can see tiles of your data as well as graphs. It shows other stations in the area and gives a forecast. Data loads very quickly. I think the temperature is more accurate than the La Crosse units. We have some small displays from La Crosse. I have looked at those before going out for a walk and then wished I had a warmer jacket. It turned out to be colder than the unit measured. The Ambient unit has measured colder the the La Crosse (I got this in March 2023. It has been very cold in Utah this year. I don't have much reference for warmer temperatures yet.) I connected to Alexa very easily. I can get an Ambient report by asking for it. You cannot just get temperature or another data element. You get them all. I spent a lot more money on this that any other weather station I have purchased. This is definitely a premium product. If you can afford it, this is the system to choose.

I bought my Ambient Weather WS-5000 to replace functionality I had with BloomSky 2 + Storm, which apparently are not really supported or operating solutions. The WS-5000 is mounted with the BloomSky, but the WS-5000 is transmitting clearly to the base station, and that base station is uploading to Weather Underground and Ambient Weather's own cloud data and app. Since the Rain Gauge oddly assumes it needs to sit at-the-top of a pole, based on how it mounts to a pole, it is mounted on a small pole bought for an outdoor WLAN AP attached to a fence post, and reporting rainfall as expected. Only down side is that my lawn service blows grass all over, so checking the Rain Gauge regularly after a mowing is needed to ensure there is not grass and debris in the platter or obstructing the hole, which does have a protective filter spring. Only disappointment is that inside temperature and humidity unit does not have a switch to set °C and only displays in °F, not my unit of choice. I've added 4 of the add-on WH31E units, and will probably add 4 more, since they provide granular information I want about my house, especially complex areas like attics and my basement data center. Adding the lightning and air quality detectors in the future is part of the plan. After adding the base station to my WiFi network (not easy typing on the base station, but workable), I was also able to utilize the configuration App, which is different from the Ambient Weather App, to update firmware and check configuration items, like Weather Underground. It was mentioned, but the Ambient Weather App on iPad (potentially android tablets too?) is great, with large views, but works well on a iPhone 13 Pro Max and is easy to read on the iPhone 12 Pro (smaller) also.

I had a Davis Vantage Vue that was accurate, reliable, built like a tank but the lack of being able to trend data, have any historical info didn’t exist. The very outdated console was also a big turn off. Now I’ve purchased the WS-5000. First impression was how small the components are compared to the Davis. Materials, especially ultrasonic wind and temp module seem vulnerable to bad weather events, we’ll see how they hold up over time. The not so good based on the high price of this station: No batteries included, no bird spikes included for rain cup, no battery back up for the console. Menu to set up the console proved a little frustrating as the learning curve on programming took a few minutes. Mounting: First the ultrasonic wind module has a wire for optional heating, it would be nice to be able to unplug this wire as I’m sure 98% of all purchasers won’t get this accessory. Instead you have to shove it in the mounting arm which makes it challenging to align the screw hole. I used a 10’ 1.25” aluminum pole mounted up on my shed. Hardware included was fine. So my sensor is now 18’ above ground and in an open space. Rain sensor, it’s only designed to mount at the top of a pole, very bad design as you want your wind sensor at the top. Really don’t understand this thought process. So now I can’t use the pole I had. Getting a second pole was not something I wanted to do. So I ended up mounting this on top of my garden structure about 6’ above the ground. Included hardware was fine. Also in the manual it notes a flashing led light at top of rain sensor indicates it’s sending a signal. On my example there was no indicator light. So either I got a sensor that this was missing or they haven’t updated there manual. You’ll see below the sensor worked, but made me question the quality of what I just purchased. Hardware and mounting I would give 3 stars, certainly room for improvement in options to mount. Time will tell if the components can withstand some minor hail and 100 degree days for months on end. The missing led indicator on the rain sensor was the only flaw that I noticed. Actual use of the system. Read the entire manual, plus one that a fully printed manual was included, something that is rare in todays world. I suggest you download there app and set up your account prior to starting this whole process. Of note it was at least one hour reading the manual and configuring the initial set up of the console. Rain and wind sensors were immediately recognized by the console, make sure to install the not included AA batteries into the sensors before turning on console. The display of the WS-5000 is 30 years forward of the Davis I had. The number of adjustments and ease of navigating once set up is best in class here. Major reason I switched out stations. Nice feature is the ability to turn off display so light it puts out at night doesn’t bother anyone. Major flaw though is no battery back up so when power goes out, which it will 2-3 times a year I’ll lose data and have to set it up again. Big omission in my opinion. That costs at least one star here. App: This is the best feature. You can see today, yesterday, last week, last month, with graphs for every measurement available and there are a lot! And at least you don’t have to pay a monthly fee. Although at this price your really paying up front. Overall after couple days of use: All measurements seem as accurate as the Davis. I will say the ultrasonic wind sensor is more accurate and picks up gusts that the Davis missed being mechanical vs. ultrasonic. Console is really nice but find I’m looking at the app much more frequently, this is do to all the extra data and trending graphs available, a good thing. I’m glad I made this purchase but hesitant on the long term durability of the components. I’ll come back after a year and provide an update. The only major flaw is the battery back up for the console, I knew before purchase this was the design. My only purpose in switching out was the ability to trend data and view status using mobil devices, this was a home run with this station. It’s very pricey but worth it if you want the most accurate wind data. If that is not as important many options at half this price are available. Update: June 2023 Less than a year of use and the outdoor temp sensor went bad, downgrading the rating as for the price this is unacceptable. Also without battery backup I’ve lost valuable data during storms, the very time you want to record max rain and wind. Update: Called Ambient for warranty, rude, condescending, talked over me. Must ship back at my expense, if they determine its bad they'll send one out, sometime, no time frame. Outdoor temp sensor is one part with ultrasonic wind sensor. What a poor design. Will never purchase anything from Ambient again.

This weather station is just awesome. I was upgrading from an old Oregon Scientific (10+ years old) where the sensors were giving out and replacements unavailable. This does everything well, and the range is very good as well. I have mine on my desk across the house from the windows that face the devices in our back yard. The display is bright, colorful, and has loads of info on it. Setup was pretty easy, and it actually came with a printed manual... a rarity these days! I was intrigued with the ultra-sonic wind gauge (no moving parts) and it appears to be more accurate than my old one with a traditional cup anemometer. It took me some time to figure out how to set the Absolute (Station) and Relative (Sea Level) but once I realized the indoor temp/pressure unit displayed absolute always, it was easy to make the Hg to Mb conversion and adjust the settings for ABS and REL in the display. I also got the lightning detector, but we haven't had any thunderstorms yet, so I have yet to see how it works. Totally happy with this purchase, and well worth going for the more expensive WS-5000.

I just installed this unit yesterday so I can't comment on its longevity (or the rainfall detector) but so far I think it's great! I love the console. Some say the console is too busy but I don't think so. It has all the main information in large letters so you can easily ignore the other stuff. I like the ultrasonic wind detector as the wind detector never worked right on my previous Acurite 5-in-one weather station. I also like that the unit connects directly to the internet so that I don't have to dedicate a computer to it like the Acurite, especially since the Acurite app on the computer would invariably hang up and you would lose historical data. I've had an Ambient pool thermometer for some time and it worked automatically as soon as I turned the console on so that was easy. It's nice to know the pool temperature without having to walk out to the pool (I know, tough life). I am using a microSD card in the console which supposedly collects historical data and I believe historical data is also available from ambientweather.net. Overall, I'm loving it so far!

Setup is hard due to manual instructions that have pictures that are hard to follow. Seems ti work well though with every piece of weather info you could want

This is the creme-de-la-creme of home weather stations. But the beautiful display console does not take batteries. Relies on AC adapter. So I hooked a UPS up to it and I'm Rocking in the Free World. Enjoy.