Davis WeatherLink® Live

It’s about time the Davis Instruments people started bringing their equipment and software into the 21st century. They’ve always had top notch sensor suites but their consoles, hardware and software lagged many years behind. Still the same old gray and black console but I can finally get away from the overpriced data logger and always keeping it connected to a constantly on PC. But good Lord there’s no way the WeatherLink should ever cost as much as it does. I did snag one off Amazon at a reduced price and with some Amazon points I finally got it for about $135.00. It was simple to install and once online it’s runs flawlessly so far. For the electronics I’d give it a 5 stars for doing what it’s supposed to do but only a 2 stars for the price of the thing. I guess Davis is trying to recover it’s R&D costs.

I am very pleased with how easy this was to setup and connect to my equipment, a combination of old and new hardware. Since I already had a Weatherlink account, all I had to do was launch the iOS app, sign in and power on! It's a breeze to add all my equipment. Much easier than the old data logger and weatherlink 2. It only needs a WiFi connection to the internet. Yes, you have to buy a subscription to see your history. But the benefits are well worth it. You can use a web browser or smartphone app. If you make your station public, others can see you realtime and you can generate links they can bookmark for access without an account. Since I can access all my equipment with weatherlink live, I may shut down the datalogger that's still running on Mavericks. But I do like most of the old software look. And tech support is fantastic if you call them. They showed my how to swap stations between basic and pro tiers without having to upgrade. An excellent update. As others have said, this brings Davis fully into the present.

I purchased to have remote access to my Vantage Pro 2 (older 2008 version) weather station without having computer running 24/7 if using the older USB version. Setup was easy and received data from my older VP2 with no problems. The phone app and uses very little data and shows readings from all sensors. The free version works fine for me because the VP2 console already keeps a history. I keep the weatherLink hub in the basement to keep an eye on the temperature and humidity reading downstairs during heavy rains when not home to be sure the sump pump is working.

This device works as intended, is easy to setup and configure and connects reliably. It just seems that the price for the subscription is too high. If I didn't already have a PC with good old Virtual Weather Station software to monitor my weather, I might consider it. But at the price Davis is asking, it is not worth it to me. From the 6100, for no cost you do get a simple webpage and a phone app that is useful and live when on your home network, but no record keeping. Still, it is a neat little device for the weather nut.

Set up was easy, Just linking to the WiFi router and creating a WeatherLink account. Basic account is just that, pretty basic. To look at historical data the account needs to be updated. This costs a little less than $50 a year. The iOS app used to display the data is spartan. The weatherlink website has a much more user friendly presentation, is in color and has some interesting graph presentation especially for wind data. WeatherLink only uploads to the WeatherLink site. If you upload to weather underground or ambient weather you will need to use some other system such as meteobridge and the Davis data.logger.

Due to chip shortage this device took a while to get but it was worth the wait. The Weatherlink Live is easy to set up and only takes a few minutes. It enables one to broadcast weather data from a Davis Vantage Vue II weather station to the internet without the need for a dedicated computer. A little pricy but so is a computer.

I had the old USB data logger for 10 years and it had begun to give me problems. Also with that set up you need to have the Weatherlink program open and running on your computer. This upgrade is a hub all in one which bypasses having to keep open the Weatherlink program and use your computer to upload your data. Since I have started using the product, I have have excellent connectivity to my Vantage Vue, and to the Weatherlink live. I would highly recommend this product.

I had wanted this for a long time thinking it would be nice to track conditions, and Davis made it look convenient and detailed, and having the web access and cellphone info would be great I thought.... BUT... after getting this and finding that I had to subscribe to get this information and access, to use the the tools, I have to pay more???? NOOOOO this is wrong. If I spend a couple of hundred dollars for a device that only sends a signal to my WiFi then to my phone through my internet, I shouldn't have to pay anything additional for access... AT ALL.... especially for live information that is going directly to my Vantage VUE as "live" the same information should go direct to my phone anywhere via the Internet and to the web for free also. The other thing is because of the outrageous subscription fee when you actually go to this network of DAVIS you don't see very many. There is a reason for this and it's money and access. There are other weather station companies that offer a lot more for a lot less and have a massive network of stations you can find. I feel ripped off but I'm using it for myself primarily so I'll keep it but if you are new to this I don't recommend it at all if you're going to use it for the web or want to get on the other weather services online. No one will find you using Davis unless directed there. Sad, really not happy.