awnet Reviews

by Crusader0711

After numerous attempts, configurations, tin-foil rabbit ears, rain dances, witch doctors, and praying I gave up on the iOS version of awnet. After a case of extreme frustration I decided to fire up an old Samsung Galaxy Note 9 device I had laying around in airplane mode. Downloaded awnet to that device, and it worked perfectly fine right out of the gate.

Samsung Note 9 in airplane mode (wifi on) I was able to configure my weather station and connect immediately.

Dev types- please fix your iOS bugs if you desire a future with this company

by LaurenLDM

Sadly, on Christmas Day after opening my husbands gift (this weather station), we experienced the exact issues that everyone described. I thought that I had looked up awnet reviews in advance, but I just have gotten the brand mixed up when I picked this one.

At the last step in connecting the WiFi, awnet crashes every time. It took a good hour of troubleshooting (on Xmas day...) miscellaneous other issues to get it that far.

We followed the instructions exactly as described. I’m seeing that this issue has gone on unresolved for several months with not so much as a note of recognition from the company, I will not bother to waste any more time trying to fix this. Instead, I will go spend more money from a brand who cares enough to put out a functioning product.

I am embarrassed to have purchased this for my husband. It looks like I didn’t do adequate research to get him a quality gift.

by The RadioGuy

This is by far the most unfriendly app I have ever come across. I can find no help in resolving the fact that WiFi is extremely hard to get connected to this device with awnet. awnet is definitely not user-friendly. Now I’m off to leave a review for the weather station that won’t be nice either. And that is because it’s manual is no help as well. And now he keeps telling me I have to have a nickname to post this review. And every name I pick is taken. I will keep trying and hopefully this will get posted. This is ridiculous.

by Cloudjuice312

I had the same connection issues as everyone else. Here’s what worked for me, after hours of trying:

- disable 5GHz home wifi band if applicable (in my case i had to split my ‘smart connect’ wifi setting into two separate bands and then disable the 5GHz one so I could connect only via the 2.4GHz band). Note: be sure to leave the SSID and password the same so it doesn’t bump you station off later when you change these wifi settings back to normal
-make sure you allowed awnet to use location services (prompts you when opening for the first time, otherwise can be verified in settings)
- disable ‘auto join’ feature to the weather station’s mifi through wifi preferences on your phone (leave it ON for your home 2.4GHz wifi network)
-disable cell service (this was the final piece to the puzzle for me)
- open app while connected to your home wifi network, then follow all prompts

following all these steps worked for me! it’s ridiculous that it’s this complicated, but hopefully a one time issue.

by Whargoul46

Today is 2/20 and Ive been trying since Christmas to get my weather station (WS-2902C) online with no luck.

This thing acts like it’s working and when you hit submit it just sits there spinning with a success message saying it’ll switch back to my primary network when it’s finished but never does (I even left it spinning overnight once); it even did this (with the success message) when I intentionally entered my wifi password wrong. When you switch the network back yourself and return to awnet you’re met with a ‘setup completed successfully’ type message (even with the intentionally misspelled password) and an empty “Device List”.

by Matthopson

I bought a whole weather station setup that I’ve yet to be able to use. First they told me the base device was faulty and that I needed to return it. When the new one showed up I still couldn’t get it to work. I’ve disabled networks, unplugged routers, tried multiple devices, you name it. I’ve noticed multiple releases that mention fixing the crashing issue during setup - well... the problem is still there and after dozens of attempts and hours wasted fiddling with this thing + my network + talking to support the whole pile of hot garbage is going back.

by Robkonw

I changed ISPs, so new WiFi. Connected to 2.4GHz, reset everything, including deleting and re-downloading app, even restarting the phon. App crashes in the last step when it asks for WiFi password, without the chance to enter the password. Spinning icon, then crash. Every single time. Tried two other 2.4GHz WiFi networks. App crashes every single time. Both iOS 13.7 and the previous version. Will not connect to WS-2902 solar weather station - Internet access is why I bought the weather station. There is no help on their help page that addresses this problem.

by Daddyforchrist

Followed directions exactly, at times awnet would crash during the set up. Deleted app, reinstalled app three times. After an hour of struggling I finally got it to sync to my network. Tried it on my phone, using older iOS version, still no go. They need to work on awnet.

by Mbiddlecom

Like many others, I’ve had my connection issuers. First time, it connected to WiFi no problem. I happened to be the garage near the main router by chance. I moved the station to a different room in the house and no connection issue. Whew.

One month later and after a power outage, the WiFi was lost and I could not reconnect after reading many reviews like turn iPhone WiFi off and off to the auto connect. No dice. What did work was me moving the unit back out to the garage. I think the unit was picking up the WiFi from the router abs not one of the 3 Apple Airports I use to spread the signal inside the house.

So, if you have the connection and later lose it, try moving the unit near the area where it first worked. Maybe this area is near the home main router.

by GreenMossMan

It consistently crashes on the final step where you add your WiFi password and configure your device. I tried on an iOS 12 and iOS 14 device and had the same problems.

I am not sure what awnet is trying to do that configuration view, but the spinner activates even before you get to type in the WiFi password, then it crashes.

** update **

I figured out how to avoid the crashing. awnet is very sensitive to specify network conditions. If you do not meet them, it will crash. You must remove any extenders or satellites from your home network and disable any carrier data on the mobile device. If you do that, it will work. I gave it an extra star, because it was doable, but still the user experience was sub standard.

by Sheparddw

Grant precise location permissions or it will not setup.

I had tried everything and still could not get it setup. It would not say what network I was connected to. But after I granted precise location permissions, everything worked perfect. I had tried without precise turned on and that is what caused it trouble. Was hoping to be a little more ambiguous of a location, but guess I will have to be precise after all.

by Grangerman01

Tried many times, could not connect. Was using my iPhone. Read all the reviews and internet chats. No help.
Then I noticed the AMBWeather-WIFIxxxxx network was set to ‘Auto-Join’. I turned that off and ‘Voila’...instant connection. Hope this helps folks having trouble connecting their consoles to the internet using an iPhone. All seems to be working well...but only after 4 hrs of frustration. 😩

by Synysterbri

Everyone here tries to explain how they “fixed” connecting the console to your router wifi, but none of that worked for me. I do believe you originally have to start off on your routers WiFi. You then have to switch to the console WiFi when prompted. I think you need to wait for your phones WiFi symbol at the top right of your screen to change from the WiFi to lte and then back to WiFi when you select the console WiFi. It won’t work until you see the WiFi symbol at the top right of your phone appear to signal it has connected to the weather console. The check mark alone on the WiFi list didn’t do it for me. You then need to enter your router info and password on the next screen while staying connected to the weather console. Hope this helps.

by DrewSaur

So far as I can tell, the issues people are describing here can be solved by ensuring that you disable the “Private Address” feature when connecting to the console’s WiFi. The Private Address feature makes it impossible for iOS to use the true MAC address of the device that awnet is depending on. I recommend that Ambient add this to their documentation.

by Bull All Stars

I have been using the weather station and awnet for about 8 months without any issues. We recently had to turn off and then turn back on our WiFi.

After turning back on the Wifi, awnet no longer would connect with our device.

It took us several days to reconnect. The critical action was to ascertain which of our home networks was the 2.4Mghz rather than 5mghz. Once we did that, we were able to get the device and awnet to connect.

So for folks who are having the connection issue, I would strongly encourage you to go into your WiFi router settings and make sure that you have a 2.4mghz network set up to allow the connection. Once it is connected, you can always go back to the 5mghz for your tablet or phone.

by Faithfulprayerwarrior

I was concerned after reading the reviews, but decided to ignore the instructions and not turn off the 5Ghz bands on my triband mesh network. Sure enough, repeated failures. Then I did as the instructions clearly stated and voila! connected on the first try (full disclosure- I forgot to turn off the other mesh modes but had the unit very close to the main node so maybe that negated my laziness on this point). After 1 day, I enjoy awnet . The iPad app is even better- the full display on the first screen and no need to scroll through as on the iPhone app

by Next Cup From Peets

After following the manual for five failed setup attempts I decided I better read the comments as awnet had a low rating. Dude who wrote the Try This review below saved me. Once I shut off Auto Join on the WiFi for the console it worked perfectly. I setup an ambient account, added Mac and was online in five minutes. Big thank you for that tip.

by Oregon Snowbird

I hope this helps someone struggling like I was, trying to get my weather station connected to the Internet. After downloading the app to my iPad, and 6 or 8 attempts carefully following the steps in the manual, I had almost given up. I deleted awnet , rebooted the iPad, still no go. It would not go beyond step (g). So I decided to try awnet on my iPhone instead of the iPad, and OMG, it worked. Now I can access my own Ambient Weather dashboard, and it is great.

by Random-person-9485820

So when I first tried to use awnet it was the same story as everyone else. I contacted ambient support and they said that their iOS developers broke the functionality in the .09 version and just today they released the .10 version. Well .10 worked flawlessly on an iPhone 12 with version 14.4 OS.

by Sharkbait-Uhaha

Used in WS-2902C and connected first try.
A couple of things though:

1) The manual to the weather station has typos and some steps are out of order. This makes connecting process challenging.
2) Read the section on connecting 2-3 times BEFORE you begin.
3) Register your Ambient (and optional Weather Underground) account first. Then begin connection process.
4) Once connected and you’re at the page to “Upload Interval (1 - 5 minutes)”, be sure to click the “on” button so it transmits data to the servers after you connect console to Ambient online account.

by Nodak7

Worked great for awhile then disconnected and would not reconnect. Tried multiple times but no luck. Contacted support at Ambient Weather and they were worthless. Told me to contact awnet Developers. I thought they were the developers!!!!

by Xcutter360

Tried to go through the configuration several times, no luck.

by Mergulous

Actual weather device works good. But don’t but don’t buy it expecting to use awnet . Continually disconnects. Adding device is useless. But it’s not like China is going to fix it.

by ARagingSquirrel

Went through the prompts multiple times without success. Still cannot connect phone to weather station.

by Boris12094

How can something so simple be so difficult. I can accept the ancient UI but the typos should’ve been fixed long ago and the device never sets up. I’m about to fling this whole system across my yard.

by Dragonsmoke6

it wont even show the name of my network that is currently connected. The spelling mistakes in awnet tell a tale of cheap chinese-made trash with no quality control whatsoever. I guess I’m sending back the whole weather station, I can’t use it at all in this state. Take a hint from GoPro on how to handle wifi-based config, it’s definitely possible to make this an easy user experience.

by MrEatOut

awnet is poorly documented. Like other reviewers I had to reboot my phone to get app to work. Console is nice display but getting configured for access via web was difficult. Turn off WiFi extenders. Use 2g only. Follow directions closely even if they are quirky.

by Windflyer3

awnet requires you to modify your wifi network to connect to the base monitor. So, I’m supposed to turn reconfigure my netgear router and extenders just to connect to the Ambient weather station?? What are these folks thinking? I bought this for my wife for Christmas, so I guess we”ll have to get by with the base station and forget the wifi.

by CameraAngle

App created by 3rd graders.

by ZOMBinic

After an hour of failing to connect, I finally tried deleting awnet and restarting my phone, which worked miraculously.

by Pb, Md

awnet makes it very easy to connect my Ambient weather station. I would give it another star if it also allowed app based calibration. Incidentally, the wind meter is poorly calibrated in the factory configuration, which is really disappointing in that I really don’t want to spend more money buying another device just for that.

by 8u9m4n

Turn off 5g on your router and app will work fine.

by Alsmith1964

Very simple app allowing you to connect your station to the Internet. Couldn’t be more simple.

by The Guy 33

Fun app, great to see the weather when you want.

by Danman3576

I didn’t have any problems setting it up, so I can’t complain. If you have multiple WiFi bands make sure your device is hooked up on the lower band or it won’t work.