Thanks, Sieghard. It sounds very cool. I suspect one may be in my future. P.S. - Maybe you should become a distributor! <smile>
________________________________ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Sieghard Weitzel Sent: Friday, November 16, 2012 3:31 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: Netatmo Weather Station WiFi connection problem Hi Keith, Here is what they say on the website: Wireless specifications Wifi 802.11 b/g/n compatible (2.4GHz). Supported security: Open/WEP/WPA/WPA2-personal (TKIP and AES). Wireless connection between modules: 915 MHz or 868 MHz long range 100m. If you actually get 100 metres (330 feet) is something you would have to check, but I'm sure in most situations you would have the outdoor unit between 5 and 20 metres away from the indoor unit and in any case, it sounds you have plenty of range to place it anywhere on a standard town property. Here is a review I found which I thought explains the device well and gives a balanced summary about it's positive and negative aspects, keep in mind that Netatmo only released this product a few weeks ago and I get the impression they will follow through with what they promise which, among other things, are additional sensors for measuring stuff like rainfall, windspeed etc. I should also point out that what the reviewer said about the outdoor unit having to be within range of your WiFi network is not correct according to what Netatmo says on their website. It actually makes sense that it doesn't have to be in range since the indoor unit is what connects to your WiFi and the outdoor unit is prepaired with the indoor unit using 915 Mhz, this is a band that was used with older cordless phones and I always found that these older 900 Mhz phones had much better range. Here the review: The Netatmo Weather Station is described as "the first personal weather station for iPhone & iPad." The Weather Station itself consists of two pieces of hardware, and the company provides a free iOS app for accessing weather data from these devices. Like a standard weather station, the Netatmo Weather Station has an indoor module and an outdoor one. Each module is a sleek-looking aluminum and white-plastic cylinder; the indoor module is six inches tall, with its outdoor counterpart about four inches tall. The indoor module needs to be plugged into a power outlet, while the outdoor module uses four AAA batteries. Though the battery power means you can place it anywhere, you must position the outdoor module in a location that's in range of your Wi-Fi network. To set up the Weather Station, first you connect a USB cable from an iOS device (running the Netatmo app) to the indoor module; the app transfers your Wi-Fi-network settings and credentials from your iOS device to the indoor module so it can access your network. The outdoor module is pre-paired with the indoor module, so after tapping a few setup buttons and screens, the entire weather station is up and running. The Weather Station gets your geographic location from your iPhone, so the system is able to determine your exact altitude for calibrating its barometric-pressure sensor. In addition to pressure, the Weather Station measures temperature, humidity, and, for the indoor module only, CO2 and ambient noise level. Once I set up the Weather Station, I found that it took a few days for readings to stabilize. I already own a standard weather station, and there were fairly large differences in temperature and humidity readings at first. But after the initial-literal-acclimation period, the Netatmo's readings were close to those of my existing weather station, which, thanks to recent professional testing, I know is accurate to within 1/2 a degree. To view current readings, you launch the iOS app, which shows all collected data and, when you rotate your iOS device to landscape orientation, shows graphs of data over time. The Weather Station takes automated readings every 5 minutes, so these graphs can show you detailed information if, for example, you want to know what the temperature was at a particular time during the night. If you want to take an instant reading of current conditions, you just press the top of the indoor module. A screen in the Netatmo Weather Station's iOS app The iOS app is very well designed, letting you see all of the available data in a glance. If you drag the horizontal bar (in the middle of the screen) upward, you see more information, including the latest indoor CO2-leel and sound-level readings; dragging the bar downward shows you weather forecasts for the next three days, and you can swipe to the left to see an additional three days. These forecasts-obtained over the Internet from weather-forecast sources-are as local as possible, since the iOS app uses the precise location of your Weather Station, and are updated every three hours. You can also use multiple Weather Stations together; tapping the bar at the top of the app's screen lets you choose a different station. (When using the app, you can access weather stations on your local Wi-Fi network; you can view the data for any weather station, local or remote, via your account on the Netatmo website.) However, Netatmo does not currently sell individual outdoor modules-if you want to monitor data at, say, two locations around your home or office, you'll need to buy two full sets, each with an indoor and an outdoor module. This is because, as noted above, the two modules are pre-paired. A Netatmo representative told Macworld that the company is considering offering outdoor modules separately in the future. The only downside to this device is that you cannot see the current temperature without using an iOS device (or a website). The system would be a bit more useful if it included a small LED display somewhere on the indoor unit that could display basic conditions, so you don't have to use your iPhone or iPad just to check the outdoor temperature. Bottom line The Netatmo Weather Station is a bit pricey, but it's a very slick device. With modern design, good accuracy, and an easy-to-use iOS app, it makes it simple and fun to check the current weather, as well as to record and view weather data over time. If you're a weather geek, you'll want to check this out. From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Kramlinger, Keith G., M.D. Sent: Friday, November 16, 2012 1:09 PM To: '[email protected]' Subject: RE: Netatmo Weather Station WiFi connection problem Hi Sieghard, Thanks for this. Have you become aware of any stated guidelines in the instructions for how near the outside unit needs to be to the indoor unit to establish and maintain that connection? Thanks in advance. Keith ________________________________ From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Sieghard Weitzel Sent: Friday, November 16, 2012 1:28 PM To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: RE: Netatmo Weather Station WiFi connection problem Hi Reggie, Most people I think have a router which nowadays also has the capability to create your WiFi network. I have a router which does not have integrated WiFi, well, at least I do now, next week I get new routers for my business and home and they will also have WiFi. Anyhow, because my routers currently don't have WiFi, I use an Airport Express which is plugged into the router and which in turn creates the WiFi network. You can think of it like when in the old days people had stereo amplifiers and separate radio tuners for AM and FM radio. You had an amplifier and connected to it was a separate tuner with a cable. Nowadays just about everybody has either a stereo or home theatre receiver which is an amplifier that has an AM/FM tuner built into it. Similarly a WiFi capable router has the WiFi radio/component built into the router, it's all in the same box whereas mine is a router and separate WiFi unit (the Airport Express). Sorry for the long explanation, but I can't help it *smile*. Anyhow, if you have a router with WiFi at home which most of us do because we have iPhones, you should have absolutely no issues with the Netatmo Weather Station to connect to your WiFi. As I said, when I took it to the store in my town where they sell all the Apple stuff, they connected it to their WiFi and it was all done in 2 minutes. Just keep in mind that the setup wizard is currently not accessible, so you would need sighted help, but once it is connected the information is stored in the unit and you will never have to do this again unless you change the name or password of your WiFi network. The iPhone app is mostly accessible, a bit cluttered and you currently can't get the minimum and maximum temperature readings from the previous day, but as I said before, the company is awesome and have told me they are looking into making Voiceover improvements in an update in the next 4-6 weeks. I will continue to report about the progress and will become one of their Beta Testers although I won't be able to post much about beta versions of the app officially as developers don't want that. I have, however, a good feeling about these guys, they are responsive and willing. Regards, Sieghard -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VIPhone" Google Group. To search the VIPhone public archive, visit http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/viphone?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VIPhone" Google Group. To search the VIPhone public archive, visit http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/viphone?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VIPhone" Google Group. To search the VIPhone public archive, visit http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/viphone?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VIPhone" Google Group. To search the VIPhone public archive, visit http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/viphone?hl=en.
