Topic: Weatherbridge?

[ubedawg]

First let me say that I am a total noob at this.  This is NOT my forte.  We have had a weather station for years now, but I know next to nothing about it.  I've been poking around in the forums and quite frankly, it's rather daunting.  I'm hoping that somebody can answer a hopefully simple question.   

Existing configuration: 
Old VantagePro 2, appears to be a serial interface to a HR-IXPWINDi.   There is a RJ11 (phone) cable, one end plugs into the VP2, the other end plugs into a serial (9 pin) device, which is in turn, plugged into the HR-IXPWND. 
Weather data is uploaded to WU and that's it. 

Our PWS has been appearing offline for about a week now at WU.   The HR-IXPWINDi just seems so temperamental and difficult to deal with.  I have many wireless devices on the Wifi, and have never experienced so much difficulty.   If I go into the router and view attached devices, I can see the weather station.  If i enter the IP address in a browser, I cannot get into the configuration.  Yesterday I rebooted the router and after the time allowance for all the devices to connect, I got the IP address of the IXPWIND and was able to get in.  I could view all of the weather data, the settings, etc.
Today, I cannot get into it.  The browser says 'Connecting..' but then it times out. 
The IXPWIND product is old and no longer supported.  No firmware updates, etc., so I figured I should just get a new IP thingy, and hopefully life will be easier. 

I've settled on a WEATHERBRIDGE from Ambient. 
It *appears* that all I need is the weatherbridge, and the USB to Serial converter?   From what I can see, the serial cable coming from the VP2 (female) would be connected to the serial to USB converter (male), and the converter plugged into the weatherbridge?

Thanks in advance for any responses.  I hope I've provided enough information.   My tech skills are pretty limited 

[Bushman]

Your proposed config is correct.  I would be sure to get a good quality Serial-USB converter: cheapies might not be reliable. You might also have to figure the USB version into it (ie. use of a downconverting hub). 

Another option is to  get a TP Link 3020 router and flash it  yourself with Meteobridge.  You will save a lot of money doing that and there are many here with limited tech skills that have done this.

[DaveG]

I have two VP2 wireless stations both updating websites, WU, and other servers using Meteobridge.  One I have plugged directly to a standard Meteobridge via a Davis USB data logger that is installed in the station console, and attached to my router via Ethernet.  The other station uses a Meteobridge Pro.  It gets data directly from the sensor array via RF rather than hooking to the console.  I also have it hooked to the router via Ethernet.  In both cases everything was close enough to my router I didn't need to use WiFi, although that option is available using Meteobridge.  I don't know if this information helps you or not but thought I would post it in case.

[ubedawg]

thanks for the responses. 
I think I am going to go with attempting to flash the 3020.  I'm not one to shy away from a challenge.  It seems that the Weatherbridge is the same thing anyway, except it's an easy button?   I've pored over a few forum posts and I don't know what 'bricked' means, but if anything goes wrong, I'll just hit that easy button lol.
I also found what appears to be a sufficient cable.  I made sure it had 2.0 USB interface:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MCZM6OM/ref=psdc_464404_t1_B00425S1H8?th=1

Again, thanks for your input!