I Need a Weather Station That Uploa… AI recommendations | Parse
I need a weather station that uploads data to my personal website via FTP.
Data as of Sep 26, 2026 · Based on 297 AI responses from ChatGPT Search and Google AI Mode · See how Parse measures this
Use WeeWX as your FTP engine: it runs on Raspberry Pi/Linux, supports templates for site files, and is widely recommended. Pair it with Ecowitt sensors for a low-cost, easy integration. Choose Davis only if you want higher-accuracy hardware and don’t mind extra loggers and setup.
Best when you want an on‑premise, open-source solution to automate FTP uploads: runs on Linux or Raspberry Pi, supports templates and many stations; requires basic setup and a local Pi or computer.
Best when measurement accuracy is your priority and you accept extra cost/setup: Davis stations need a WeatherLink Live or USB data logger plus bridging software to perform FTP uploads.
Best when you want low-cost, flexible sensors that easily feed local software (WeeWX/Cumulus) for automated FTP uploads; affordable and widely recommended, but may need configuration to route files to your site.
Putting weather information on my own website - WXforum.nethttps://www.wxforum.net/index.php
6%
WeeWX: open source weather softwarehttps://weewx.com/
5%
WeatherTracker connectes to personal weather station.https://www.afterten.com/products/weathertracker/
2%
Weather MicroServer™ | Columbia Weather Systemshttps://columbiaweather.com/products/weather-monitoring/microserver/
2%
Virtual Weather Station Does Not Upload The Authenticated FTP Servers. - ambient weatherhttps://ambientweather.com/faqs/question/view/id/2233/
2%
Weather Displayhttps://www.weather-display.com/
1%
Tips for creating Wordpress site with Weather Display data - Let's Chat - Weather-Watch Forumhttps://discourse.weather-watch.com/t/tips-for-creating-wordpress-site-with-weather-display-data/70307
1%
Templates – How to connect your weather station to weatherstations-online.net – Weatherstations onlinehttps://weatherstations-online.net/knowledgecenter/templates/
1%
Weather Station Data Loggerhttps://wmrx00.sourceforge.net/
1%
Weatherstation with public data access? : r/myweatherstationhttps://www.reddit.com/r/myweatherstation/comments/1kfxyh0/weatherstation_with_public_data_access/
1%
Question: I need a weather station that uploads data to my personal website via FTP.
Yes. The important distinction is whether you need the weather station itself to upload directly by FTP, or whether you're happy to have a small computer/gateway collect the data and FTP it to your website.
For a personal website, I'd look at these approaches:
Ecowitt + a small local computer/gateway — inexpensive and flexible. Ecowitt gateways can provide the station data locally, and software such as weewx can turn that into web pages/files and upload them to your hosting account.
Ecowitt GW3000 - $54.99 (Ecowitt)
Davis Vantage Vue / Vantage Pro2 + WeatherLink — substantially more expensive, but very good hardware. Davis provides an API and website-embedding options, although its current system is primarily cloud/API-based rather than simply FTPing files directly to your server.
A station designed around local publishing — if your requirement is specifically “every few minutes, automatically FTP weather.html/data files to my existing hosting account”, I'd prioritize a station compatible with weewx. That gives you much more control over the exact files, HTML, graphs, CSS, and FTP destination.
What I'd recommend
If you already have a website and FTP access, Ecowitt + weewx is probably the route I'd investigate first. You can have:
Weather sensors → Ecowitt gateway → local computer/Raspberry Pi → weewx → FTP → your website
That avoids being locked into a manufacturer's website and lets you completely control how the weather page looks.
If you tell me your budget (e.g. under $200, $300–500, or $1,000+) and whether you need wind + rain + temperature/humidity + barometer, I can narrow it down to 2–3 specific stations that will work with your FTP setup.
Almost no modern consumer weather stations upload data directly to a personal website via native FTP. Instead, modern Wi-Fi weather stations (like Ecowitt or Ambient Weather ) upload data to manufacturer servers or cloud networks (like Weather Underground or Ecowitt.net), which you then fetch via API, or they require a bridge software running on a local computer, Raspberry Pi, or custom server to push the files via FTP.[2][3]
The most reliable, workhorse setups to feed a personal weather website via FTP involve specific hardware paired with dedicated weather software.
Recommended Approaches for FTP Web Uploads
Ecowitt Ecosystem (e.g., Ecowitt HP2551 or Wittboy with GW1100/GW2000 Gateway): Ecowitt hardware natively supports a "Customized" server setting in their WS View Plus app. You can point the weather gateway to push raw data via HTTP/HTTPS directly to a PHP script on your web hosting server (such as PWS Dashboard or CumulusMX), bypassing third-party clouds entirely.[2]
Davis Instruments Vantage Pro2 / Vantage Vue + WeatherLink Console + CumulusMX/WeeWX: Davis stations are professional-grade. The hardware connects locally, and running lightweight companion software like WeeWX or CumulusMX on a always-on local device (like a Raspberry Pi or home server) will format the templates and handle the actual FTP/SFTP uploads to your web hosting provider.
Ambient Weather (e.g., WS-2902) + WeeWX: Ambient stations have great local API access. Using a local server running WeeWX to pull data from the local network and push it out via FTP is a very common community approach.
Comparison of Popular Solutions
Hardware / Solution
Local Data Access
Direct Web/Custom Server Push
Requires Local PC/Server for FTP
Ecowitt (GW2000 + Sensors)
Yes (Local API / WS View)
Yes (Custom HTTP/IP post to server)
Optional (Can push direct to web scripts)
Davis Vantage Pro2 + WeatherLink
Yes
No (Pushes to Davis Cloud)
Yes (Required for automated FTP pages)
If you'd like to narrow this down, please tell me:
Do you already have a local always-on device (like a Raspberry Pi or home server) or do you want the station to talk to your web host completely standalone?
What software framework (if any) are you using on your personal website (e.g., WordPress, PHP/PWS Dashboard, or raw HTML templates)?
I can give you the exact hardware and configuration recipe.
Yes. The key distinction is whether you mean true FTP directly to your web host, rather than merely uploading to Weather Underground/WeatherLink and embedding that data.
Ecowitt WS2910 Wi-Fi Weather Station - $123.99 (Ecowitt)
Davis Vantage Vue - $425.00 (Davis Instruments)
Davis Vantage Pro2 - $1,155.00 (Davis Instruments)
Ecowitt + GW3000 — probably the most flexible route. The GW3000 supports Wi-Fi and Ethernet, and Ecowitt's current gateways can send station data directly to a server you specify. Ambient Weather's documentation describes this kind of direct-to-your-own-server setup, including configurable hostname, protocol, path, port and upload interval.
Davis Vantage Vue / Vantage Pro2 — a more premium, robust station. Davis provides an API for getting station data onto your own website, although that's API-based rather than native FTP.
Cheap Wi-Fi stations such as the WS2910 can work well if you're comfortable putting a small intermediary program/server between the station and your website.
If FTP is a hard requirement
I'd specifically look for a station/gateway that can do:
weather sensors → Wi-Fi/Ethernet gateway → FTP/FTPS → your web host
rather than:
weather sensors → manufacturer's cloud → your website
That lets you have complete control over the files on your site.
Tell me your approximate budget (e.g. under $200, $200–500, $500+) and whether your website host provides FTP/FTPS, SFTP, or only HTTP, and I can narrow this down to specific stations that will work with your setup.
Yes. The key distinction is that true direct FTP upload from the weather station itself is uncommon. Most modern stations either upload to a manufacturer's cloud service or send data to a local computer/gateway, which can then FTP the files to your website.
For your requirement, I'd look at these approaches:
Ecowitt GW3000 - $54.99 (Ecowitt)
Davis Vantage Vue with WeatherLink Console - $725.00 (Davis Instruments)
Davis Vantage Pro2 with WeatherLink Console - $1,035.00 (Davis Instruments)
Ecowitt is particularly interesting if you want control over the data. Its gateways can provide data locally, and third-party software can receive the station data and generate/upload your own website files. The GW3000 supports both Wi-Fi and Ethernet.
A typical setup would be:
Weather sensors → Ecowitt gateway → small always-on computer/Raspberry Pi → FTP → your website
That gives you complete control over the HTML/JSON/CSV files on your site.
Premium/accuracy choice: Davis
Davis Vantage Vue with WeatherLink Console - $725.00 (Davis Instruments)
Davis makes excellent hardware, and its WeatherLink system supports APIs and website embedding. Davis InstrumentsDavis Instruments However, I wouldn't choose Davis specifically for direct FTP. Its current ecosystem is much more cloud/API-oriented.
If you specifically mean "the station itself logs into my FTP server"
That's a much narrower requirement. Before I recommend a particular model, tell me:
FTP or SFTP? (Plain FTP, FTPS, or SFTP?)
Do you want HTML, CSV, JSON, or another file uploaded?
How often? Every 1 minute, 5 minutes, etc.
Do you have a Raspberry Pi/server/PC that can run 24/7, or must the weather hardware do everything itself?
If you need no cloud service and no PC, I can narrow this down to stations/gateways that can actually push data directly to your web server.
That gives you complete control over the HTML/JSON/CSV files on your site.
Uploading weather data directly via FTP (File Transfer Protocol) straight from a hardware weather station console to a personal web server is rare nowadays. Most modern consumer weather stations use an API/cloud push (sending data to Weather Underground, Ecowitt, or Davis servers), which your personal website then pulls via script, rather than the station acting as an FTP client.
However, you still have great hardware options and architectural patterns to get your data onto your personal website.
How Modern Weather Stations Feed Personal Websites
Instead of looking for a station with direct raw FTP upload (which is mostly limited to legacy serial/ethernet loggers or requires a middleman), choose one of these reliable paths:
The Ecowitt Ecosystem (Recommended for Direct Custom Push) : Ecowitt gateways (like the GW1100 or HP2551 ) feature a "Customized" server setting in their WS View Plus app. While it typically pushes via HTTP/HTTPS POST rather than raw FTP, you can point it directly to a simple PHP script on your web hosting server. The script receives the raw JSON/data string and updates your site instantly.[1]
The Weather Station + Weather Software Route (True FTP) : If your website must receive data via traditional FTP (e.g., uploading formatted .txt, .csv , or HTML template files like clientraw.txt for Saratoga or Cumulus templates), the industry standard is to connect your hardware station to a always-on local device running dedicated weather software:
Hardware: Davis Vantage Pro2 or Ecowitt/Ambient-compatible sensors.
Software : WeeWX, Cumulus MX, or Weather Display running on a small local server (like a Raspberry Pi or an old PC).
The Process : The software reads the station locally and natively handles automated scheduled FTP/SFTP uploads to your web host.
Top Hardware Configurations to Accomplish This
Why it works : Inexpensive, highly accurate modular sensors (rain, wind, temp, humidity). The gateway allows you to configure a custom server IP/URL destination via their app, bypassing closed ecosystems so you can ingest data on your backend.
Why it works : The gold standard for professional-grade backyard meteorological tracking. While the console uploads to Davis's cloud, you can use WeeWX running on a Raspberry Pi to intercept local data packets via API/USB/IP and push them via scheduled FTP to your custom web domain.
If you'd like to narrow this down, let me know:
Do you already have a weather station in mind or do you need a complete hardware bundle?
Is your web hosting running PHP/MySQL , or are you looking to upload pre-built static HTML/images via FTP?
Almost no modern consumer weather station directly uploads data to a personal website via FTP out of the box. Manufacturers like Davis Instruments or Ambient Weather route data through their proprietary cloud services or API endpoints (like Weather Underground), rather than hosting a raw FTP client on the hardware.
To achieve direct FTP uploading to your own web server, you need a two-component setup : a reliable weather station hardware array and a dedicated weather software bridge (running on a local computer, mini-PC, or Raspberry Pi) that pulls the sensor data and executes the FTP/SFTP transfer to your host.
Recommended Hardware
Almost any station supported by open-source logging software will work. Reliable choices include:
Davis Vantage Pro2 : Premium, highly durable professional station with modular sensors.
Ambient Weather WS-2902 : Popular all-in-one mid-tier home station.[1]
Software Bridges for FTP Uploading
You will need to run one of these software packages on a small always-on device (such as a Raspberry Pi or an old PC) on your local network. They grab data from your station locally or via a local API and handle the scheduled FTP/SFTP uploads to your web server.
Software
Description
Core Strengths
WeeWX
Free, open-source Python application.
Native, robust support for FTP and rsync to push customized HTML pages and charts directly to personal web space.
Cumulus MX
Lightweight weather station software.
Built-in real-time web tags and automated FTP/SFTP options for custom web templates.
How the Workflow Operates
Gather Data: The outdoor sensor array transmits radio frequency signals to your indoor console or local IP gateway.
Intercept Locally: The software bridge (WeeWX ) polls your station's local IP address or USB/Serial receiver every few minutes.
Render Pages: The software populates your customized HTML templates with current wind, rain, temperature, and pressure figures.
FTP Transfer: The application automatically logs into your web hosting via FTP or SFTP and uploads the updated files/images on your defined schedule.
If you'd like to narrow this down, tell me:
What weather station hardware (if any) do you already own?
What device do you plan to run 24/7 to handle the software (e.g., a Raspberry Pi, a spare Windows PC, or a Linux server)?
Yes. The key distinction is whether you mean the weather station itself should connect directly to your web server by FTP, rather than merely uploading to a manufacturer's cloud.
I’d narrow it down this way:
Davis Vantage Vue & WeatherLink Console - $1,048.05 (Jacobs Digital)
Davis Vantage Pro2 Wireless Sensor Suite - $735.00 (Davis Instruments)
My recommendation
If direct FTP is an absolute requirement, I would not buy a Davis or Ambient station without further checking the exact data path. Modern Davis systems primarily send data to WeatherLink Cloud; Davis documents an API and embedded widgets for putting data on your own site, but that's different from an FTP upload directly to your server.
A Davis Vantage Vue/Pro2 + a local computer/Raspberry Pi running weather-station software is a much more flexible approach. The station supplies the measurements, and your local software can generate HTML/CSV/JSON files and FTP them to your website. Davis supports USB data logging to a computer, for example.
The Ecowitt GW3000 is also interesting because it has both Wi-Fi and Ethernet and is designed as an IoT weather-station gateway.
If you tell me these 3 things, I can find the exact setup
Budget: e.g. under $250, $500, $1,000
Sensors: temperature/humidity/wind/rain, or also UV/solar/soil moisture, etc.
Server: Linux hosting/cPanel, Windows server, Raspberry Pi, etc.
Most importantly, if you specifically need “station → FTP → my existing website” with no manufacturer cloud, tell me that. I can search specifically for stations/gateways that support native FTP or an easy Raspberry Pi/local-FTP solution, rather than recommending cloud-only products.
Davis Vantage Pro2 + a computer/Raspberry Pi — my choice if reliability and long-term data quality matter. Davis provides local data access/API options, but its current WeatherLink products primarily upload to WeatherLink Cloud rather than directly to arbitrary FTP servers.
Ecowitt + local gateway — potentially the most interesting route if you're comfortable running a small script/server. The gateway provides Wi-Fi/Ethernet connectivity and gives you much more control over getting the data onto your own infrastructure.
Ambient Weather — good consumer-friendly hardware, but its normal workflow is centered around AmbientWeather.net and other online services rather than arbitrary FTP.
If FTP is an absolute requirement
I'd actually recommend weather station → local computer/Raspberry Pi → FTP → your website.
That gives you exactly what you're asking for:
Outdoor sensors
↓
Weather station console/gateway
↓
Raspberry Pi / small PC
↓
FTP
↓
yourwebsite.com/weather/
The Pi can periodically generate files such as:
current.json
weather.html
weather.txt
weather.csv
and FTP them to your hosting account every 1–5 minutes. You can then make the website display the data however you want.
This is considerably more flexible than being locked into a manufacturer's cloud. For example, Davis explicitly supports using its station data through an API, which could be consumed by your own program.
If you tell me your approximate budget ($200, $400, $1,000+), whether you already have a Raspberry Pi/PC, and what sensors you want (temperature, humidity, wind, rain, UV, solar radiation, etc.), I can find you a specific station + gateway setup that will work with FTP.
Direct FTP uploading straight from a modern weather station console to a web server is rare nowadays. Most modern consumer weather stations (like Ambient Weather or Ecowitt) rely on cloud APIs or local HTTP posts rather than maintaining a built-in FTP client.
To feed data directly to your personal website via FTP, you have two primary, reliable architectural approaches:
Approach 1: Hardware/Gateway with "Custom Server" HTTP Post + a PHP script on your host
Instead of raw FTP from the weather station itself, brands like Ecowitt (and their OEM equivalents like Froggit, Fine Offset) feature a Customized setting in their WS View Plus app.
How it works: The weather station gateway pushes a periodic HTTP GET/POST request containing all sensor data to a target server URL.
On your website: You place a small PHP script (such as those used by PWS Dashboard or custom scripts on GitHub ) on your web hosting space. The script catches the incoming data packet, parses it, and dynamically updates your site or generates flat files (JSON/CSV) locally.
Recommended Hardware: [Ecowitt GW2000 or HP2551 [Gateway/Stations] support this customized server upload natively without needing an always-on computer.[1]
Approach 2: Weather Station + WeeWX (The Gold Standard for FTP)
If you want traditional, robust FTP file generation (where text, graphs, or HTML files are compiled and uploaded via FTP/SFTP on a rigid schedule), you pair a compatible weather station with a dedicated low-power server running WeeWX.
How it works: You run WeeWX on a small always-on device like a Raspberry Pi or a home server. WeeWX pulls data locally or via the cloud from virtually any weather station brand (Davis Instruments, Ecowitt, Ambient Weather).
The FTP Feature: WeeWX has a built-in, highly configurable StdReportFTP/RSYNC engine that generates high-res weather graphs and HTML pages and pushes them directly to your personal web hosting via FTP on every cycle (e.g., every 5 minutes).
Recommended Hardware Combo: A or (via WeatherLink IP/USB/Wi-Fi) or an communicating locally with a Raspberry Pi running .
To help narrow down the best setup, tell me:
Do you already own a weather station , or are you buying from scratch?
Is your personal website hosted on a standard cPanel/PHP web host where you can run scripts, or a static host?
Are you comfortable running a small local device like a Raspberry Pi to handle the data translation?
Yes. The key requirement is a station/gateway that can send data directly to a custom server rather than only to the manufacturer’s cloud.
My top choice would be Ecowitt. Current Ecowitt gateways such as the GW3000 support a “Customized” upload server, and Ecowitt’s documentation explicitly describes sending station data to your own server.
Ecowitt Wittboy GW2001 - $199.99 (Ecowitt)
Best setup
Ecowitt GW2001/Wittboy — good all-in-one outdoor sensor system; the gateway sends the readings over the Internet.
Configure its custom upload to your website.
Your website receives the data and writes/updates whatever files your site needs.
If your requirement is specifically FTP, rather than HTTP/custom upload, I'd put a small intermediary on your web server (or a Raspberry Pi/VPS) that receives the station's data and places the resulting files via FTP/SFTP.
A less expensive option is the Ecowitt WS2910:
Ecowitt WS2910 - $123.99 (Ecowitt)
Its documentation confirms customized-server uploading, with configurable server/hostname, path, port, station ID/key and upload interval.
If you want the station to speak FTP directly
That's an important distinction. I wouldn't buy a station until we verify that its firmware actually supports FTP, because many products advertise "upload to your website" but mean HTTP/API rather than FTP.
For comparison, Ambient Weather consoles can upload directly to a custom website, but their documented mechanism is an HTTP-based upload rather than conventional FTP.
If you tell me what your website is hosted on (for example cPanel/GoDaddy, a Raspberry Pi, WordPress, or your own Linux server) and whether you need actual FTP specifically, I can narrow this down to 2–3 stations that will work with your setup, including current prices.
Ecowitt + a small local computer/gateway — inexpensive and flexible. Ecowitt gateways can provide the station data locally, and software such as
weewx can turn that into web pages/files and upload them to your hosting account.
