Hardware good, software not so much
To be fair, this review is being written by someone who uses Mac computers. Maybe the software is better on the PC side, but I’m having a devil of a time getting the software to work properly between the AMBIENTCAM2 solar camera, my base station, my laptop and my smart devices. For starters you have to know which software to use (NOT the Ambient VMS, but the AWN VMS), only it’s not included on the downloads page for the product on the Ambient website. Once you do find the software, and if you get it to recognize your device, then the fun starts with trying to configure the device and/or to remove/change parameters as you work thru problems on connectivity.
I am a seasoned tech person, and if I’m having trouble with this setup I’m guessing others will, too. You have a good base to start from, Ambient … please do something about this awful software. It will be your undoing if you can’t make this more user friendly. For starters, hire someone who knows about UI consistency across platforms and devices, model out some use cases, and prove to yourself that your product is friendly to the common user.
Today it is not.
I am a seasoned tech person, and if I’m having trouble with this setup I’m guessing others will, too. You have a good base to start from, Ambient … please do something about this awful software. It will be your undoing if you can’t make this more user friendly. For starters, hire someone who knows about UI consistency across platforms and devices, model out some use cases, and prove to yourself that your product is friendly to the common user.
Today it is not.
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WiFi issues
Had a very hard time setting this up thru the app, took around 2 hours but I got it to work after tons of trials and errors.
Difficult
After trying about 1000 times, I finally connected to Wi-Fi. I disabled my 5 GHz network. Using an iPhone. I went to settings, tapped wifi, tapped the i on my 2.4 GHz, scrolled down, and turned off private wifi address. Then, I followed the set-up instructions on this app. Finally, success!
Doesn’t work anymore
I could not get this to work after multiple attempts using an iPhone 17 Pro and iOS 26 and the WS-2902B station.
Luckily, I had an old Android device laying around (Pixel 3 with Android 12), so I downloaded the app on that, and it worked on the first try.
Luckily, I had an old Android device laying around (Pixel 3 with Android 12), so I downloaded the app on that, and it worked on the first try.
192.168.4.0/24 Network Issues
It is true, this app is not very good. However, I did eventually get it to work. I ran into a particularly challenging issue and I thought I would describe my findings here.
My home Wi-Fi network is broadcasting 192.168.4.0/23. The device’s Wi-Fi is also on 192.168.4.0. This causes a conflict so that, even after you correctly configure the device, it cannot then connect to your Wi-Fi.
The solution was to set up a separate Wi-Fi network with a different address space. I was then able to configure the device.
My home Wi-Fi network is broadcasting 192.168.4.0/23. The device’s Wi-Fi is also on 192.168.4.0. This causes a conflict so that, even after you correctly configure the device, it cannot then connect to your Wi-Fi.
The solution was to set up a separate Wi-Fi network with a different address space. I was then able to configure the device.
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