At this point in time, I am considering relocating the 5n1 to my front yard, but it would be so close to the house that I am afraid the data collected would not be of much value. I am retiring next June and was hoping to dabble in the realm of weather since it has always been so interesting to me. But I want it to be something reliable to me and others, not some kind of compromise to make the equipment work. Maybe I should look at a system that functions as advertised--it just seems the other brands are so expensive for someone just starting out.
It functions as advertised. You just have to deal with possible local interference issues and/or construction issues. There's not much Acurite can do with 433Mhz given the regulations they have to deal with.
Other equipment uses different frequencies and modulation schemes, but it does come at a higher price.
Have you considered trying their repeater? I know it's not generally recommended for the SmartHUB (as it won't improve levels in the way people think it will), but it does work. The only issue is that the SmartHUB works on the first useable signal it hears, so it won't "boost" a 1-bar signal to 4-bars, which seems to confuse a lot of people.