Signals vs. Fireboard 2

[Bif Hunkly]

I'm wavering between the Signal or the Fireboard 2 for my backup probe system. Has anybody used both and has a clear preference?. Many of the reviews I'm reading lean towards the Signal. It looks like the Fireboard has better battery life but both work while charging... The Fireboard having the extra ports is nice but you have to buy the extra probes where the Signal looks like it comes with them all. It's also Thermoworks and I have a few of their other thermometers... It's a lot of $$$ so I want to make sure I make an informed decision. I've read a lot on here about different probes but didn't see anything directly comparing the two... Any suggestions for the Signal or Fireboard?

 

[Bif Hunkly]

Dang, I keep going back and forth. I was pretty sure I was going towards the Signal but the now the battery life bothers me at 16 hours and it taking 12 hours to charge.
Arrggh

 

[mooncusser2k]

I went back and forth myself. Then the deal for the Inkbird WiFi unit happened and I went with that to save a chunk of cash. So I'm no longer in the market for now.

Signals will go on sale again at some point. Fireboard not including a full set of probes is off-putting to me.

 

[Bif Hunkly]

I went back and forth myself. Then the deal for the Inkbird WiFi unit happened and I went with that to save a chunk of cash. So I'm no longer in the market for now.

Signals will go on sale again at some point. Fireboard not including a full set of probes is off-putting to me.

Good points. The lack of probes made me change my mind on it when I almost pulled the trigger earlier. But charging 12 hours for 16 hours of battery life is ridiculous.

 

[Wslayer]

Inkbird, a 1/3 the price and gets the job done as well as the others. The smoker is doing the cooking, not the thermometer.
I would bet 95% of the people on here never even use a thermometer in their oven. Not a big difference.

 

[Smoked Dog]

One thing I like about the Fireboard is that you can monitor/graph the probe temps on a PC. I can do this with my aging Stoker II hardware and StokerLog software, and I really like that capability. Not sure if the Signal can do that.

 

[Mike]

Got a link for the Signals unit?

I have really been eyeing the Fireboard 2, that new setup looks amazing!

 

[charlesrshell]

Got a link for the Signals unit?

I have really been eyeing the Fireboard 2, that new setup looks amazing!

https://www.thermoworks.com/Signals

 

[charlesrshell]

This InkBird model looks nice too for the price. I like the color coded probes.

https://inkbird.shop/products/ibbq-...xG6n2wzeBc0nSn-uELmq55uYU5WxqkCKfq_AhgIvisOjM

 

[bfletcher]

I have the original Fireboard but not a Signals, so I don't have a comparison. However; from what I see online the Fireboard comes with just 1 less probe than the Signals.

I'm a heavy desktop user and, so, I love the Fireboard web-based app (Dashboard). I can sit at my desk and use a full keyboard to type my cook logs.

 

[Bif Hunkly]

Inkbird, a 1/3 the price and gets the job done as well as the others. The smoker is doing the cooking, not the thermometer.
I would bet 95% of the people on here never even use a thermometer in their oven. Not a big difference.

I do when we are doing a long cook like a turkey or a roast. Everything else, I test with my thermapen.

I have the original Fireboard but not a Signals, so I don't have a comparison. However; from what I see online the Fireboard comes with just 1 less probe than the Signals.

I'm a heavy desktop user and, so, I love the Fireboard web-based app (Dashboard). I can sit at my desk and use a full keyboard to type my cook logs.

Thank you - that's one of the reasons I was looking at the Fireboard and Signals. I want to be able to keep track of my cooks and modify them as necessary. The goal being to tweak the cook until it's perfect and then make it the same every time after that.

I think I'm gonna go ahead and buy the Fireboard 2. The battery life is what is selling me on it.

 

[sprintdammit]

I do when we are doing a long cook like a turkey or a roast. Everything else, I test with my thermapen.

Thank you - that's one of the reasons I was looking at the Fireboard and Signals. I want to be able to keep track of my cooks and modify them as necessary. The goal being to tweak the cook until it's perfect and then make it the same every time after that.

I think I'm gonna go ahead and buy the Fireboard 2. The battery life is what is selling me on it.

Will you please report back on your battery life experience with the Fireboard 2? I have a signals and I HATE the limited battery life so much that I'm considering switching, which stinks given the cost of these units. Any long smoke requires that I get temperature stabilized using my ambient probes, then get the meat probes in and monitor for a short while before unplugging the probes to top off the charge on my Signals.

It doesn't take 12 hours to get a full charge, in my experience. 7 or 8 hours has been my experience.

 

[Bif Hunkly]

Will you please report back on your battery life experience? I have a signals and I HATE the limited battery life. Any long smoke requires that I get temperature stabilized using my ambient probes, then get the meat probes in and monitor for a short while before unplugging the probes to top off the charge on my Signals.

It doesn't take 12 hours to get a full charge, in my experience. 7 or 8 hours has been my experience.

Will do. It should be here tomorrow and I plan on smoking a pork butt this weekend.

 

[charlesrshell]

Are there any issues with Thermoworks Signal thermometer 2.4 GHz WiFi connecting to dual network routers? My router does both 2.4 and 5 GHz but it can't be set to 2.4 only. I see there is a sale going on with Thermoworks. I am thinking about it.

 

[Bif Hunkly]

I'm not sure - when I couldn't get the RecTeq to set up on my mixed WIFI, I set up the guest WIFI signal as a 2.5 only. So I think I connected it to that. It may not have a problem though because I'm pretty sure it connected with bluetooth from my phone and then I set up the wifi through it.
I can tell you that I'm loving my Signals.

 

[charlesrshell]

I'm not sure - when I couldn't get the RecTeq to set up on my mixed WIFI, I set up the guest WIFI signal as a 2.5 only. So I think I connected it to that. It may not have a problem though because I'm pretty sure it connected with bluetooth from my phone and then I set up the wifi through it.
I can tell you that I'm loving my Signals.

Thanks @Bif Hunkly. My Orbi Mesh router's guest network is also 5 GHz and can't be changed to 2.4. I lucked out that my wife had an old IPAD that is 2.4. So I was able to get my Recteq control panel to connect to my router.

I sure like the price of the Inkbird thermometer and it has color coded probes. Don't have to worry about using color coded bands on the probes. But, I think the probes are food probes only and no air temp probe. I am wanting the air temp probe too. Plus, I don't think the Inkbird is waterproof and backlit.

https://inkbird.shop/collections/wi...ts/wi-fi-bluetooth-grill-thermometer-ibbq-4bw

 

[Bif Hunkly]

I thought about the Inkbird but in the end, I went with Thermoworks because of my horrible experience with Fireboard. I'm glad I did though. I've yet to use the colored rings because I've only cooked one thing at a time, but I use the air temp constantly and alter the RecTeq temps according to it.
I have their Thermopen, and a probe system by them that I use in our oven for doing turkeys. I trust Thermoworks completely - I should have just went with the Signals in the first place. So far the battery life has been more than adequate. It does take a while to charge but it's not like I'm doing back to back 17 hour cooks...

 

[charlesrshell]

Understand. When I did my first cook I had to use both Stampede food probes. I needed too because the wife has to have no sugar BBQ sauce. Well, I didn't have color coded probe bands at the time and got confused which probe went where. Wife not happy. I have color coded bands now. LOL. I have a Thermapen Mk4 too and love it. I also not concerned about battery life and charging time. I too am concerned my Bullseye ambient temp is not correct and want to check it. I think I will pull the trigger for the Signal. Thanks again for your help.

 

[Bif Hunkly]

Great! What's nice about the Signals is that you can label the probe in the app and it shows up on the little screen on the unit. A pretty cool feature. I think you'll be happy with it.

 

[charlesrshell]

Great! What's nice about the Signals is that you can label the probe in the app and it shows up on the little screen on the unit. A pretty cool feature. I think you'll be happy with it.

I saw that. Pretty nice.