Looking for a water thermometer that can work off of 2.4 / 5ghz and will integrate into Home Assistant. I could go the Ecowitt route but then would need to get that base station and would like to skip that if I can…
Don’t see any on amazon that are just a wifi connection, they all need their own hubs…
You could go with Esphome and a ds18b20. Or maybe a Bluetooth one like an inkbird ?
Is it indoor or outdoor ?
And if you do not want to mess with ESPHome, then a Sonoff TH10/16 is a smart switch with an option to use that DS18B20 sensor on the switch.
Then again you can probably also flash ESPHome on that switch, but then you have a nice case to it. 
If you are near a plug, ds18b20 with an ESP is great. If need battery powered, go with an inkbird with bluetooth or ESP32 bluetooth proxy. I messed around for months to use an ESP with ds18b20 in deep sleep mode to monitor my pool, and it was more hassle than worth. Inkbird worked great, just put inkbird body in a plastic bag and battery lasted all summer ourdoor.
Outdoor, preferably with a probe like the ecowitt device has…Was hoping to avoid the base station requirement…
Need something that is going to be constant, and not floating around like this without the gateway requirement: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0991ZMZT9/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_1?smid=A13RMNHJJ617OY&psc=1
Look at the inkbird IBS-TH1 Aquarium Probe, but need bluetooth dongle or esp32 proxy to get into homeassistant. It has probe and they have models with and without a display.
https://www.amazon.com/Inkbird-Thermometer-Hygrometer-Waterproof-Instrument/dp/B07TSCRK68?th=1
the inkbird unit itself is not waterproof, so you need to keep that out of the water.
Thanks. I would be using HA on a virtual box so not sure how well bluetooth would work for it? Also not sure how the inkbird would do in the sun in the desert? Looking to get water temps on a river that is about 75ft from the house through the house.
How long is that probe on the inkbird?
Probe is maybe a foot. Not quite sure how it would do in dessert heat, but most devices would probably have issues. 75ft is probably ok if you use esp32 bluetooth proxy plugged in as close as possible inside the house. Let that handle the bluetooth instead of your VM. Seems like tough requirements, may need to try a few different options. Inkbird is ~$20 and esp32 is ~$10, so you can give it a try for a reasonable price
Ya, I would go the ecowitt route but can’t get the base station to arrive before Christmas 