After Bidets, the second most lifechanging woot. a great product that is light years ashead of Hunter sprinkler controllers.
If you’ve ever spent an hour in the spring trying to reprogram your sprinkler controller you will be amazed by the simplicity of this unit. sprinklers are simple to control from your phone, by the system program, to the individual zones down to the minute.
I wish I could justify getting a v 2…but my v1 works so great. A+
I literally just installed this thing (8 station) this last weekend it was very easy to install except when it came time to connect it back to Rachio.
I don’t want to dissuade anyone from getting one because like schorert said, these are awesome; However, one word of advice…
Make sure you know how to setup a guest network on your home router if you don’t already have one. My router is kinda tightly wound, so it got through the first 2 stages (connecting to WiFi and Internet) to the 3rd stage (there are 4 stages), but then died repeatedly. I was just about to update the firmware on my router (basically forcing a complete re-setup) before I remembered reading somewhere that a guest network was another way to solve the connecting back to Rachio’s cloud problem (3rd stage). I did that and Bingo it went through. I’m guessing they must be using some non-standard port that the router doesn’t normally let get through.
Apparently there are some tools for ferreting out networking issues with their support staff, so even if you run into an issue, they have ways to help you figure out what to do.
They also have all sorts of options for different kinds of sprinkler system setups . Mine was pretty vanilla, but if you have a complicated system, they have options for sensors, flow valves, misters, drip lines, etc. And if you want to get real detailed on how much watering should be done, you can get down into different kind of soil types, plants, and level of water you want in the soil. Way more than I ever want to think about.
So far, pretty happy with my purchase.
I love my Rachio but it’s staying with the house I’m selling. Will definitely get one for my next home!
Yes, these are great. I replaced an existing two controllers (one front, one back, pain to lay the cable, but otherwise easy) with the 16 count jobby. I don’t remember the wi-fi having issues. It’s been pretty easy to use, as well. Definitely worth doing, skips days it is going to rain, or if it just rained the night before. Set up is NOT having to go out, twist the dial, pressing the button to select A B or C, count the days, then hours, then time to water, wait was 1 Monday or Sunday, was A the winter or summer schedule? Just enter grass and dirt type and it self-adjusts for the seasons all year long. Makes it easier to test new sprinkler heads, just turning it on via your phone. Recommended.
Yeah…the ability to test the sprinkler heads from your phone is almost worth the cost right there. No more, turn it on, run around the house to where the sprinklers are, figure out which one has a problem, run back to the controller and turn it off.
Turn it on…See the problem…turn it off…done.
lol…I installed a bidet the week before installing my Rachio.
Received mine in the mail today. The box had a sticker on it that said, “New Open Box”. However, the listing stated “New - Non-Retail Packaging”. So, that begs two questions:
- Did anyone else’s have the same sticker?
- Does “New Open Box” mean that this was an open box return?
No, that’s how Rachio marks them when they’re not in a retail box. Mine was the same way when I bought it over a year ago. No worries.