Orbit 21005 B-hyve Smart Hose Watering Timer

Originally got the wifi “kit” with the hub and valve to see if it was worth the extra cost for wifi. With the rain delay feature alone, it saves on eliminating wasted water versus the old digital timer that required manual adjustment for every rain delay so not very convenient and unable to control remotely. After a few weeks, the orbit system has proven to be reliable. So I ordered a 4 port XD model for the other parts of the lawn but had to return it since it is not backward compatible with gen 1 wifi hubs. This is ultra irritating since these gen 1 are only single port. But since I already had the gen 1 hub it didn’t make sense to start over with gen 2 which offer very little other than the multiport timers. If anything, I’d wait to see what gen 3 or 4 brings for features since it’s apparent that’s the way these tech products go these days, a new gen every yr or two.So to remain compatible with existing investment, I ordered this gen 1 valve timer and a hose splitter. It was pretty simple to connect to my existing gen 1 wifi hub and so far it’s working well. I plan to reconfigure the sprinklers so I can daisy chain a soaker hose using a pass through fitting so that the one splitter will suffice. We seem to have enough water capacity depending on type of sprinkler, impact types seem to need the most pressure to flip them from side to side, so I can daisy chain maybe one off the impact type - the oscillator and soaker hose seem fine to add on after the impact but two impact types don’t work well, could be the particular models. Anyway, for reasonable cost I’m able to cover the majority of the lawn with a variety of sprinklers we luckily inherited from former owners who left them behind. Benefit with city water is savings on water usage/cost. Time will tell but just a handful of rain delays each month should pay for the hub and 2 timer system within 1 season.

Anyone who is proficient in home automation knows that NOT everything is going to be easy. Sometimes you need to put down the product, walk away, and come back to it. Such is with these. I've bought 3 total (well, now 5) and one is a dud.We bought the first 3 in the spring and installed them knowing that a) I was going to be away from my flowers for the summer and B) my husband was in charge of keeping the new sod and said flowers alive.When I got home from my 3 month hiatus my flowers were mostly alive... my husband decided to play with the system why trying to deal with thing b. So, thats not really orbits fault, but it is... let me explain: the reason he began to mess with these was because one died. Being that this whole automation thing is *my* thing, and not his- he had no idea what he was doing and wound up flooding my plants, killing the sod, etc. He LOVES that things work, but 98% of the time I am the one who is researching, purchasing and setting up.So, here I am, July, finally able to deal with it.. and I try to fix it. The thing still claims its connected to the hub, the app acts as though the box is watering stuff, but the lights aren't on and nobody is home inside the control box. So, what do I do? I go to orbits website and follow the links to make a warranty claim. I assume its going to be worse than the camera's he broke while I was gone.. but it was easier...So I begin to tell the automated messaging what is going on. and apparently I'm giving it to much detail but it has LITERALLY taken longer to write this review than it took to do the claim. I got a giftcard to replace it, which was MORE than the like-replacement, so I ordered 2 more.Because heck, if they are going above and beyond to replace a product that is defective, I'm throwing ALL my money at them.Sure, the app is wonky, but its usable and does 9 out of 10 things I need it to do (I really need soil sensors that can be integrated orbit!) I was worried when I first got the bhyve box's because I had one of orbits mechanical timers that blew out suddenly. I was hoping that paying a bit more would save me in repotting my plants for the fall. Indeed, it did. Only 2 pots died on his watch!But overall, in home automation the app is pretty standard imo. Its complicated, but more that the app was made for the more "expensive" version, aka, in ground sprinklers. I've watched my nextdoor neighbor fuss with his every year, I'm going to stick to my garden hoses and these little guys for life at this point!