Discontinued Rachio WiFi Smart Lawn Sprinkler Controller, 8-Zone 2nd Generation, Alexa Compatible with Rain, Freeze and Wind Skip (8ZULW-B)

Being able to run individual zones by telling Alexa (Amazon Echo) to do so seemed like just a novelty at first, but after spending several hours repairing drippers and replacing a few old sprinkler heads, I was happy to be able to manually run single zones for 3 to 5 minutes just by using my voice. "Alexa, start Rachio." "Rachio is ready. What would you like me to do?" "Run Zone 7 for 4 minutes." "Ok, running Zone 7 for 4 minutes." Although the Rachio has a super sophisticated watering system that automatically checks weather maps and soil conditions for our area via Wifi, it's nice that it's so easy to run single zones just by talking to Alexa. After using an old timer for 14 years and having to do this by pushing buttons on the actual timer, (and then sometimes it wouldn't work right) it's a breath of fresh air to have the whole system so automated. When was the last time I felt pampered by a sprinkler timer? Just prior to purchasing this 8 zone Rachio, I bought an Orbitz B-hyve timer. It was great when it worked, but after their servers were down for an hour one night, the whole thing stopped working for a couple days (without telling me) and it took almost an hour on the phone with with Tech Support and having to reboot the whole system, including removing the battery and reinstalling to get it going again. And then it failed again. I returned it and purchased this one instead. The Rachio was simple to set up. First, I disconnected the wires from my old timer and connected them to the Rachio. That was simple and straightforward, going from the old to the new. I plugged it into the electrical outlet and I downloaded the app for my iPhone and iPad (It says iPhone only, but works perfectly on my iPad) and set it up using the iPad. The Rachio searched for my Wifi network, found it, and asked me to type in my network password. It connected right away. That was the last thing I had to do with the timer itself. The app walked me through the rest. No punching buttons or turning dials on a timer. I sat on my familyroom sofa and did the set-up. The more info you enter about your soil type, incline of the terrain, types of sprinklers or drippers and different planting areas, the more accurate it will be about watering times. You can do fixed days or let the app figure out how often and how long to water. I started off just telling it to water every other day on odd numbered days and specifying the amount of time for each zone. Their system recently sent me an email telling me they made a seasonal adjustment, upping the watering time by several minutes. It's been super hot and dry here. How cool is that? I love that it lets me know, by email, what it's doing and any changes it makes. It lets me know when a watering cycle has started, when it's complete and the total watering time across all zones. I still can override it if I want, but even being the control freak that I am, I'm coming to trust this thing. The app interface is pretty easy to use. I wouldn't say it's super intuitive, and I did have to ask a few things on their community forum, but now that I know where everything is, it's easy to use. There's even a place to take photos of your different watering zones and it automatically uploads them to the app without you having to upload them yourself. Since my descriptions of each zone aren't always that clear, it's nice to see a photo of the zone I'm checking. I haven't had to call Tech Support yet because the questions I had were answered on the forum. (It's moderated and there always seems to be someone hanging around there.) We're watering 6 zones with 1 more still to be set up. There was one zone that we weren't using just because turning it on and off to check sprinklers to fix the broken ones with the old system was such a pain. It was easier to procrastinate and hand water that zone. With this system and Alexa, I had the sprinklers replaced and everything up and running in about 15 minutes, not counting the trip to the hardware store to buy the new sprinkler heads. (I know, not a lot of logic in spending hours over the last few years hand watering to avoid fighting with a crotchety old timer.) So I love this thing. It's more like a cool technology toy than a piece of necessary equipment to keep our yard looking nice. I like that everything can be done in the cloud once I tell it what we're dealing with, and I don't have to do a thing unless I want to. And it gets points for playing nice with Alexa! I do have to admit that the ability to use the Echo was a factor in my purchasing decision.

I've only had this a few days (watering cycles) but I'm very impressed with everything so far. It does seem that you get what you pay for. The installation was easy. I had absolutely not problems connecting the app to the controller and then to my home network. The signal strength to my router was average. I would say that the functionality of the controller is so-so, you can setup and run zones from the controller but all the good stuff in in the app and it makes setup and configuration very easy. I've had other hardware that depended on an app to configure it and been disappointed with the app (I'm looking at you Linksys) but the Rachio app is outstanding. You can set schedules, start/stop zones, and even check the current weather. If you use the automatic scheduling feature you can look several months into the future to get an idea of when and how often watering will occur. It's smart enough to know that here in Florida I don't need to water as often in Winter but forecasts that I will during Summer. The app allows you to configure each zone based on vegetation, soil type, amount of sun it receives, the type of sprinkler heads used, and the slope. There are advanced parameters to allow you to set much more in-depth configurations. The app provides information about the last time it watered a zone and the next time it is planned to be watered. It also provides information about how much water, in gallons, that have been used and saved but without a flow meter or being very precise in the advanced configurations I don't see how this can be very accurate, but it is a nice touch and does provide at least some knowledge of your water use. You could probably read your water meter before and after to get an idea of how accurate it is and then make some tweaks to the app to get it closer. I think the thing I like most is that when I'm working on sprinkler heads I can start/stop the zone I'm working on standing next to the head that I testing. No more starting a zone and then having to run thru the sprinklers to get to the head I'm working on. Very convenient. I cannot speak (yet) to it's ability to monitor rainfall in the area and shift watering schedules but I will know better once warmer weather returns and I'll re-post to my review. Anyway, I feel comfortable recommending it and I don't think you'll be disappointed.

I am an Australian customer. I purchased my Rachio Gen 2 approximately one year ago. I am going to outline my experience with the product and also my service experience: The Product. The Rachio Gen2 (8 Station) is a wonderful product. It is very easy to install and it is truly Smart. It configures itself for optimal performance, based on the inputs one provides - soil type, plant type, sun, shade, etc. I could have bought a locally supplied controller however some of those brands wanted an annual subscription fee in order to incorporate weather data, which enables to controller to skip watering when it rains, when it's too windy or the ground is saturated, etc. With those local brands, I was ostensibly getting a "Dumb" controller, unless I coughed up an additional $60 p.a. Basically, they wanted me to pay for data which is freely provided by the Bureau of Meteorology and other weather sources. No way! With Weather Intelligence Plus®, Rachio can aggregate 270,000 personal and commercial weather stations worldwide, for extreme accuracy. If you prefer, you can also choose the weather station you want. If it were to go down, Rachio will automatically find and connect to the next nearest and available weather station; that's very cool! The other thing that I liked when researching Rachio, was that the company appeared to genuinely "love" its product. It had a significant knowledge base and an online forum, with very active and supportive customers. People really like their gardens and they really Rachio! So I bought a Gen 2 and fired it up. It was fantastic. It has a great phone App, which offers numerous Smart watering features that I can easily control, override. My Rachio Gen 2 is happy to either do everything for me or allow me full manual control over my watering, and every shade in between. Being a Smart controller, it can be accessed anywhere in the world where there is either a wifi connection or cellular phone access. In February this year, during our hot Australian summer, we travelled to Northern India and then Vietnam. we were away for approximately one month. I had left the garden watering, to Rachio. As it hit 44 C. in Melbourne, while we were away, I has able to allay my paranoia by running some additional, non-scheduled watering from India and Vietnam. It was comforting to get an SMS back from my controller once they started and had completed. Please see the images of the pumpkin plant blocking our gate, on our return home! The Rachio is everything the company claims it to be; it's excellent and it's fun! My brother subsequently bought a Gen 2 as well for his farm and he is delighted with it. After-sales Service. Rachio provides first-class service! My background: I am a Director of an agricultural machinery company. Our point of differentiation is our exceptional pre-sales and after-sales service. We don't just play lip-service to this: we are fully committed to providing great service and building long relationships with our customers. Similarly, Rachio doesn't just talk the talk: it walks the walk. My experience with Rachio customer service follows: I recently attempted to activate terminals 7 & 8 of my Gen 2 controller. These hadn't been used before and I had some new vegetable beds to water. They did not work. The App indicated that they should be working but the weren't. Having a background in IT, I had experience in fault finding and went about A-B testing by connecting different solenoids to different controller terminals. I was able to rule out faulty solenoids. I subsequently emailed Rachio Support, which responded *promptly and courteously*. There is a significant time difference between the USA and Australia however depending on what time I sent emails, there was either a response that day or first thing, the next morning. To summarize my experience: 1. I was asked to try a potential but it failed. 2. The Support person, Skyler, then advised that he would send me a new controller straight away. 3. I advised Skyler that I wanted to do one more test, before he sent it. That subsequent test failed too. 4. I advised Skyler of this failure and provided delivery details. He responded quickly and said the new unit was on the way. 5. The replacement controller arrived in 4 DAYS!!!! That's from Colorado (I believe) to Melbourne, Australia in 4 days, free of charge! This was an unbelievably good turnaround. 6. The problem with zones 7 & 8 persisted with the new controller. (The fault appeared to have been copied over). 7. A senior technician, Jared, contacted me **without my having to ask**. He was very keen to sort out the problem. 8. He suggested a factory reset and voila! The new unit worked and so did the original controller once it was reset. At no stage did I think I was a burden... indeed - I was "thanked" on numerous occasions for assisting them with the diagnosis. In the end, I believe the problem was a small glitch in an earlier version of the firmware. The company hadn't seen it before, hence its taking a few days to sort it out. I reiterate - from timely communication, diagnosis to delivery half way around the world in 4 days of a replacement controller, Rachio's customer service was exceptional. I thoroughly recommend this company and its products to everyone on the planet. Suggestions for improvement? Rachio may have attended to this already but if not, I would recommend that the required power supply, depending on your country, is nominated and supplied at the time of the order. I had to purchase a local 230V. power supply (AUD $20) as my original unit came with a 110V P/S. It would just make a great product a little bit better and besides, this product deserves to be sold worldwide, in large volumes because it's so good! Disclosure: I've written this superlative review for no other reason than those contained in it. Buy with confidence.

Have you ever looked at your irrigation controller in your garage and thought, "There has to be a better way?" Well, the Rachio Smart Controller is the better way. It's amazing that with all the technology in this world, we still find it acceptable to use an old school, Hunter, controller. And those still aren't cheap. Before you get stuck on the cost of this unit - go to your local water utility's website and see if you get a rebate. I got $100 off my next water bill because it is WaterSense certified. Since then, the Rachio has easily saved me over $100 in water. It paid for itself already. I never could understand how to use my old Hunter controller. I had no idea if I was setting Zone 1 for 20 minutes or Schedule A for 20 minutes. The Rachio easily fixes this with their Fixed Interval schedules. You select what zone, how often to water (odd/even days or every X days) and it works. Is it likely to rain? It won't water. Did it just rain? It won't water. No need for a rain sensor. You could use the controller for just the Fixed Intervals and be really happy. However, when you dive into the details or customization is where the real power of the controller comes. Flexible Daily controls are where the magic is. Using some pretty standard irrigation techniques in farms, etc, the Rachio makes every zone a "bucket." The first run fills the bucket and then it doesn't run until the bucket is half full. What makes the bucket less full? Hot weather, humidity, sun exposure, the type of grass, slope, etc. You can get as down and dirty as changing all these variables, or using the defaults. My city had a free sprinkler audit, which I used to get all of the information for the advanced variables. Getting some of it on it's own would be a bit tough. Like I said, I use some of the nitty gritty details (like adjusting the crop coefficient - something I never thought that I'd need to know) - but you can be just as happy using the defaults and taking advantage of weather intelligence and fixed schedules. I have a home full of nerdy tech gear, like the Wink Hub, Alex/Echo and Hue Lights - which can all work together with the Rachio, if you want. For example, you can tell Amazon/Echo to start watering one zone and turn your front light blue to remind you that the lawn is watering, if you want. I don't use this, but it's a possibility. But with all of these tech products in my home, they aren't all reliable. However, the Rachio is - by far - the most reliable of any of the home automation products in my house. If I just want to check a sprinkler head (like when I changed out a couple of my sprinkler heads for this one, it is almost instantaneous. Seriously. It's quicker than any light or other smart home product I've used. The app is great. The community is great. Their support (I had a question about shrubs) is great and quick, too. Overall, I can't recommend the Rachio enough to friends and family. If you're wanting to start home automation, I recommend this product and the Nest thermostat. They are easy and reliable.

So I have to admit that I was struggling to find the necessity for a connected sprinkler system. My entire house is full of IOT devices and I am a huge fan of connected technology. I finally decided to pull the trigger and see what all the fuss was about. First, the Rachio was simple to install. It took about fifteen minutes to get it connected to power, wired to my rain sensor and connected to wifi. Please do yourself a favor and check your wifi signal at the installation site. It's easy enough to do using the Ookla app or any others sped test site. I have a mesh wifi system so my speeds in the garage are very fast. Second, the app assists you with setup and accounts for types of sprinklers as well as soil types and actual weather data for your area. It was very simple to add the zones to the Rachio controller. The app is well thought out and makes installation very simple. So how is it useful? 1. I have dropped my water usage tremendously due to this device. Not only does it work with most irrigation systems, it can connect to weather stations in your area to help predict wether or not rain will be coming your way. The weather station closest to me is about six miles away so it has been very accurate. Please note that you will need to pay attention to your system when you first install it and make sure that if the system decides to skip a watering schedule, that the weather station you are tied to is close enough to be accurate. It has been spot on in my experience. 2. Having the Rachio controller makes troubleshooting or maintenance of my sprinkler system very easy. I no longer have to run a zone, run back to the controller to switch zones, and then run back to check on the next zone. Switching zones happens right from the palm of my hand from my iPhone. 3 Rachio integrates with several home automation platforms including Control4, SmartThings and Wink. This is useful because I can write rules that will delay the watering schedule. For example, if the Sonos for the backyard area is playing, delay the schedule until the speaker stops playing. It's sounds silly but it has saved me several times from total embarrassment during an outdoor gathering. 4. I get notifications every time the schedule runs or if watering is skipped due to rain. This allows me to keep an eye on what is happening. Now that I have had the Rachio for several months, I can hinstly say it is one of my favorite connected devices. It is absolutely worth the cost as I have dropped my water bill approximately $30 per month. If you have been thinking about purchasing the Rachio, do yourself s favor and pull the trigger. You'll be happy you did. Pros: Install time: approx 15 minutes App is intuitive and makes setup easy Rachio uses rain sensors and weather station data to predict rain and save from unnecessary water use. Customer service is great! Cons: I honestly have yet to find any. If I come across one, I will update my review. Feel free to send any questions you have about my real world experience with this device to [email protected]

I like the convenience and flexibility of the Rachio, but to really take advantage of all it has to offer requires a little more work. The control and scheduling via computer or the mobile app is a breeze. It doesn't play well with watering zones that have mixed plant types, so they suggest watering according to the type of plant that requires the most. I tried first to use the flexible daily schedule, and I know it will vary the watering based on moisture levels and other inputs, but the schedule was suggesting I water my main drip zones for 2+ hours. The one zone in the front has a couple mister/bubblers in it, which is my fault, I should have (and will change them) kept it all drip. Just at first glance, seeing a schedule with a total watering time of 7+ hours didn't make me think savings. When you set up the schedule and choose the type of watering head, keep in mind that the volume per minute is an estimate. This all contributes to the total water usage you see at the bottom of the app, and this number might give you a heart attack (if it were real). My water usage after the initial setup, yes just the setup part, showed 615 gallons. I about lost it. That number rises about 1000 gallons each watering session. We checked our normal water bill from our local city and that is when I realised the estimate was way off, thankfully. To really get an accurate estimate, and I know you can read this from the Rachio site and forum posts, you would need to collect water from the various heads or zones you use. If you want to dive in that deep, then you really deserve to save as much as possible. So for now I went with the flexible monthly schedule at night, and an additional daily at the same time schedule for our three drip zones in the early morning. The total watering times were roughly the same as what we were seeing with our old manual system. I may try out the daily flexible setting one day, but I want to see our first water bill to see the impact. I like how the system connects to local weather and can defer watering if it rains, and adjust to seasonal shifts. That in itself might make me lazy as I am the only one who adjusted the watering in the past when it rained. I am very happy I finally purchased this system and look forward to tinkering with it.

I am not prone to writing reviews. I buy something and seldom feel compelled to spend time/effort to do this. The Rachio is a product that has driven me to write a review because it is exceptionally impressive and performs well beyond the level of many competing units. I will assume that anyone reading this knows what the Rachio is and therefore will not dwell on describing its purpose. I want to explain what has made it stand out in my case. Features: Unbelievable. The Rachio somehow manages to be extremely easy to operate for a basic user while being unbelievably capable of fine-tuning for specific needs and advanced users. All of the adjustments are done through a very user friendly and highly polished app that provides clear descriptions and in depth detail (including illustrations) to help the user know exactly what setting is most appropriate for his/her application (eg. what is the right ground slope setting, sun exposure, sprinkler head types, plant types, etc.). The system allows one to adjust for a (potentially) overwhelming number of variables for each sprinkler zone to ensure that it not only saves water BUT FAR MORE EFFECTIVELY THAN A STANDARD TIMER OR USER COULD HOPE FOR --- encourages healthy/thriving lawns and plants. This is not just about saving water and money (though it does this exceptionally well), but making the yard so much more healthy than any other system I've been around while doing it all with nearly NO EFFORT on the user end of things. There is a genuine science behind a healthy yard related to the irrigation element and to apply this science at the level Rachio provides would be nearly impossible any other way and frankly with nearly any other system (including most other "smart" systems). Now, I said "potentially" overwhelming in mentioning setting options and "nearly" no effort earlier. This is because there might be some initial user effort to get things "ideal". However, compared to the seemingly unparalleled results that the Rachio can provide, if it is needed, the extra effort getting into the more advanced settings is well worth it and typically completely manageable thanks in large part to the next item of business. Company/support: I mentioned that the app provides incredibly accessible directions for basic setup. Optimizing the results for my yard involved some more advanced adjustments (which the Rachio allows for to an extent that a botanist/agricultural scientist can have a field day). For someone who does need to play with these "advanced" setting and/or who is not a botanist/agricultural scientist, these settings might appear confusing and even intimidating. Low and behold in all of the expected areas -and as the user desires- the app links to additional and very clear details that are truly brilliant in regard to how they are put forward on the support site. If that is not enough, the support community that is tied to all of it is extremely active with honest to goodness experts actively and frequently running about in the forum to answer questions and help nearly everyone out within a very short time. It is frankly unbelievable that this level of support, integration, AND knowledge exists. It is frightening to consider how great things could be if other U.S. businesses approached the world this way. It's only the surface of what I am talking about but certainly with Rachio, the user is NOT getting assistance from someone who is hard to understand (or who has a hard time understanding the customer) and who is clearly reading from a pre-scripted FAQ/dialogue tree. I have had to use restraint to avoid going into the particulars of just how well the system works, how polished it is, and precisely what all of these features are that make the Rachio so great. However, there are SO MANY that if I were to attempt to define and detail it all, the result would likely be a review that would be potentially off-putting at worse or overwhelming at best for most readers (probably already there). I will leave it to the potential owner to cherry pick and find the particulars from Rachio. So it is that I force my detail impulses to stand back. Extra details could get in the way of the main message. If you are interested in something like it, YES, you ABSOLUTELY should benefit from becoming a RACHIO OWNER. It is an exceptional product backed by an exceptional company!

The Rachio people were great. Help me set up the controller manually at first. Now, it works perfectly. My landscaper installed it but "knew nothing" about the wifi ("smart") part of it. I'm a computer lover, so I knew I could handle that part myself. I had a problem, though. I hadn't needed a password on my home wifi network. It requires a password. Also, I hadn't gotten around to installing the new router that Comcast had sent. My old one was fast enough. But it wasn't powerful enough to reach the Rachio controller installed on a lower floor. But I had a brand-new lawn and needed water right away. I called Rachio. Their people were great -- help me set up the controller for manual operation until I could get the wifi network sorted out. That ended up requiring a visit from Comcast tech, so it took several days. After that, I had to reconnect every "smart" device in my house, but the Rachio controller had no problem receiving the wifi signal and connecting to the password-protected network. Works great on my 5-zone system. Comes in, I think, 8 and 16 zones. I initially needed twice-per-day watering for my new lawn. That was a little hard to set up, but other than that, easy. It reads the weather and initiates a rain delay, if required, with no input from me. You can identify each zone with a photo (optional), set the length of time for watering for each zone, easily add more time or a second watering manually, if you want to, or shut it off -- all from anywhere you can connect your phone to wifi. The phone app will tell you when it's last watered and when the next planned watering will be. And you can control it with Alexa. There is just one caution there: It's necessary to be careful about wording if you shut it off. As someone else complained as well, it's easy to think you've shut it off by voice for the day when, in fact, you've shut off watering permanently. But that becomes apparent when you look at the next planned watering time. Several people, I think, have expressed their dismay to Amazon and Rachio about that, so maybe the concern will be addressed. Other than that, both Amazon and Rachio were extremely helpful, and I think it's a great product. The size is a little larger than my previous non-wifi controller, but it's cool-looking with its blue-lit "tree" in a circle. To set up watering manually or perform some other operations, you remove the cover to access controls. Almost everything is done on the phone app, however. Highly recommended.

Amazingly functional with almost too much information. So many options for programming zones. I don't have grass. Half acre of trees, perennials an annuals all on a multi level slope with as much as a 200' rise. I use various styles of emitters (drip, spray, low volume spinners, etc.). Over time things disconnect, clog and break. These must be discovered and repaired. All of the emitters in all of the zones are remote from the Rachio controller. There's at least 600' of half inch poly serving the zones. The beauty of this situation is that I can be in the field turning zones on and off for testing from my cell phone and making repairs as needed without slogging up and down, in and out to operate zones from the controller. Extremely easy install and a short learning curve for basic operation. Now I will study up on yhe advanced control features to see ow and which ones apply. I had thought to add a flow meter to the main irrigation line but they appear quite pricey and seems there's a limited number of supported meter for thr Rachio. Still looking

I have been using a Rain Bird controller for over 16 years and recently converted to Rachio. The setup is very simple, although I connected a couple of wires incorrectly, it was easily resolved with a call to Rachio's support which is amazing. They are very helpful and responsive via email and phone. In fact, based on support alone, I would recommend the product. My Rachio is in the garage and connecting to wifi was also very easy (I am using a wifi range extender). The Rachio app is very intuitive, thus easy to setup and use. Zones are easy to reference as the app allows pictures and description. It is now so much easier controlling the sprinklers with my phone from any place and at any time instead of being restricted to when I am in the garage.

The Rachio sprinkler controller is working exactly as I hoped it would. I replaced an old difficult to use sprinkler controller and this was easy to install (exact same difficulty as a nest thermostat, though the Rachio doesn't come with as nice of tools), and was setup and working as needed in 30 min. It skips watering when it rains, and it is trivially easy to turn on sprinklers for an additional manual watering if desired. My big hope is that going forward I can just stop thinking about when/how much to water the lawn, and let it just go - so far, I assume this will be true.

I have installed the Rachio Gen 2 controller a few months ago and since then I've had an opportunity to discover helpful features and missed opportunities. I have read numerous reviews on this product and decided to purchase through Amazon.ca since there was no retailer available here in Canada. The product was delivered in a timely manner and the price was comparable to other irrigation controllers. Upon receiving the product I was surprise and pleased with the small size of the controller. I ordered the 8 zone model but the size is no different from the 16 zone model. The manuals provided or the ones available for download were fairly helpful. Some of the language and terminology could be changed but basically they were helpful. This model, Rachio Gen 2, has replace a Rainbird Esp-ME (working) and is used for my 4 zone irrigation ( front yard, side yard, back yard and flower gardens). We don't experience the water restrictions that others in warmer clients do however we do have some restrictions occasionally. We are on city water and we pay a flat rate for the water service each year. Water savings is not critical however it is always a concern. It also rains here...a lot. Since I am a building contractor, installing the Rachio controller in my home was not a problem. The controller looks as though it is hardwired however it is not. A nice clean look is very important to me. I was able to modify the wall which accepts the controller. Installation of the controller was pretty straightforward. Here are a few of the pros and cons: Pros: The ability to control most aspects of the irrigation through my phone or computer is certainly beneficial. The Rachio Gen 2 controller uses local weather or PWS's for irrigation times. There are a couple of sensor options on the controller as well. (rain, flow) I can also manually water each zone, anytime, anywhere, if I want, thru my phone. I can also change schedules through my phone or computer. This is a very convenient feature for myself and potentially for my clients. I haven't had to use the one 800 number yet and the updates are relatively frequent. The engineers at Rachio seem to be making slight changes to the product with some improvements. So far...so good. (That's encouragement btw) Cons: since the Rachio product is reliant on local weather stations to preform at its best, availability of good local or personal weather stations in my area is critical. The Rachio app allows you to choose local weather stations however these are limited to a few. My closes pws is 4.5 km away and the reliability is questionable. Having the WU (weather underground) as an option could be benificial to me and to Rachio. Personal weather stations in my area afiliated with the weather underground appear to be more reliant. Rachio does provide a work-a-round to the WU, but you must have a Mac ($1000-$2000). There are other option too but the price just goes up. ( special router, your own PWS $$$). Power. An option to hardwire the product. I don't want to see the wires. Start/Stop. I see the option to start irrigation at a specific time within the app but...I don't see the option to stop irrigation at a specific time. I need to stop at 9am. C'mon! Generally the Rachio Gen 2 product is fairly good. The updates and improvements seem slow in coming but I hold out hope that they will eventually arrive. I'll use the Rachio and watch the updates but I will keep the Rainbird ESP-ME on hand just in case. Update; April 2017, I've been using the Gen2 Rachio for almost a year now. No glitches at all. Updates are regular and the controller preformed as advertised. Other irrigation controllers are late to the table (smart features) or too bulky. I would give this controller 4 1/2 to 5 stars (ability to hardwire and weather station). So far...very good.

Makes watering my lawn so easy a Muppet could doit. But seriously, even with the unit generating its own schedual based on the weather, lawn type, shade and more parameters than you can shake a stick at, i was still able to easilly remotly control the sprinklers and set up an automatic schedual to give a little extra water to sections of lawn which had to be re seeded. I would buy another rachio without a second thought. Its also super easy to manually operate indavidual valve channels.