Rain Bird ARC8 App-Based Indoor/Outdoor Smart WiFi Irrigation Sprinkler Timer/Controller, 8-Zone/Station, EPA WaterSense Certified, Compatible with Alexa, Indoor/Outdoor 8-Station

Great unit, easy to install and program, works terrific wondering around the lawn and starting stopping zones via wifi. This is perfect for me as this home is seasonal and I have control of water days and times.

It's very easy to connect and setup. The app is a bit over complicated but it works every time. This is so much better than running down to the yard to turn on the sprinklers. It runs various programs automatically but my wife likes to turn on certain areas manually and she can do this from anywhere in the world. Havent connected a rain gauge yet but thats next. Great buy and replaced a Toro.

Easy setup even without reading the instructions. This is my third sprinkler timer setup, first one that can be controlled by an app. Setting up the stations in the app is a lot faster and easier than standing at the controller pressing buttons and turning a dial.I bought this particular one because my state offers a $100 rebate for a smart controller that will reduce watering times based on the weather if it rains. So, at the price I bought it at it was about $30 after the rebate.This smart controller will also water a little longer if it hasn't rained.I like that you can control it in an app and turn it on and off without going back and forth to the controller. It takes a few seconds for it to communicate but that's fine. I also like that you can name the stations and programs. Really the only thing I don't like is that it is only app controlled, there isn't much to control manually at the control panel it self, I don't see this really ever being an issue but could be just a minor inconvenience at times.I would buy this one again.

Folks, I never write product reviews. But my experience with this Rain Bird ARC controller caused me to write one so that others will not have to suffer its ownership as I have. When people say “I wish I could give it zero stars,” now I know what they mean. The upside on this product is that installation was easy, especially if you’re switching out an older ‘dumb’ controller for a remote wireless unit such as this. That is where the good part ends. Despite having a dedicated Wi-Fi unit in my garage, the Rain Bird would fail to connect, connect and then disconnect, drop connection, etc. Multiple efforts over many days yielded nothing but frustration. I wish I had those hours of my life back. Do not make the same mistake I did. After hearing about my issues, my irrigation guy apprised that his customers with H****r brand controllers did not have the same connectivity issues as his Rain Bird customers. I now have a H****r. For wireless connectivity, it worked first time trying. It has worked every time thereafter. (I have zero affiliation with H****r. Just an irritated guy who maintains his own yard.) C’mon, Rain Bird. Do better.

I had a perfectly good working Hunter X-Core sprinkler controller which was easy to configure & worked fine, but didn't have WiFi support. I'm lazy, & didn't want to go outside to change settings or pause the controller, especially in the rain. So, I bought the ARC8. Since some people have had problems with WiFi, I first connected the ARC8 to just power at the intended installation site, before connecting the zone wiring. Rain Bird recommends that somewhere, so you can find out if you have a good WiFi connection before proceeding with the zone wiring. They also recommend taking a picture of your OLD controller's wiring. Both good ideas.I searched for & installed the Rain Bird controller app on Google. Leave it to Google to only list the OLD, OUTDMODED Rain Bird app, but NOT the NEW one! Google also offered UNRELATED apps for my search, to please other app makers. Greedy **** **** ******s !!!Anyway, I spent 1/2 hour (in the rain) trying to configure the WiFi in the OLD app, to no avail. Then I found the new app ("Rain Bird 2.0"), & installed it. I set up my Rain Bird account (which did not appear possible in the old app).The controller wanted to do the upgrade immediately. Then the app just sat there for a couple minutes, before the firmware upgrade started (in the rain). After several minutes, the upgrade completed. The app indicated a signal strength of -58dBm which is excellent.The rest was easy. I mounted the ARC8 at my intended site & connected up the zone wiring from the picture I took, & went inside. Configuring my 7 zones & 3 programs in the Rain Bird app to be like I had with the Hunter controller was easy.The documented way to temporarily disable a program DOESN'T WORK! To work around this (as well as provide a program backup capability) is to first create a template for each program you want (including alternate programs). Then copy them as needed to your controller.Suggestions for users: Save the picture of your zone wiring in the app, where it allows you to save pictures of your zones.Suggestions for Rain Bird:#1: Adjust the colors in your WiFi icon in the app, so that good WiFi signals appear as green: -75dBm or lower should be red; -65 to -75 dBm is orange; -65dBm or better is green. -58dBm is excellent.#2: Have a separate place in the app to save a picture of the zone wiring diagram.#3: [This has been fixed]UPDATE #1: After 2.5 weeks, I decided to change the SSID in my WiFi access point, which means I have to replace the WiFi credentials in the ARC8. I had connection problems doing so & returned the unit. I have since come to realize that most of these were almost certainly the fault of a new phone. I have reverted to a prior phone (which solved all my connection problems), sent the errant phone to be RECYCLED, & changed my review from one star to four stars.UPDATE #2: I really liked the convenience of this unit, so after two months I decided to buy another at my local hardware store & give one another try. I set it up with WiFi, & then tried to change the WiFi setup. You can't change the WiFi setup using the documentation! You have to just get the blue Bluetooth light flashing (press the WiFi button until it turns orange) then delete the controller in the software, & then setup the unit from scratch. If the unit cannot find your WiFi network(s) automatically, you may have to tap "Can't Find Your WiFi Network" at the bottom of the screen, & enter your WiFi info manually (as I had to do). This process is not as robust as it should be!I repeatedly tried to get the unit to fail WiFi setup (which was easy), & then repeatedly used the above procedure to successfully set up a new WiFi configuration. THIS TIME, I did all the setup testing in the comfort of my house! Tomorrow I will wire it up to my sprinklers. That's the easy part!I also made sure I could return the unit if I had other problems,; the hardware store offers a 90-day return policy.

Here's an update from May 21, 2024… The Rainbird wireless water system is still going strong. I've not had any problems. It's so convenient to be able to program it either in the house or across the country as weather dictates. Regarding the wireless connectivity, I've maybe had a couple of times where it's lost connection but it's usually for maybe a few minutes… But the most important thing is that, it still continues with your program. And especially even if you've lost power it still picks back up with its memory and you're still on your installed program so your plants survive in the summer. Regarding other reviewers saying the unit loses connectivity with the wireless network, I've got mine installed of course outside but it's on the same wall as the wireless router, which is up on the second story so probably about 25 to 30 feet from router to the unit. I've got OK connection probably about three bars, but it seems to be just fine. So I might suggest that of course establish with your phone that where you're going to install the controller you have fairly decent wireless connectivity. And at least in my experience if it does drop a connection, it does come back quickly and doesn't require any rebooting, etc. And of course, if you were to install a wireless repeater near the unit that would mitigate any connection drops.I like how easy it is to run a program in manually… And of course it being on the Wi-Fi system I can access it anywhere in the world. Last summer my sprinklers went off for a week while we were traveling… You can imagine how difficult that is on plants in Phoenix Arizona, where we had days that we were up at 110F. Most of the plants survived but it was a warning to me with the $10,000 worth of landscaping we put in two years ago that I needed a way to be able to monitor and change my watering while we are traveling. I also purchased at the same time, a flume water meter that measures exactly how much my home uses right at the meter from the city. So when I run the watering system, I know exactly how many gallons each station is using. But the amazing thing is is that the Rain Bird does not lose its programming if power is cut off, so it will not stop watering, if for some reason the Wi-Fi connection is lost. Additionally, as soon as Wi-Fi comes back on, it will automatically re-connect. I've seen some reviews of other products where people were complaining about losing the Wi-Fi and then losing their program or the system not running because Wi-Fi had been lost. I searched for almost 2 years looking at different products, and this one seemed to be the most reliable. And in my experience in the last four months, this is worked flawlessly. Oh, I forgot to mention that is so easy to hook up… That's provided you already have an old school watering system… I disconnected our 30 year old orbit, water controller, and put this in 10 minutes.

Excellent product! Easy to install and program. It took less than 30 minutes to install and program. It saves water and shuts off during rainy days based on the weather report.

This controller is such an inexpensive upgrade to my last Rain Bird (that finally died after 28...yes 28...years!). Easy to install the controller. Easy to install the Rain Bird App. Easy to program the App. Easy to set alerts/notifications. Easy to set rain delay parameters (e.g., "delay watering by x day(s) if there is at least a ___% chance of __ fraction of inch of rainfall in my zip code", etc. etc.). Easy to export controller program to someone else's phone (e.g., I emailed it to my landscaper's phone for quicker/easier irrigation system start up). Easy to link to Alexa. Easy to control with phone or Alexa.Heads up, about two times out of 10, phone cannot connect to the controller - you just have to try again right away (assuming your Wi-Fi signal at the location of the controller is good - which you can check when installing controller by bringing your mobile device next to the controller and looking at the mobile device's Wi-Fi strength signal). Of course I've only had it two days so far, but it's a joy. One more spectacular addition to my SmartHome.

Lo siento, mi primera reseña de una sola estrella... Pero es que este programador es un desastre completo. Indica señal demasiado baja a 5 metros del router wifi 2.4Ghz, cuando un teléfono se conecta con señal máxima en el mismo sitio. Además la app o la web con la que se controla, está llena de errores y nunca sabes si está programado o qué se ha regado. Lo dicho, un desastre y una perdida de tiempo, lo he tenido que devolver.

Easily to configure and program.You can easily to control through WiFi .Easy to connect to old valve systems.Alot of functionality in.

Funciona muy bien. Fácil de programar con la app.Pero no es compatible con Alexa en México. Al menos a a fecha de hoy todavía no.

works as should, took awhile to recieve it though.

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