ARC6I

I was a little hesitant ordering this due to some other negative reviews. I already had an older (not WiFi connected) Rainbird controller that was working ok. I wanted to have the ability to adjust my watering from time to time without having to stand in the garage and make manual program adjustments. I already have numerous smart devices in my home so this was a natural progression. We also travel a lot so it’s nice to be able to control things from anywhere. I finally unboxed this controller. It took less than 10 minutes to mount and move the wires from the old one to the new one. It took another 10-15 minutes to get the app downloaded on my phone, get the controller connected to my WiFi network and set the basic watering program. The instructions were slightly confusing but everything worked out perfectly. Yesterday afternoon while relaxing on my deck I decided the lawn needed more water so I activated the system from my phone. Easy peasy.

the older manual model worked fine even after about 20 years but was hard for me to read the grey on grey screeen and even harder for me to push the buttons in the correct sequence to get the results I needed. it was very simple to install to the existing wiring and to adjust the schedule according to city seasonal watering restrictions. The weather monitoring is probably a good feature although as someone who lives in dry desert we have very few rain days each year. My favorite part of this is the app, which allows me to sit in my air conditioned house rather that in my often over 100 degree garage to make adjustments. Additionally, my municpality offers a 50% rebate on approved devices (which rainbird is). This was a great price to begin with for a high quality device

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.

Although programming and changing a program or watering manually has improved with their Rainbird 2.0 app, that is an extremely low bar (the earlier app was basically worthless). This controller itself has major issues and I will be replacing it after just a few years to avoid the headaches. It loses its internet connection frequently, and sometimes when it does so, it fails to run, even though it is supposed to run on the last saved program even when not wifi-connected. But recently there is an even worse, and unforgivable issue: It simply is not running two of my set programs. Every day I look at the screen on the app that lists the upcoming irrigation runs and it tells me Program A will run "tomorrow" and Program B will run the following day. And I mean it literally says that every day. Both are set to run every 3 days, but tomorrow never comes for Rainbird, apparently. And I can confirm that indeed these programs do not run; it is not just an app reporting issue, it is an actual controller problem. Regarding manual watering, also, it will not do a sequence of multiple zones. It should; you can set several to run in sequence, but it might do one or two of them, but not all. So until I get a different brand of controller, I am back to opening and closing all my valves manually.

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.

Works well. Replaced an older model that was not wi fi enabled. This one is easy to operate with the phone app. Easy to install.

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.

This is a great Controller, it's very easy to use and set up I have NO complaints from any point of view, I would advise anyone to give this unit a try.

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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