Good luck to you Joe. Be sure to stock up on tinfoil in these hard times. 
1 Like
If I need them (I won’t), I will get my stock from you.
After all, no need for EM protection when one is not blasted from multiple nodes.
Leave the WiFi for mobile devices. 
I would happily pay to Beta test a wired version of system.
I beta test software and know the NDA and legal requirements of doing this.
Please stop requesting this. You are wasting your time, as well that that of the community and Rachio.
There is essentially no demand for such a product. Anyone concerned about security issues would simply put their untrusted IoT devices on a separate VLAN, with access to the cloud but isolated from valuable local assets.
While I agree that a wired interface would somewhat improve reliability, it would still fall far short of e.g. what a fire extinguishing application would require. I suppose for growing cannabis you might pay a premium for a more reliable controller, but such uses are far from the market Rachio is addressing.
Stewart, are you an employee of Rachio? You are speaking as one.
GeoWoz also voiced support for Ethernet, how many others would get one if it had Ethernet?
Sprinkler stations are some of the most distant devices on a property, some locations easily accessible by cable. 200ft of Ethernet cable is <$20, a Repeater is >$30 (not all with work with competing brands).
New builds are adding connections everywhere too.
$5 in parts would be small price to make more attractive device.
Example of WiFi connection problems, on both units one customer had.
The Android Developer and Rachio Co-founder was involved in solving this problem. Eventually yet another unit (third unit) had to be sent over to successfully connect.
This issue apparently was the firmware was not connecting with customers devices, and the only way to update firmware was at factory.
I applaud the excellent customer support by Rachio to solve this, but obviously it is also a tremendous effort to fix the issue for a few customers.
A built in Ethernet would give customers and Rachio options in solving such issues. A firmware update could be sent via Ethernet, then switch to WiFi once update successful.
For health reasons, I have removed all WiFi from my home and all devices, except my Rachio controller, are now hardwired. Is there a way to connect my Rachio controller to the Internet with an Ethernet cable?
Not directly, but a device such as
https://www.amazon.com/GL-iNET-GL-MT300N-V2-Repeater-300Mbps-Performance/dp/B073TSK26W/
may meet your needs. There are many similar inexpensive devices available. Put it, along with your controller, in a metal enclosure with small vent holes. If this is outdoors, you’ll need to make it weatherproof. Use Wi-Fi Analyzer or a similar app on your phone to confirm that the signal is undetectable where you sleep or otherwise spend a lot of time.
However, I’m dubious on the concept. A mobile phone exposes you to hundreds of times more RF radiation than environmental Wi-Fi. Transmit power is typically more than ten times higher, and you’re usually less than one tenth the distance from the antenna, resulting in absorption more than a thousand times greater.
Stewart, Thank you very much! I’ll have to test the WI-FI signal on this device to make sure it doesn’t reach my bedroom. If it does not reach my bedroom then this device will solve my problem.
Now, I need a device that will remotely switch breakers off in my electrical panel. I hate having to go outside every night to turn them off and then back on again and each morning.
A robot that literally switched breakers on and off would be very expensive and likely not compliant with the electrical code. You could have an electrician install a box outside with contactors (big relays) in series with the breakers you wish to control. The contactors could be in turn controlled by remote controlled outlets or switches. Unfortunately, most of those are Wi-Fi and you wish to avoid that.
Ethernet controlled switches are available, though not cheap. For example:
https://www.controlbyweb.com/webswitch/
Most of them are designed for indoor use and can’t handle a wide temperature range. If your panel is e.g. outside your garage or a closet, you could bring the cable from the contactors through the wall and put the controls inside.
If your schedule permits, it would be simpler and less expensive to have a mechanical timer control the contactors. The timer would have an override button that you could operate manually when needed.
An ETHERNET controlled power switch!
Reliable connection, always stable, even includes automatic call-home. BRILLIANT!
It’s wonderful you support wired IP devices! 
Wireless station is just a fail point for a device that will never move from its location,
And another item to setup when WiFi station is replaced.
I like ethernet cables too, but the idea of wifi is not necessarily to service devices that move, but rather to service areas without an ethernet cable. Like outside. Like my garage. Like places where irrigation controllers are located. Today’s wifi is pretty foolproof, just about omnipresent, and, according to NCTA, is present in 89% of the US households with broadband. I’ll bet most of those don’t even have an ethernet cable; none of my friends do. Even companies have abandoned them: too hard to keep track of and replace, switches take up rooms, and can’t keep up with changes.
I wouldn’t mind if the Rachio controller had an ethernet port, but I’m willing to be at least 90% of the users won’t care and won’t use it. I wouldn’t.
2 Likes
I would love to see an ethernet option for the rachio. As of now I have decided not to buy the rachio, because it doesn’t offer ethernet. If anybody understands how homes are made in Florida, there is block and all kinds of barriers that stop wifi. Wifi will not travel through the walls or the windows. It is hit and miss when it comes to cell phone reception. It’s just the way they build down here because of the heat, so they installation has metal barriers and I was told the windows have metal in them that works to reflect the sunlight back out. An installer told me it is the equivalent of having your windows covered with aluminum and makes it virtually impossible to get signals through. I even put a router on my window sill to stream music out to my pool and it still wouldn’t go through. So to have a device outside that relies on wifi will not work. It would however be somewhat easy for me to run an ethernet line. Can’t believe rachio overlooked large sunbelt markets that make outside wifi unreliable. It looks like they didn’t even talk to home builders on how new homes are built now. Looks like no research was done.
You are correct about windows having metal in them. I had a few replaced because the seal was bad which caused condensation on the inside of these windows, which then caused rust. This is part of the UV protection that the windows have. At least for my windows, it actually is a ferrous (iron) material.
I know some people are more concerned about Ethernet security than WIFI security. However, I would rather use Ethernet over WIFI for several reasons. I believe having that as an option would be helpful to those that want it. Some might say an alternative though would be to run Ethernet to the garage or outside and have a WIFI router out there. I believe this has issues as well, such as heat, humidity, enclosures, etc. The problems with enclosures includes they are not easy to find one that fits, takes care of heat & humidity, and if metal it is a Faraday case).
Squard D makes a schedule based and remote controlled based panel intended for commercial and industrial lighting. Powerlink is the name. Lutron makes a system that uses Eaton smart breakers also. Leviton also makes a very pretty smart power panel, but I dont like Leviton products. All of these are probably a $3-5k change out for parts and labor.
I would be concerned about isolating the ethernet port from a lightning strike. The controller is one of the higher risk items in the house to take a hit, and I wouldn’t want to add my router, and possibly every device wired to it to that chain.
I actually considered adding a surge arrestor to my sprinkler wires, like my invisible dog fence has, but I didn’t know where to get 10 circuit ones.
There’s not “no demand”. I’d buy one if it had wired support. My Gen2 16 has had wifi issues, not often, but I’d love to take wifi out of the equation entirely.
So don’t be dismissive of someone making requests, if because you don’t need it or understand why.
Unrelated to this application, I’ve installed these in places where rebooting the router was necessary when the cable modem or device got hung up.
The one I’ve used is the 522b. It can monitor two devices, in layers and power cycle them accordingly. As in, the device isn’t responding to pings… power cycle it. And ‘the internet isn’t responding to pings, power cycle the router’. Works like a charm. And when the link returns it sends me an e-mail letting me know it’s had to reboot things.
At $99 it’s been cheap insurance against remote site networking woes. Where it’s been MOST useful has been at the mother-in-law’s place. I see an e-mail from it, and I can mention to my wife that the router had to reset… and she can decide if that factors into a conversation with grandma. As opposed to yet another panicked call from the battle ax…
Please don’t quote me out of context. I said “essentially no demand”; perhaps it should have been “minimal demand” or “little demand”. Some of that demand arises because Rachio has IMO implemented Wi-Fi related firmware poorly and their controllers have a reputation for frequently losing connection. This should be fixed. That said, AFAIK my own 16-zone Gen 2 has never lost its connection to the network.
Most of the remaining demand is for locations where Ethernet is available (or can easily be made available), but there is no Wi-Fi, the signal strength is inadequate, or the firewall has incompatible restrictions. This is easily solved by adding e.g. a $15 N150 access point.
A controller with Ethernet would obviously cost more to manufacture, in addition to substantial engineering costs for design and ongoing firmware maintenance. I’m a retired engineer who used to design embedded systems for a living. IMHO, the slight gain in market share would not come close to covering the additional costs.
Another issue is that an irrigation controller is connected to outdoor valves, often with hundreds of feet of cable buried only a few inches below ground. A nearby lightning strike can induce many kilovolts in that cable, which could result in the destruction of network gear costing thousands, as well as increasing the chance of setting the house afire.
I’m puzzled at a) your vehemence on repeating the same point, and b) your lack of status as a vendor representative.
There are absolutely many ways to mitigate lightning strikes. And since the device is powered via AC there’s already that risk. Which would have to be mitigated…as would any wired network connection.
Having configured dozens of inter-building networks I’m well aware of the factors involved, the statistical likelihoods of the problem and the extremely low numbers of situations where it’s actually be a problem. But hey, you go with your retired engineer shtick.
Clearly you have a point of view and you feel that repeating it is somehow going to make it more valid than the concerns and request of other customers.
Perhaps what you should do is take a break from belittling what others are asking.