Rachio screen on device

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I really need to buy a smart sprinkler controller this year, I have several heads that need some kind of repair (some have sunk in, some are broken, some are undersized etc) and it is a major pain to be going back and forth to the unit to turn the water on and off to test and work.

I really really like the Rachio for many different reasons such as best reviews on Amazon, made here in Colorado, nice support community, integration with IFTTT, etc. But I simply cannot get over the fact that it could become a brick on my wall if I have no internet, if the company goes bankrupt, if their servers are out for maintenance etc.

Yes I do understand exactly how it works, it can be manually operated through some rudimentary buttons on the unit itself after popping the cover on and off all the time until it breaks and I understand it will keep watering under the current programming functions but I will never be able to change it.

So my question is, before I go about purchasing a stupid Chinese RainMachine or any other controller that at least gives me the ability to control my sprinklers directly somehow, does anyone know if there are any plans to realease a 3rd Gen with a screen on the device or at least an ad-hoc connection so I can connect directly to the device from my phone without depending on the Rachio servers for that? Or also, if I buy a Rachio Gen2 controller, is it even possible that a firmware update might allow a direct connection in the feature? I would much rather buy a Rachio than anything else on the market but without any of these options I just don’t know if I can.

Thanks in advance

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I hear you.

The tstats I use are Internet Appliances. Has an embedded Internet server with web pages directly accessible from any browser on the local network (and any browser on the WAN via full support too for port forwarding - http://47.189.3.159:91 with a password). No server in the cloud required to run them.

The home automation processor I use is alson an Internet Appliance. It too has an embedded Internet Server with web pages accessible via connection to my local residential network (and it too is accessible from anywhere on the WAN via its full support for port forwarding - http://47.189.3.159:5151 with a password.) No server in the cloud required to run it.

What you’re asking for of Rachio is the same. But Rachio chose a different business model. One where your hardware, on your LAN, is simply a front end for a server in the cloud. I suspect Rachio chose this model because it has a lot of computations to make and keep track of, and the investment was less to design Rachio that way it is versus creating a product that’s indeed an Internet Server.

Only time will tell if Rachiiio chose the right platform.

I urge you to see it differently than what your comments suggest. It’s only a couple hundred dollar investment. Have some fun experimenting with something that isn’t otherwise on the market at the residential level.

Best regards,

Bill

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