I was really excited to get my Rachio - not so much anymore

Yes looking at those now, but need to get some thing as fast or faster than my asus nodes in case other devices will connect to it.
I am also thinking of guest network isolation just for rachio2. will see ho that will work.

Did you try a second unit (warranty exchange) or a 3rd gen to see if yours was defective?

I have not tried a second unit = called rachio support but the Q was too long for me to hold,
I did not try a rachio3 either.
I am not sure my rachio2 is defective though - it connects just fine after unplugging it. Itā€™s just the built-in wifi controller is too weak to hold on to a signal. I will keep cycling through channels, but that can get old.

Note: I figured Rachio is reading these posts and if they wanted, they could try to help me with trying another unit ā€¦etc.
If this persists, I might consider getting rid of my rachio2 in favor of the Orbit 57985 B-hyve XR Smart 8-Zone. I heard from friends and reviews that wifi connection is as solid as they get. I even called Orbit and they answered in 1 min. Support noted that they in fact use the most powerful wifi module and antennae in the XR units. Weā€™ll see what Rachio does.

lol. ok after reading your last response, i canā€™t help but think i was punkā€™d. sorry @vnasser im gonna have to block you. good luck!

whatever manā€¦ just do what you need to do and i will do the same

and what is ā€œpunkedā€ ? just help or dont but pls dont threaten me or bully me!!

I would try a new brand as well. Rainbird worked well for me in my old house.

I swapped all my Rain Bird controllers for Rachio3 units. 10 in all.