It connects just fine to WiFi. Actually it never seems to drop off of wifi.
What breaks is connecting to HomeKit.
When it drops off of HomeKit the steps I mentioned are the only way to get it to reconnect.
I use its HomeKit intervention for more than just turning on and off my sprinklers but when I’m outside working on my yard being able to control it using Siri while wearing my Apple Watch is a big deal as I don’t have to handle a device with my wet and dirt covered hands.
I have other hubs too. Lutron and Hue are two of my hubs. They have never disconnected from HomeKit and have been 100% reliable. I also have a Raspberry Pi computer that connects to non-homekit devices that never gone off-line.
Sometimes just adding the Rachio back into HomeKit does not work and then I have to totally remove it by holding down the stop button and then going through all the steps I write about and then re-adding it to HomeKit and setting everything back up again with HomeKit.
So in answer to your question it died not drop off of wifi it disconnects from HomeKit and is a complete PITA to get connected again.
If the Rachio app included Siri intents and shortcut functionality, that could solve some of the features you’re missing without HomeKit. I keep hoping for that since I still have a Rachio Gen 2 (no HomeKit and I got tired of maintaining HomeBridge).
Then couldn’t you interface it to the Rachio API and bypass the ‘official’ HomeKit integration altogether? If you start with something very simple (e.g. you can ask Siri to run a zone) and publish it, I would expect there would lots of community interest and contributions to the project.
As an outsider I may be missing something important, but it seems to me that this would be superior in several regards:
It would work with Gen. 1, 2, 3 and 3e.
It could offer an integrated view of a multi-controller system.
There wouldn’t be any ‘mystery’ state information hidden in closed source software and firmware. If the system doesn’t recover properly from power or network anomalies, we could find the bug and fix it ourselves, without being dependent on Rachio.
In order to have Siri control something it has to be connected to HomeKit.
Also You could have HomeKit query devices to add to scripting actions. Like I could create an action that stopped the sprinklers if I’m home or something like that.
What I do have setup is if the bird enclosure heater is on do not run the sprinklers. Or if the sprinklers come on turn off the bird heater.
I built this Frankenstein interface so that HomeKit could control my SimpliSafe safe alarm system. I took a SimpliSafe remote and wired two relays into it to simulate pressing the on and off buttons and is controlled by the raspberry pi that creates HomeKit switches.
It works well enough but my next alarm system will be HomeKit native.
I only used it on the Gen 2 and I have dynamic dns so used a host name. It uses web hooks so I don’t see why it wouldn’t work for Gen 3. People have issues setting up port forwarding but once figured out it was pretty stable. The code hasn’t been touched in a while unfortunately but perhaps it needn’t be as webhooks api hasn’t changed. So that RPI you use can easily have HomeBridge and the Rachio platform plug-in. I recall HomeKit automations not being possible for sprinklers but perhaps that is no longer an issue with the latest iOS? As I mentioned I don’t use this anymore so this is much help as I can be
Before I got this controller I was tempted to use HomeKit smart plugs to control each solenoid and create sprinkler automatons.
This is how I put my hot water heater on HomeKit. I have a HomeKit plug controlling a 30 amp contractor that controls power to the hot water tank. Basically the same setup for the 1500 watt bird enclosure heater.
With HomeBridge on that RPI you won’t even need another breadboard! Providing that the Rachio plug-in still works, should be easier than a homebrewed sprinkler controller. HomeBridge does have some other interesting plugins like virtual buttons that can be automated… webhooks is pretty powerful.
I tried to use a Homebridge plugin to control my SimpliSafe but it was for version 3 and I have version two so that’s when I went with my hardware hack. Did waste some hours trying to get it to work.
As far as the rachio the plugin would allow control of the zones but would not fix the issue of not being able to query the controller when it disconnects from homekit.
Honestly I’m pretty close to throwing it in the trash and getting a different brand. I still do some consulting work and need to find a controller that has solid homekit support. I’m already advising people to stay away from the rachio.
What kind of queries? Why do you believe it wouldn’t work? @Kubisuro noted that the plugin uses web hooks, presumably to receive notification of state changes and update its database accordingly, which should then be visible to you in HomeKit.
As @Stewart mentioned, with the HomeBridge plug-in you wouldn’t use Rachio 3rd Gen built in HomeKit functionality to track state. The plug-in would interface directly with Rachio servers using their webhooks API and the plug-in would keep up with status of state that way. The plug-in controls Rachio using just webhooks, not any local HomeKit interface. Pretty smart use of HomeBridge to enable HomeKit on 2nd Gen and likely 3rd without needing any dedicated firmware code.
Without the rachio controlling watering you lose one of the main advantages of using a smart controller.
Not much sense in using the rachio to control the sprinklers without its soil and weather type watering.
For that I could just use 3 HomeKit plugs powering my three zone solenoids.
But it’s great you got something for earlier versions of the rachio to bring HomeKit to it.
I’ll often give up features if I’m able to bring some old device to HomeKit. Like what I did with my alarm. $20 worth of parts vs $600 for a new system. But my next alarm system will be HomeKit native.
However, that post is based on the controller being in the ‘awaiting Wi-Fi’ state, i.e. broadcasting its Rachio-xxxxxx SSID. You stated that when the controller loses HomeKit connectivity, it is still connected to Wi-Fi and is otherwise functioning normally.
I don’t know whether when normally connected to Wi-Fi, it will accept the POST request and if so, whether that is sufficient to reestablish the HomeKit connection. Try it and see.
This is my situation exactly.The controller is solidly connected to WiFi, and I have no issues with the app itself connecting to the controller. I , like others, paid extra for the HomeKit compatibility.I can’t even get it added to HomeKit.
I have an NetGear ORBI with 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz networks. I suspect that might be an issue. The controller is on 2.4Ghz.
I have many other HomeKit devices, and not a single one has any problems.
Here’s what works for me when the rachio doesn’t want to add into HomeKit.
Unplug it for a few minutes and then hold down th estop button until the display stops changing colors.
Reboot your hub and wifi base stations. .
If you have the non working HomeKit icon delete it.
Turn off cellular data on your phone.
Open the rachio app.
If the controller is not a solid white then hold down the wifi button on the rachio until the display is white,
Follow the the app’s steps to add it in.
Then open the Home app add it back into HomeKit.
The above works on the first try about 95% of the time.
