The Rachio3 supports the discontinued Wireless Flow Sensor via a wireless transmitter that uses a frequency that is illegal to use in nearly all of Europe. It comes with a US only power supply and it will likely have a WiFi chip that is intended for use with US WiFi frequencies and permissible signal strengths.
Until Rachio do a new version of the Rachio3 specifically for other markets arguably Rachio should be a lot more honest and actively discourage non-US/Canadian customers from buying this product because otherwise they are helping break various laws.
Now I said ‘until Rachio do a new version’. Well it turns out they have done a new version the Rachio 3e. Unfortunately Rachio have not that I can see stated whether any of these issues have been addressed. One would presume that since it was launched after the Wireless Flow Meter was discontinued that they will have removed the matching transmitter that supported that Wireless Flow Meter and therefore the biggest legal issue has been solved.
They could have spoken to their WiFi chip supplier and at the design stage ensured versions with US and EU compatible WiFi chips could be fitted. They could have similarly discussed with their power supply supplier about sourcing again both US and EU compatible power supplies.
Therefore the Rachio3e could have easily been readied for legal international sales. Sadly I get the very strong impression that Rachio have done none of this and therefore have made absolutely zero progress towards legal sales to International markets.
Whilst I totally sympathise with manufacturers who are starting up that moving from an initial product for an initial local market to products that address multiple markets takes time, cost and effort Rachio is now far from a brand new start up, have been repeatedly made aware of all these issues for many years and could by now at least with the Rachio3e had made these steps at negligible extra cost.
I am also extremely disappointed to see that the Rachio3e does not support HomeKIt.
I am therefore going to have to give up on Rachio and see if there are any other more enlightened firms with legal products, unless Rachio can share good news with us that they have taken these issues on board with the Rachio3e.
Also there is no mention of HomeKit on the Rachio3e product product page even though other smart home platforms are listed.
See also this discussion which seems to confirm it does not support HomeKit.
The fact that the Rachio 3 (non E version) does support HomeKit is no help to me because the Rachio 3 is illegal to use in Europe. This is mainly down to the transmitter for the now discontinued Wireless Flow Meter. It is less clear how badly illegal the 3e is but certainly Rachio have made zero effort to make it legal. This is my point, being a new product and being that Rachio are aware of the issues they had the opportunity to design it so it could have been legal.
Rachio have not been encouraging sales to Europe in that their own web store does not seem to list Europe as a shipping destination and there is no marketing also encouraging this but neither are they warning people and the responses to people in the forums and even the fact there is specifically an International Users forum as per this very one we are posting in is clearly leading to people breaking the law with the Rachio product.
I thought you meant all rachio in regards to HomeKit. I read that wrong.
Again, if they aren’t selling them to people in Europe, they clearly aren’t marketing it there, I don’t see an issue. They have chosen not to sell their product over seas yet. Maybe a 4th Generation they will but this isn’t some poor decision to limit things as they are still getting off the ground.
When Apple released the iPhone they only sold it in one carrier for the first three or four generations, and not everywhere in the world. This isn’t that unusual.
It’d be nice if they could turn off any radio that was using a frequency that isn’t allowed to be used in other countries via software, but there doesn’t seem to be any push for that since they aren’t selling them elsewhere as of yet.
They aren’t making anything illegal. They would have to be selling it there to be building something illegal. I imagine they have to get stuff approved if it has a WiFi chip in it just like you do hear in the us before you can sell it there.
And the international forum, maybe it is legal in some other countries,like Canada maybe? I don’t know but it wouldn’t surprise me. I see nothing they have done as leading people to break the law. I don’t see why you’d think they need to advertise they can’t be sold in certain countries when they already don’t offer it for sale in other countries. Logic says if they have no distribution of a product in a certain country there is a reason.
