I just installed our new Rachio 3 (16 zone) and can not connect to wifi. I called in to support and after multiple questions and being placed on hold she informed me that I need to use a different phone. I do not have a different phone and why would I want the controller to be on someone elses phone. We are all under quarantine and now I have no idea how to get my landscape watered after removing my old controller. Does anyone have any ideas what I can do here? I have a Surface Pro 6 but apparently you can only use ios or Android to set up the controller.
Please offer any advice you can think of. I am frustrated and just want to get this working since today is the only spare time I have to work on it.
PS The woman on the support line was extremely nice and apologetic about the issue, which was appreciated. I just wish I could get it working
I don’t know if this will work, but it might be worth trying to install some type of iOS emulator software on your Surface Pro such as those listed here:
I just purchased and installed the 16-Zone Rachio 3 using an iPhone 11 Pro and it worked fine for me. I can also access the Rachio 3 controller using my iPad Pro. I can also access the Rachio 3 from my windows based desktop computer by going to the Rachio website and logging into my account using my email address.
My biggest problem trying to connect to WiFi at first was that the controller was installed in my garage at the opposite end of the house from where my Xfinity gateway modem/xFi was located, and I couldn’t get a consistent WiFi signal to the Rachio 3 and have it stay online for a long period of time until I installed an xFi WiFi extended pod in the garage to boost the signal. Now the WiFi signal seems to remain strong enough without any problems.
I had a strong WiFi signal on my phone but I moved our WiFi extender to a room about 15 feet from where the controller is and that made no difference.
It concerns me that yours worked with an iPhone 11. Does that mean they don’t know what was wrong and just wanted to end the call? LOL That would be a bummer.
I haven’t yet needed to talk to Rachio support on the phone, so I can’t comment on their effectiveness. I can tell you that even after installing the WiFI extender pod in our garage, which I installed within a few feet of the controller, it did take several attempts before I could get the Rachio 3 device recognized by our XFinity WiFi modem, and after that finally occurred, it also took several attempts to get the Rachio server at the Rachio website to recognize my Rachio 3 controller. I’ve only had the Rachio 3 controller working for a few days, so things are still new for me, but I don’t think the iPhone 11 is an issue because it works for me. I have the iPhone 11 Pro, but I don’t think that should be any different from the regular iPhone 11 with regard to connecting to the Rachio 3.
I should also mentioned that I did follow the instructions and use the Airplane mode on my iPhone 11 when trying to connect the Rachio 3, and this was successful for me.
@bilwilvegas- normally Rachio pairs right up with the iOS version, I’ve seen more issues with Android app version.
A network extender was mentioned (don’t worry, I have my Rachio running of a network extender so that does work). Can the network environment be described in detail?
Are there different SSID names for each band? Is there a different SSID for the extender?
Is the WiFi equipment US based (there are additional channels available outside the US which Rachio doesn’t use, so the WiFi could be on a channel Rachio doesn’t have)?
Was the RouteThis app downloaded and run, with the resulting code sent to Rachio tech support? If not, download the app and post the code here, maybe I can get someone from Rachio to look at it and see if they see anything unusual.
Is there a password to the WiFi network? How long is the password?
Can you de-install the Rachio and bring it inside by the router to set it up initially? Then one can just update the WiFi credentials if necessary. This way a fixed schedule could be created and sent down to the device that it will use even without internet connectivity.
There are different SSIDs for each band on the router and the extender. I have tried both from the router and both from the extender. None of them would connect.
There is a password for the network, it is 15 characters long, but I never get to a point where I can input the password when setting up the app for the controller.
I just ran RouteThis. I am not sure what code to send? do you mean where it says Your key is 8CXDNYYZ If that is not it please let me know where to find the code.
I assume that “our” means that you don’t live alone.
Are there really no other working phones in your home? If you have one, temporarily set it up as a hotspot and see if (using your phone) you can set up the Rachio on the hotspot’s network. If so, set up a fixed schedule as suggested by @DLane and you can do further work when you get the time.
Don’t be so paranoid. If you try to set it up with another phone, successfully or not, you can just delete the app from that phone and change your password, so the other phone can’t connect again.
I assume that iPhone 11 is not your first smartphone. Can any of the older ones still boot up? If so, even though they don’t have a working SIM card, you should still be able to install the app over Wi-Fi and try to provision the Rachio; a mobile data connection is not required.
If you still have trouble, can you get the controller into the state where is it waiting for Wi-Fi to be provisioned? If so, can you see its SSID (Rachio-xxxxxx) from your phone?
OK, so set up hers as a hotspot, confirm that you can connect to it with yours, then use yours to set up Rachio. If no luck, report in detail what goes wrong.
Sorry to hear you are having issues. We have identified an issue with the iPhone 11 and iOS 13.4.0. We are working with Apple on identifying the issue and getting a fix out. Unfortunately at this moment the only solution is using another phone (any other model/operating system on iPhone or Android). Very much appreciate your patience and apologize for this inconvenience.
I had a similar experience. I couldn’t use my Android phone (Galaxy Note 9) to setup my Rachio 3 but I eventually did with an iPad. Once it was setup, I was able to use my Galaxy Note 9 to connect to Rachio 3 without any problems. Good luck
This is also a bug in the new S20. I had my old Note 8 so I was about to connect to WiFi with that. Once the initial setup was complete, I was able to get it on the S20. Rachio definitely needs to resolve this issue.
I had the same problem and then I checked “connections” on my phone and found the Wi-Fi was not “on”. As soon as I turned it on and it connected to my home Wi-Fi, the Rachio was able to connect.
I hope this works for you.
I’ve been going crazy the last 3 days trying to get the Rachio to connect to my new wifi. Switching from the Samsung S20 to my old S8 resolved the issue.
I tried setting my fiances iPhone 11 up as a hot spot and connecting to that with my phone. The install still would not complete. I have a wife extender about 15 feet from the Rachio. Both of the phones are showing full bars of connection strength. I am frustrated because my landscaping is not getting watered and the weather is heating up quickly here in Vegas.
