Orbit 57915 B-hyve 4-Zone Indoor Smart Sprinkler Controller

There’s a part of me that resists giving this unit a 5 star review, but I honestly don’t know why. So far my B-hyve controller has performed flawlessly. I replaced an old unit that I had installed in my laundry room. So I already had 24v power and wiring (to solenoids) in place. I’m using all 4 Zones. I love being able to control the zones or change the programming remotely. Examples: 1) I switched from my summer to winter schedule while on travel - 2000 miles away. 2) I can put the system in rain delay mode whether I’m at home or not. 3) We have a hose bib that is controlled by this unit which I can now activate “manually” without running back to the control unit. Etc. Our unit has had no problem maintaining WiFi signal. I found the programming to be intuitive. Installation was straightforward. My only concern was the reports of inconsistent “smart watering” - where the unit can decide to skip watering if there is rain in the forecast. Being that our house is in Phoenix, we can’t afford any poor decisions to halt watering when our specific property doesn’t get the rain that was forecast. So I chose to defeat that feature (a programming option). But for those who are interested, you can change/program the threshold that the unit uses to self-activate a watering delay. Bottom line: I’m quite satisfied with the unit and I recommend it - assuming you have an indoor location for it (or an appropriate outdoor protection box).

This is a great controller. Wi-Fi internet connection was easy. Programming was fairly easy. I was able to take a photo to ID each station. From there it is so easy to vary time and duration and test whatever station you want to. I purchased a second item after my initial purchase.

This is was easy to setup and works great. Now I can monitor and control the watering at my mothers home without having to go over there.

I purchased this timer over 4 years ago and it has worked flawlessly. The app allows you control all functions remotely. It also eliminates the need for a rain sensor since you can adjust the watering to coincide with anticipated rainfall. This feature is highly adjustable. Overall very reliable and I highly recommend this product. I hope this review was helpful.

Well, I did have to pay tax. Got a rebate from our water company for the price of the controller, less sales tax. It was super easy to install in place of the old Orbit controller that was getting difficult to work because of sticking buttons. It connected to my WiFi very easily, and programming wasn't too hard. I started out planning to use all the smart watering, but it was going to run my zones for 10 to 12 minutes. I would have a stream going down the gutter if it ran that long, like my neighbors do! I try to minimize runoff, and that is why I wanted this. I had limited programs and run times on the old unit. I can have this one run for 2 mintues, wait 5 or 10 minutes, and do a second run for a minute or two. My plants seem to be happier, and are surviving the 120 degree days we have had lately. The best part of this is being able to do all the programming from the comfort of the couch, instead of standing in the garage, although since we put in the air conditioner, the garage isn't too bad anymore! Also, when working on the sprinklers, I can just start a zone to see how it is working right from the yard, no more running around to turn it on in the garage, then around the house to see whats happening before it shuts off! The only drawback so far is that it is wanting to skip watering days for Wind Delay. Well, we have wind all the time, and when it wants to skip, it is usually a scorching hot day, so I have to override it. I wish I could select a particular weather station it is getting the info from, but I can't. Most times when it says Wind Delay, it is calm as can be. Then, other days the wind is blowing like crazy and no delay. I don't get it! I would like to be able to allow rain delays, but not allow wind delays. Other than that, it is definitely worth the cost of just sales tax for me!

We own a 10 acre blueberry farm. I wanted to convert my sprinkler system to a smart system, that would use the weather map, current soil conditions as well as remote access via my phone. This was the perfect unit for our farm. It has probably paid for itself this week, as our weather has changed many times from Hot to hard rain. The unit put the farm on water hold for the last 3 days, which is exactly what I would have done manually. It is easy to program and run. One thing to mention is the unit is too far from our house to pick up any WIFI. I located an old cell phone that we no longer use. I purchased a SIM card for data only for $5 per month. The B Hyve picks up the wifi from the cell phone while on Wifi share mode. The only thing I wish the unit had is a battery backup system. I use solar panels to power the B Hyve, but sometimes we don't get enough light in the PNW to charge the backup battery system for this unit.

Works exactly as advertised. Easy to install and set up. Highly recommend this product!

I've owned, and suffered through this smart sprinkler controller for almost two years now. We had some issues with WIFI early on, which actually turned out to hide the main flaw with this system. In most ways, the B-Hyve functions as expected. The app works, it has some nice features, and once we straightened out the WIFI issues works flawlessly with the controller. The installation was relatively easy, although I will say you need a stronger WIFI signal than you would think. When we initially installed it, my phone would function on WIFI at the location of the controller, yet the controller would mostly not be connected to WIFI. Once it was set up, it did function without the WIFI signal, it simply functioned as a dumb controller, and watered on schedule without regard to the weather. It functioned as well as the dumb controller we replaced, but I was expecting more. We boosted our WIFI signal after many months of not being connected, and that is when the system displayed its glaring flaw. I live in the desert in California. We get very little rain at all, and it is extremely rare in the summer. 100 is a normal daily high. This summer, I noticed most of my yard was turning brown and dying. I inspected the calendar on the app, and it had essentially stopped watering my yard. The weather on the app showed clouds almost every day, and the app was under a "rain delay". If we get clouds, they are few and far between, and do not produce rain. I started manually over-riding the "Rain delays" every day to recover my yard. I went in to the app and disabled every "smart" feature I could find. Yet no matter how much I disabled the system, it continued to not water my yard per the schedule. I gave feedback probably a half a dozen times, and at best it may appear to be smarter for a day or two and then revert to not watering my yard. Autumn came, the blazing heat subsided, so I stopped monitoring and manually watering my yard every day. I'm on my patio and it is mid 70's now on Halloween weekend, and noticed my lawn is turning brown again, and garden is dying. I opened the app, and there was a "Winter delay", it only watered my yard once this week. This is clearly not a technology company. The app's weather feed has almost no relationship to the actual weather, and the algorithms they use for the "smart" technology are really bad. The only way to get this system to function even at a minimal level is to cut it's WIFI signal. If you want to manually water your yard, this is the system for you.

Funcionó muy bien para regar 3 jardines con una bomba centrífuga. El programador, configurado previamente con la app b-hyve en el celular, activa la bomba a través de sus terminales pump y com que dan los 24 voltios que activan la bobina de un relay o contactor que conecta la corriente de 127 voltios a la bomba. Hay que tener cuidado con los días que supuestamente va a llover porque el programador no se activa, según para ahorrar agua, entonces en la aplicación hay que deshabilitar está función o activar el riego manualmente si no llueve.

I have purchased this product to replace an old Orbit 1024 controller. The connection was straight forward. One to one connection, as my old controller, 1 wire per zone and the common wire. With an additional pair for the power which is ac, so there is no positive or negative to worry about. I would have liked to use my old transformer as the wires were already nicely anchored along the wall but the old transformer was a 26vac 600ma while the new one is 24vac 750ma. Close but to avoid potential issues with the wifi module, I have replaced the old transformer. The programming was simple because it uses similar principles as my old controller. With the ABCD groups and the Zones. If I hadn’t seen this on my old controller, I presume I would have had to look up programming instructions. Seeing other reviews (which are old and maybe outdated) who report issues with rain delays and smart watering, I have disabled all these features for now. My primary goal was to be able to manually force watering remotely. So for now all went well, setup was good, it used Bluetooth to my phone app to get the wifi setup. And first night of scheduling worked as expected. It is highly customizable as for even / odds / selectable week days / multiple watering schedules on same day. My only concern so far is that the logo on the controller which is illuminated by an LED seems to have a very slight flicker. This is barely noticeable unless you stare at it from close (yes i did that). This is not a problem, but I wonder if it hides an issue waiting to emerge. I will do an update if anything else comes up.

Fácil instalar, hasta el momento me ha funcionado de maravilla

Easy to set up. Easy to program. Worked right out of the box. Really great upgrade from my old sprinkler timer.

Funciona de maravilla y fácil de programar con la app, y a una fracción del costo del RainBird y otros.