B-hyve Smart Indoor/Outdoor Sprinkler Controller

I really can’t say enough good things about the Orbit 57946 6-Station WiFi Sprinkler System Controller. Several years ago, when I had an irrigation system installed in my backyard, it came with a digital (not WiFi) controller that you operated outside where it was mounted. The installer pre-set the system for me, but over time I needed to change some things like watering times, schedules, etc. I never was able to make it work like I wanted it to. No matter how often I read the manual I could never figure out all the little program quirks that were required to make it do what I wanted. I’d heard of WiFi connected controllers and since I was desperate to replace the old one, I ordered the Orbit from Amazon because of the great reviews it got. And having pretty much joined the Smart Home-connected world already, I thought I was up to the challenge of installing and programming this thing myself. And boy am I glad I did! Installation was very easy. I simply took pictures of the wiring in the old controller and labeled the wires accordingly before I did any disconnects. Removing the old controller was simple and mounting the new Orbit was super easy. In just a few minutes I had the Orbit mounted and the wiring connected. The only thing left to do was to connect it to my home WiFi and program it. This took a bit more time to do as I had some trouble connecting to my home WiFi, but I sorted this out by employing a WiFi extender on my deck which strengthened the signal enough to reach the Orbit. Problem solved and soon I was programming, through my phone, the four zones I have connected to the system. I tested each zone using the B-Hive app and it worked perfectly. As for continued use, things couldn’t be easier. I have two of the four available programs pre-set and I’m able to schedule either or both programs for whatever days they’re needed. Or, using the phone app, I can ask it to water any specific zone at any moment for any length of time from the comfort of my sofa - sweet! Even better, I have enabled B-Hive on Alexa and now, with just a voice command, I can do the same! This has even come in handy when working in the yard; I can send a voice command to Alexa from my phone and have the watering start or stop as needed while I work. One more really cool feature of the Orbit is its ability to know your local weather forecast and adjust your schedule as appropriate. For instance, if there’s a significant chance of rain in your area, B-Hive will implement a rain delay for a time in keeping with the forecast, up to several days. (You can also do this manually for whatever reason you like.) This prevents over watering and saves your water bill. Its calendar feature saves your watering history so that you always know what’s been done. In short, I love this thing and would highly recommend it for its ease of installation and use, as well as being a superb value for all the features you get. It simply works exactly the way you want it to, when you want it to. 5 STARS!

I had the indoor B Hyve unit at my previous home and it worked really well, so when I moved I ordered this one to replace a Hunter controller that was on the exterior of the house. One thing to note that the instruction booklet does not cover (but I found videos for on YouTube) is that you can hardware this unit if you have a pump relay rather than an outlet. It involved opening the unit, undoing the wiring in the transformer to remove the power cord, and wiring the pump relay power to the units transformer. It’s simple enough to not need an electrician, labeling the wires helps. The B Hyve fired right up and setting up the zones and schedule took 5 minutes. I like how the app checks the weather and can set a delay automatically, versus the rain sensor on the old hunter unit that did not always trigger the rain delay. So far I am liking this model more than the indoor only model I had previously, as this one includes a screen and button controls. You can still control it via Bluetooth if the WiFi is out, but I am always in favor of having physical buttons as an option. Overall I am pleased with it.

I've been using Orbit B-hyve irrigation controllers for years, and they've never disappointed me. The hardware has proven to be reliable, and the B-hyve app is one of the easiest irrigation apps I've used. Setup is straightforward, and making changes to watering schedules is simple enough for even a novice. One of my favorite features is the ability to control the system from anywhere using my phone. Whether I need to adjust a schedule because of the weather or manually run a zone while I'm away from home, it's all just a few taps away. The weather-based scheduling also helps avoid unnecessary watering, which can save water and keep plants healthier. If you're looking for a dependable smart sprinkler controller that's easy to install, simple to program, and reliable for long-term use, the Orbit B-hyve 6-Zone controller is an excellent choice. It's a product I continue to trust and recommend.

First off, I’m not a high rater. To get 5-stars, do something exceptionally better. 4-stars means GOOD. I’ll leave it as good, BUT, the smart watering feature is NOT good; almost worthless. I bought this to replace a more manual controller. I was looking for an internet enabled unit for better control. I have 5 zones. Installation was fairly straightforward and no problem. Wiring was easy, despite the small screws that the included screw driver really didn’t like. This unit does have a battery for backup. The old unit did not. I’m not sure how the old unit maintained without one, but it did. Now I have to keep an eye on a battery. Oh well. The unit was fairly easy to program with the app but boy, they want a lot of information for the smart watering. Soil type, slope, rain levels, number of heads and types, etc. We are in a drought right now but, you have to set drought for each zone; kind of a pain for that. I thought smart watering would be a nice feature. After installing, I was having issues with one zone. It shows ground moisture as 100% and wouldn’t irrigate that section. I tried several things but nothing would change that permanently; it would just go back to 100%. They have a ‘chat’ feature for support so I tried that. After a few ‘things’ the agent asked for my MAC address and took a look and did reset the moisture to 0% that held until the system did irrigate that section. Then it went back to 100% again. Tried chat again and this time the agent basically said ’smart watering’ isn’t working and do manual programming instead. Hence my comment. It you are getting it for the smart watering, DON’T!!! The rest of the unit does seem to work okay. I do like that you can control the system from both the app and the unit. It does have a good programming feature. I haven’t tried the rain override yet but that was one reason I wanted an internet unit; so I could interject on those rainy days. Bottom line so far, GOOD unit it you don’t need ‘smart watering’.

Having an old Rain Bird Analog rotary controller, I was looking to upgrade to a modern WiFi Controller so I would no longer be running down the basement to turn on and off the Rain Delay. I was keeping an eye on a competing product to this, but wasn't crazy about the competitors' $200.00 price tag. So when this Orbit Controller came to market with the same features at half the price, it immediately had my attention. I waited a few months to let some reviews trickle in and once I felt comfortable, I went for it. It is a one piece assembly in a weatherproof box for indoor or outdoor mounting. I opted for the 6 zone controller as currently I only have 3 zones, with plans to add one more zone for a feature garden in front of my house. Ultimately, the decision was made to keep it inside where the old one was, since I had a power outlet right there. The power cord is about 6 feet long so if you need some length, no worries. Installation took all of 5 minutes. Take a photo of the old wires, which was a Green Common, and Red, White, and Blue wires for zones 1, 2, and 3, respectively. I removed the wires from the old controller with a small flathead screwdriver, unplugged the old controller, removed from the wall, and cleaned it up and put it away to keep as a "backup" since it still worked fine. I removed the old plastic anchors and screws from the wall, popped in the new ones and had the Orbit controller hung on the wall. Then I passed the wires through the grommet in the bottom of the case, and connected them to the Common, 1, 2, and 3 terminals. Couldn't have been any easier. I didn't bother to program anything at the controller because the app was so easy. I set up a log-in with my e-mail address, connected it to my WiFi, and then I programmed a manual schedule as I don't want to use the "Smart Watering" feature. I couldn't believe how easy and fast it was. Literally, the whole process took MINUTES. The Alexa compatibility is cool. Definitely a combination of "Wow Factor" and befuddlement from anyone around when I ask "Alexa, ask b-Hyve to water the lawn" and my sprinklers run. Nice touch, but the app control is easy as pie too. Works over a cellular connection too so if you're not home you can flip your sprinklers on anytime. The best feature of this controller, however, is its integration with the weather forecast. It automatically schedules rain delays with ZERO input from the user. Want to override the rain delay? Simple click of ONE button when you open the app. I have mine set to run Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 3AM (don't water in the evening, you don't want root rot, and don't water when the suns up or it will evaporate!). In the 3 weeks I have had this controller, my sprinklers have only run TWICE because of the weather integration. It looks at how much rain you've gotten and is forecast, and does its thing. At this rate, it will pay for itself in one spring/summer with water savings alone. I couldn't be happier. You can set Notifications in the app to tell you when a Rain Delay is automatically set, when a Watering program has run, and a few other things. Love it! The app has a calendar in it so you can look back and see what days have been watered. You can take a picture of each zone so if you have multiple zones, you wont forget what number is what. You can also go into the app and run any zone you want for any time, great for adjusting or repairing sprinkler heads or chasing birds off the lawn! Run zone 2 for one minute, no problem. Highly recommended.

3 months ago I replaced an old controller with this to get remote control function . It has MANY features, but in my situation I only need manual watering and remote control for winterizing. Mechanical side of installation is simple (mine is indoor-but construction looks waterproof.) Note-I used my own screwdriver for wires, the included one has a TINY handle. The WiFi setup went fine, but if you have never done that before, watch YouTube videos for this product or find a helper. Setup- do NOT be overwhelmed by "extra" features, you can use what you want or just ignore them. They never mention use during winterizing, even though the system makes it easy (1 of the 2 reasons I bought it!). When all is ready (compressor, hoses, valve, etc.) go into B-Hyve app- zones- then pick the zone you want to clear and use "Zone Test" function to turn zone on and off as needed. I paid $99, which seems VERY reasonable vs competitors. As a proven product with no moving parts, I expect it to work for a long time.

This B-hyve replaced a 20+ year old Orbit #57896. Mine is installed in the garage but the buttons eventually starting sticking so I could no longer use the manual mode. 20 years later and both units were about the same size and the mounting points were the same. The new unit is easier to program and with a lot more features including phone app. Super impressed; most manufacturers will want to change everything after 1 or 2 model years. Orbit found out that all you need is to tweak it a little bit every year. A 2-year old can program it. This thing will out live me....

I've had this controller installed for over 3 months now. I'm not sure what I can say other than it works great. I haven't done too much programming from the unit itself, I mostly use the bhyve app. As far as my experience goes, it's been basically flawless. I have been able to program all my zones and adjust times, watering schedules, etc. The app notifies me when the programs are starting and complete, and when there's a weather-related or other delay. However, it's important to know that things like rain delays or wind delays are based on weather forecasts, and the device doesn't know whether it has actually rained or not unless you install a rain sensor, which was not included with my controller. This isn't an issue for me as I have a weather station and manually set weather delays when I know it has rained. I don't use the smart watering functionality or some of the more advanced features of the app, so I can't comment on those parts too much. I mainly rely on watering schedules and times and adjust percentages based on how much it's been raining. I know some people have complained about bhyve controllers disconnecting from wifi, I have not experienced this. However I do have a well set up 2.4g IoT wireless network specifically designed to be compatible with older wireless devices, so all I can say is this might be compatibility issues with some people's wireless routers. Overall, this thing does the job it says it's going to do. It's easy to install for the most part, and I hope to get years of service out of it.

The timer arrived totally destroyed (DOA). I contacted with Orbit support in Europe and I received the following answer: Dear Spiros, Unfortunately, this is a US-spec timer with the wrong voltage to use in Europe. Please contact Amamzon immediately for a full refund, as this timer should not have been shipped and sold in Europe. Further, North American products are not covered under international warranties. We are sorry about this, but again, the timer should not have been sold in Europe. We hope this matter is resolved satisfactorily. But let us know the outcome or if we can be of any further assistance. Kind regards, Customer Care Team ... just spending money and time

centralina perfetta, veramente on-line, eccezionale. l'app è pensata per gestire ogni aspetto dell'irrigazione. attenzione solo alla tensione di alimentazione, prendere la versione per l'europa altrimenti se si ordina la versione USA poi bisogna procurarsi un trasformatore da 24V alternata (tipo da campanelli, ma un po'grosso)

Trés bon appareil connecté, pratique d'utilisation à distance depuis mon lieu de vacance. Je devais le recevoir à partir du 6 Mai, je l'ai reçu dès le 28 Avril.

This sprinkler system is a dream. So easy to install yourself if replacing an existing unit. The app is amazing with many options available for programming. Now we don't have to go outside to change the program or turn it off for the season, and it retains your settings when you turn it back on. Highly recommended.

This dont work in EU! 110 volt! Dont buy!