Orbit 21004 B-hyve Smart Hose Watering Timer with Wi-Fi Hub

Originally got the wifi “kit” with the hub and valve to see if it was worth the extra cost for wifi. With the rain delay feature alone, it saves on eliminating wasted water versus the old digital timer that required manual adjustment for every rain delay so not very convenient and unable to control remotely. After a few weeks, the orbit system has proven to be reliable. So I ordered a 4 port XD model for the other parts of the lawn but had to return it since it is not backward compatible with gen 1 wifi hubs. This is ultra irritating since these gen 1 are only single port. But since I already had the gen 1 hub it didn’t make sense to start over with gen 2 which offer very little other than the multiport timers. If anything, I’d wait to see what gen 3 or 4 brings for features since it’s apparent that’s the way these tech products go these days, a new gen every yr or two. So to remain compatible with existing investment, I ordered this gen 1 valve timer and a hose splitter. It was pretty simple to connect to my existing gen 1 wifi hub and so far it’s working well. I plan to reconfigure the sprinklers so I can daisy chain a soaker hose using a pass through fitting so that the one splitter will suffice. We seem to have enough water capacity depending on type of sprinkler, impact types seem to need the most pressure to flip them from side to side, so I can daisy chain maybe one off the impact type - the oscillator and soaker hose seem fine to add on after the impact but two impact types don’t work well, could be the particular models. Anyway, for reasonable cost I’m able to cover the majority of the lawn with a variety of sprinklers we luckily inherited from former owners who left them behind. Benefit with city water is savings on water usage/cost. Time will tell but just a handful of rain delays each month should pay for the hub and 2 timer system within 1 season.

These reviews crack me up. If you’ve ever even glanced inside the code for apps and wifi integration you agree this high level stuff. It’s essentially first round tech on an affordable scale. DISCLAIMER: The learning curve here is about a 6/10. It’s not hard. But, I do feel that if you have to call your grandkids to fix your computer everyday, then this is not for you. A few prerequisites here, If you do not need Control ability down to the minute Watering history tracking Adaptive watering Away from home monitoring and control And... It’s reliable, efficient, highly customizable but... IF YOU WANT SOMETHING SIMPLE THAT WILL JUST WORK WITH LITTLE FUTURE INTERVENTION TILL THE END OF YOUR DAYS....move along. still with me? Now that they’re gone here we go. This product is awesome. My setup is used to control the mist system from a reverse osmosis unit to my carnivorous plant greenhouse. I’ve had it run for hours a day down to 1 min on 30 min off as well as remote watering when on vacation depending on environmental conditions inside the greenhouse. the app is designed around functionality not simplicity. That being said it’s really not that hard. So much in fact that I gave ol’ gam gams the manual and said read on with your bad self grams , no cheating, no phone a friends. Guess what? If an 85 year old needle pointer, who’s last advancement in technology was the thimble can do it, so can you. i knew she could do it and to prevent being called everyday forever to come fix the Daggon’ “water computer” I let her figure it out. Let’s be honest yes I would have gone to help her had she needed it. I’m not an animal. Geesh But the main perk here is the tech support. These guys go above and beyond to work the problem with you. Interaction with them is actually enjoyable and very personalized. When I joke they usually joke back. Mostof it is done on your and their time via text message which is convenient for both parties. And they’ve got your butt covered with the warranty should something absurd occur like when you accidentally let the smoke out of the wires 😬. Give it a shot IF you need this customization. If you need simplicity it works just as well but understand it’s not an integrated chip like your normal garden variety timers. It’s probably underpriced at its current state for what it can do and if you really can’t figure it out just get in touch with the nerds over at support. They’ll get you rite as...rain? 🤦🏼‍♂️

Love it

I purchased this to replace the Orbit 58911 Complete Yard Watering Kits I was using at the time. I was going on an extended vacation and wanted to reduce the workload for my house sitter and control and monitor watering remotely. I started out with one unit for testing and quickly realized this was an ideal solution. Make sure you update all your devices to the most current software version. The hub which connects your Bluetooth valves to your wifi needs to be in relative proximity on the inside of your house to the exterior location of your valves. Signal connection between the two had no issues even through 2’ stone walls. The valves communicate with each other creating a mesh which increases stability. Figure out where your valves will be to calculate how many hubs you need for larger systems. I needed 8 more valves and 2 more hubs so I purchased 2 Orbit 21044 b-hyve Smart Hose Watering Timer 4-Packs each included a hub and a 4 way Hose Manifold. There are different b-hyve packages on Amazon so figure out the most economical way to get what you need. Although the b-hyve software isn’t great, (at times it can be downright frustrating) setup is easy. Download the app, add your hubs and valves (this part is a little frustrating as there are redundancies that could be avoided even with having an auto fill option). Regardless setup process is worth it, as this system gives you great flexibility and functionality with your watering schedules. I set up multiple watering schedules for each zone each day in order to supply water to each plant when they need it most while maintaining water pressure to the house for high usage times. You can setup your own watering schedules or use the WeatherSense® feature for watering based on live weather feeds through wifi connection. I was hesitant to try the smart watering feature while I was away but upon my return I found it was very useful and reliable. Overview I like being able to easily change schedules remotely especially useful when you are figuring out the water requirements for new situations. The app lets you attach a photo of the actual zone for easy reference of each zone. Smart watering saves water, as well as adjusting watering to specific soil and seasonal weather conditions preventing overwatering and allowing you to fine tune each zone to its specific needs. Overall this is by far the best system I have used.

For any Australian buyers this does have an NPT thread and needs a GHT (BSP) adapter. It does come with a quick connect fitting for the hose though. Runs well with the V2 hub and seems to have better bluetooth range than my XD (could be imagining it)

The connection to the hub is unstable and drops off from time to rime. It can only be reset in person. Hopeless for a holiday house. Had to do a 6 hour round trip to reset during a drought.

Very simple to setup it works perfectly