Hunter WAND Smart WiFi Module for X2 Sprinkler Controller, Hydrawise App, Remote Scheduling, 2.4GHz WiFi Only, Supports Bluetooth, Wi-Fi Direct & WPS Setup

Our home builder was too cheap to include this with our irrigation system, so here I am. Anyway, it was super easy to set up, and the app is user friendly. The negative reviews of it are perplexing. If you’ve ever set up any smart device, like a fan or lightbulb, it’ll take you 2 minutes to get it going. I will say that I bought the new option and not the "used like new" version. I personally have had bad experiences with used smart devices being linked to an old home and it complicated things. Not sure if that would be the case here or not, but I suspect could be since it is set up by using the serial number on the module itself, and not the wall mounted irrigation system.

Funny how all sorts of smart home devices work just fine on my network. Like all of them. Except this piece of junk.I watched their troubleshoot videos they set up for irrigation people and saw that using your phone to provide hot spot was the test… In some “maximum compatibility” mode. Well after failing to sync it to my router which had plenty of signal and isn’t very old, I tried the phone and got it to work. For the brief time I had it working on my hotspot the application looked really useful.However after that it goes into disconnect and is nothing but trouble if the phone leaves the area. Trying to reestablish communication with Bluetooth is clunky. Tried all three ways to push the config for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi manual and the router push button. Even brought the router within 10 feet. Most I saw on the router end was “identifying” for what was the MAC ID of the WAND. I didn’t have a lot of options for security models on the router Wi-Fi so I couldn’t find one to work. I should have believed the poor reviews. After 3 hours of fiddling, and I spent my career in networking so I figured if it was a config item I’d get it solved, I had nothing to show. So it’s going back. From this I can surmise it uses a deprecated security model to connect to Wi-Fi, which means hiring some competent software people would solve it. There was no over the air way to push a new software release when I had it working on my phone so… no point hoping this model will ever work. If a WAND 2.0 ever comes out with this model’s obvious deficiencies addressed maybe I will try it some day. It’s 2024, Hunter, release working product please

There were a lot of reviews saying this was hard to set-up, but I'm not sure why. I'm not a technical genius, and I was able to set this up in less than 5 minutes. Once you insert the wifi device into the side of the wall mounted sprinkler controller the set-up is done completely through the app. It uses proprietary software, the Hydrawise app, but the app walks you through the set-up process. Very typical set-up, you use bluetooth to connect to the device, and then connect to the wi-fi of your choice from there. I'm in apple user, so maybe it's different for android users? Once in the app, you can label and take pictures of your zones (because, let's be real, I can't remember that zone 3 is the perimeter of my fence). You can also manually start your entire system, or zone, or create a new schedule. I wish I bought this when we moved into our house 3 years ago, versus dealing with the dial and buttons that I was never quite sure I was doing right - I'm very pleased with this purchase.

Mine arrived today so all I can speak to is setup and app features. First, setup was really easy. Now I'm an iT professional but this was really straightforward. We have an Orbi mesh network that supports both 2.4 and 5 GHz. Once the card is inserted, it tells you on the controller screen to open the app then initiates the setup wizard. I was connected in 5-6 minutes. Secondly, program setup was very easy. There are some default settings for temps, rainfall, weather forecast, etc.I still need to purchase a rain sensor but so far, so good. So it gets a 5 star rating until it proves me otherwise. Also, I've used the Rachio

I installed 2 of these for 2 identical Hunter timers on both sides of our house.The first installed, synched and set up fairly easily. It took several tries to get it connected to my wifi but after 3 tries, it finally connected and set up with the Hydrawyse app was easy.The app isn't the most intuitive, but once you understand the terminology (zones vs programs vs schedules), it's very helpful. I love being able to add photos to each zone, as descriptions are sometimes hard to come up with.We don't have rain sensors, but I have it set to monitor and adjust based on local weather forecast. So far, it's been very accurate and has skipped scheduled cycles when it's either rained heavily the day before, is raining now, or is forecast to rain that day. We had very light rain early one morning, and the system still kicked in at 7am b/c no more rain was forecast for the rest of the day.I recently planted some new plants in one of the zones and have been manually starting that zone for extra waterings on top of the scheduled ones. Doing so is so easy using the app.The second module that I attempted to install was a whole different story. It refused to be recognized at all. After spending over an hour trying, I stopped to analyze why this one wasn't working.Looking at both modules, serial number sticker on the first one was on the back of the module and it was printed in dark, crisp, clear lettering. The second module had the serial number printed on a faded sticker that was stuck (but partially lifting at the edges) onto the front of the module. The writing was so faded that it was a bit difficult to read the numbers. Thinking maybe a 1 might be a I or a 6 could be a faded 8, I tried all the different combinations. Still no luck.I finally ended up asking Amazon for an exchange, as I wondered if this had been a return/defective item that I received.That must have been the issue, because when the replacement arrived the sticker was clean and the print was dark and clear. I was able to install/sync it with just 4 connection tries as I did with the first one and it too, has been going strong for over a year now without any issues at allThis has been super helpful for us as we travel a lot. We have great neighbors who would stop by to turn off our sprinklers during a rainy week, then turn them on again when the storm system had passed.No need to ask them to do that anymore.Summary:- it takes several attempts to sync/connect it to wifi, but once connected, it works great and has not dropped connection in over a year now- we've had several power outages since installation, and when power is restored, the system restores itself without issue- adjusting, editing or manually starting/stopping operation is simple