B-hyve XR Timer

I have a garden and a job that has me traveling in the summer. That’s not really a good combination so my husband and I installed a drip irrigation system and two different timers. This one is the best, hands down. The app lets me set up schedules to water different zones at different rates and times. I can water from my sofa or from across the country. I can check watering history to know what and how much has been watered. I can turn programs on and off or change them temporarily or permanently from anywhere with the convenience of the app. The only real complaint I have is the rain delay. You set the nearby weather station the app will use for forecasting. Or rather, it sets it but you can change it. Unless you set the allowable percentages quite high, it will set a 24 hour rain delay for a small chance of light to moderate rain during one hour of the day. Here in Florida, we have forecasts that include potential pop up showers which may or may not happen, so rain delay is useless in those situations. I experimented with it a while and finally just turned it off. I determine my own delays manually. Speaking of manually, you can attach a handheld hose to a port for manual watering. Because your tap is already open, you’ll need to deal with the timer box to open the port and get your water flowing. Read the instructions and follow the five steps and you’ll get used to what you have to do each time. One thing to keep in mind about the design of this, or really any timer unit, is that it can be difficult to attach hoses if your water tap is very low to the ground. Mine are traditionally low, and I have just enough clearance for the box to hang off the tap and for hoses to connect without crimping, but my husband plans to extend the faucets and bring the pipes up several feet, to match the design of taps we’ve added throughout our yard. This makes the timers and hoses so much easier to deal with. All in all, I’m a big fan of this timer. But honestly, I found nothing comparable in this price range with these features to compare, so I’ll be a fan unless and until something better comes along. The build seems solid. I have yet to notice any leaks, and I use all 4 ports daily. The display is large and easy to read and use. We’ve been using it for months and haven’t had to change batteries yet. It’s an electronic device that’s made my life easier. In fact, I could not keep a garden without a device like this and this unit was best value for money to fit my needs. I now own three of them and can’t wait to get the other two into action.

Initially, I had some trouble connecting the hub to my Wi-Fi, but it turned out to be an issue on my end. Once everything was set up, the software proved to be excellent — it’s well-designed and makes setting up automatic watering simple and intuitive. One thing to note: rechargeable batteries don’t report battery levels correctly, so it’s best to use standard alkaline batteries. My home is about 2,300 square feet with hose faucets on both ends. Placing the hub in an outlet near the sliding glass door, roughly in the center of the house, provided great range and connectivity. e to connect HUB to Comcast’s WiFi router.

I wanted to like this product. I really did. But after days of troubleshooting, resetting, reconnecting, replacing batteries, moving to a dedicated 2.4 GHz network, and fighting with this thing nonstop, I’m done. The ONLY way this device consistently works is over Bluetooth when I’m standing practically next to it. The entire point of buying a “smart” watering timer is remote control and automation. If I have to be within 10 feet of the device for it to function, then it completely defeats the purpose. The app constantly reports the device as disconnected. The WiFi hub randomly drops connection. Pairing is unreliable. Setup is a nightmare. Remote control away from home is basically nonexistent. I’ve spent more time troubleshooting this thing than actually watering my lawn. And before the canned support responses come in: Yes, I used 2.4 GHz. Yes, I reset everything multiple times. Yes, I replaced the batteries. Yes, my WiFi works perfectly fine for literally every other smart device in my house. This product is simply not stable. I’m returning all of it and gladly spending more money on Rachio instead. At this point I would happily pay an extra $30, $50, or even $200 for something that actually works reliably. Orbit, if you need to charge more to build a stable product, then do it. Because this thing sucks.

Buying the timer with the hub is the way to go. You can also buy an additional timer and connect multiple timers to one hub which is great. programming the timers is simple form the app. Connecting everything to the network is simple and requires no special skills other than to know where the MAC address is on the timers. Its on the white sticker. ha! I am happy with the simplicity and easy install, my plants are happy with the precision watering. I bought two 2 port timers and installed a drip watering system for blueberries, apple trees and the usual raised bed summer vegetables.

I finally got the 4 Port Time XD w/included Hub connected and working. The working range between the Hub and the Timer unit is not great, and it's difficult to diagnose because there are no diagnostics available*. It either shows "connected" or "not connected" in the app, and there's no signal strength indicator or percentage displayed. The connected/disconnected state seems to be tested only when executing a function, so I spent a long time turning one of the stations on and off manually a few dozen times to see whether or not the command was received by the timer. I eventually got a reliable connection between the Hub and the Timer unit by running a length of Ethernet for POE, and then buying a $10 POE-to-5V-USB extractor and mounting that and the Hub in a semi-covered area near my garden (see photo 1). From there it's about 50' to the Timer unit, but without a clear line-of-site. In fact there's about 15' elevation drop and a block wall in between (see Photo 2), but it does connect reasonably well. I tried 10 cycles of manual watering on/off, and it succeeded every time, but with anywhere between 5 and 20 seconds between when I pressed the button on the app and when I heard a "click" from the Timer unit. Orbit needs to add a real-time Diagnostics feature to the app, showing the real-time WiFi connection quality between the network and the Hub, and the real-time BlueTooth connection quality between the Hub and the Timer unit(s). This would allow the user to move the Hub around on an extension cord and optimize the placement before committing to a location. As things are, we're just guessing and using trial-and-error. Also, my testing seems to suggest that there's a minimum delay between a Manual Stop command and a Manual Start command. If I start a Manual Watering, I can stop it almost immediately, and I get a relay "click" within ~5 seconds of clicking the Stop button in the app. If I attempt to Start another Manual Watering cycle, sometimes it takes ~5 seconds and sometimes it takes 20. I _think_ if I wait awhile after my last Stop command, the Manual Start starts faster after I click in the app, but I'm not 100% sure about the correlation because I'm also troubleshooting connection issues. If there is a built-in delay/latency, Orbit should display a message in the app so that we're not left wondering whether the command was received or not. But I'm giving this 4 starts because it does work, and I've needed a connected timer for years now, and it finally appears to be reasonably good and reasonably priced. * Yes, on the advice from the Orbit forum I downloaded and tried the Orbit Assist app, but it tells me absolutely nothing useful. It shows only the download/upload speed to the Internet from where my phone is sitting, but nothing about the connections that are actually used by the B-Hyve products.

I had originally ordered a RainPoint WiFi timer that couldn't connect to my network. Testing in another home found that it couldn't connect to two random networks. That made it into a return. Amazon is great that way. I troubleshot the RainPoint with AI and after it couldn't help and saw it was a lost cause, it recommended two other products. I'd heard of Orbit products, usually with a good reputation. It also had a cheaper price. I got it. It connected to my network without any problem. Following the instructions was easy. I even moved it after setting it up and it reconnected immediately. I then setup each of the zones - very easy to do, but I can't fully describe all the surprise functionality the WiFi timer has integrating with weather, photos, and descriptions of your landscaping. I've had it hooked up for less than a full day and, with the testing, have used it 15 times, with the very easy manual option and rain delay settings. If I become disappointed at some time, I'll stop back. This is my first WiFi water timer and I am much impressed so far.

These devices are awesome! I've been using them since 2017? This one can run two hoses, my older ones can old manage one hose each. Set them, and forget them! The only difference between these and your pro underground sprinkler systems is that you need to move them before you mow the lawn. Otherwise, Once you tell the device where you live, it will monitor local weather and will pause watering when it sees rain on the way. Download and install their app, tell it where you live, set up the devices and connect to them, and you're up and running. Set regular schedules, spot water if you want to easily if you see the lawn needs it with a simple click of the button in the app. I typically replace the batteries once at the beginning of the season and the next time you see these devices, the fall is here and you're putting everything away.

I guess I got lucky with my single tap bluetooth/wifi faucet controllers. That luck ran out with the 4 port XD. A big part of the problem is Orbit HATE you. There's really no excuse for why their documentation is so bad, other than they truly despise you, the user. As a first example, the manual for the B-Hyve XD Bluetooth Hose Faucet Timer has a components diagram on page 1. Absolutely nowhere do they bother to show where the battery drawer is. The very next instruction is, "Insert two AA (1.5V) batteries (not included) and replace the tray." So what tray would that be? They couldn't be bothered to show you, anywhere, in their documentation. If you try pulling on the black rubbery parts, that might be a tray seal, you'll damage it. You're supposed to guess that the tray is the thing hidden on the back. In their defense, they did use two point text, yes, it's really that small, inside a recess, to label "1.5V AA Alkaline Batters Only" if you tilt it to the light just right, and have perfect vision. Otherwise, absolutely, and I do mean absolutely, no effort whatsoever was made. Then you get to pairing. Oh, who am I kidding. They made so little effort there, it's a crapshoot as to whether you'll ever pair it to anything. I got it in a bundle with the wifi hub v2. Well, I say that. They tossed some bits in a box, shrugged, and called it good. Amazingly, the XD's manual makes zero mention whatsoever of WiFi and the Gen 2 Hub makes zero mention of how to set anything up, other than to use the app. Not wholly true, they do say to press the B-hyve button to put it in pairing mode, where it will flash every five seconds. Except, turns out, it doesn't. In the app... which was apparently designed by the same people who wrote the manual, good luck finding anything much. If you eventually find your way to My B-Hyve, then Devices, then you might find the + button. Upon clicking it... It manages to find the XD. At which point it goes to a Connecting Bluetooth screen and fails out. The only way to get past that is to go to the Off menu on the XD and hold it for five seconds to reset it. Then, suddenly, everything connects. Except you're now in Bluetooth connection and none of those web features you bought it for work. And there's slightly less than zero mention about how to get it on to wifi. As far as I can tell, you were supposed to connect the hub first. So go hunt for Remove Device, as you're repeating everything all over again. Oh, except adding the hub also fails on the add to WiFi network. But if you quit the app and reopen it, it comes back saying it did connect, it was just kidding with that crashed screen. Awesome. So now we can connect the XD. Not so fast! It does now offer a connect to wifi option. Except, even sitting next to the Gen 2 hub, it tells you they're too far apart. Quit the app and reopen it and, as if by magic, it claims they found each other. Except they didn't. If you try connecting via WiFi and telling it to manually water, nothing happens. Disconnect WiFi and change to Bluetooth and nothing happens. Reset the XD and the bluetooth connects and now you can manually water, getting a loud clunk as it switches. Back to WiFi and it's given up. And, the whole time, the Devices screen tells you everything's happily connected. Even if you unplug the Gen 2 hub from power, it'll still tell you everything's happily connected. Their app is deep, deep garbage. To go along with their awful manuals. Their products sometimes work, sometimes don't, but the app has no useful tools to help you figure out why, regularly lies about status, and the manual's so brief as to be of absolutely zero use. Sorry Orbit, but you've failed to hit the bar of "utterly lazy" and managed to plow straight into We Despise Our Customers territory. Fire all of your app folks. Fire your manual writers. Then put the device in front of people unaffiliated with your company, watch the misery they go through, then build and app and write manuals that explain all of the many, many, many problems you confront users with.

Hallo, ich habe mir den B-Hyve XD über Amazon.de bestellt. Der Netzstecker passt nicht für die übliche Steckdose und zudem kann ich nirgendwo erkennen, welcher Anschlusstyp (Gewinde) der Wasserausgang ist. Keiner der Schlauchadapter, die ich zu Hause habe passt. Ich kann auch keine EMail-Adresse finden um den Verkäufer zu kontaktieren. Darum versuche ich es auf diesen Weg. Ich bitte darum, dass sich ein Mitarbeiter der Firma Orbit bei mir meldet. Ansonsten muss ich das Gerät zurück schicken. Weshalb dieses überhaupt in Deutschland ausgeliefert wird, ohne einen Hinweis, dass verschiedene Adapter benötigt werden, kann ich nicht verstehen und macht schon mal einen schlechten 1. Eindruck.

Great product. Warning, though: In Australia the taps have a different screw-in groove standard. You’ll need an adapter.

There is nothing to say as a minus for this product. I am very happy with it. Before this I had a Gardena Master + water distribuitor which was getting stuck. With this, not only that works flawlesly, but you can as well use the app features and functions which are awesome.

Hasta hace poco el termporizador fiuncionaba excelente pero desde hace una semana tengo problemas con los programas pues finalizan antes del tiempo establecido. Desafortunadamente no existe soporte a cliente en la página del fabricante Orbit.

Used this for drip irrigation as a stand alone add on to a larger irrigation system. Set up and programming was straightforward and they system has worked without any issues the whole summer. The B-hyve app is a great tool.