36- Zone Smart Irrigation Sprinkler Controller HWN12-200+, Smart Watering Timer with Weather Aware, Remote Access, Work on Mobile App

I have a large home irrigation system and I wanted to upgrade to a smart controller. This is one of the only ones that can handle as many zones as I need. So first of all installation - the units themselves are built for ease of installation. You can remove the screw holders, wire them up and then snap them into the units. Getting onto my wi-fi and the internet was another thing though. I chatted and called support many times and they were about to send me another base unit when it finally worked. It seems like those wire holders need to be snapped into the unit for the unit to function - nowhere in the somewhat cryptic instructions is this mentioned. Now operation - the units do not feel solid. The perception I have is that they could break easily. The key to a smart device is the ability to access it through a network and app. Unfortunately accessing it through its phone app is a hit or miss proposition. At least half the time the units would lose connectivity or an access timeout message would appear. There are also programming issues and lack of capabilities - for example, the unit does not break up a zones running time and interleave with others (something most "dumb" controllers do) nor can you program it to run (through midnight) overnight. You need to separate the evening and morning start times. Finally, I have started to experience basic run time problems - for example, it will just stop in the middle of a programmed zone. So after a couple of months I have brought back my old "dumb" Hunter controller. Not smart enough to be connected, but reliable enough to be counted on. This one goes in the wasted money bin....

Great concept but doesn’t last. I had a terrible time connecting to the network fresh out of the box. Two months later the non accessible fuse burned out and it was damn near impossible to replace without dismantling the unit. Three weeks later 2 individual stations stopped functioning. So I contacted tech-support, a gentleman name Leo who I spoke with several times and got to know quite well, but can hardly be understood due to his heavy oriental accent. He refused to acknowledge that the unit is malfunctioning. So I unplugged the valves’ wires of the malfunctioning stations and relocated them to available stations that haven’t been used yet, and the unit started smoking.In brief, I waisted my time and hard earned money, so try to spare yours.Sincerely Gus

If you want a robust, feature rich irrigation controller at a reasonable price with great customer service, this is it. I had a question that was answered overnight. Then I had a problem with setup. The vendor answered the phone on a Sunday. He had me up and running in two minutes.

It’s great for large areas of landscaping

No good. I have them on back on my truck customers returned