Gen 2 Costco or Gen 3?

post by Farlicimo on Jun 28, 2018

I poked around the forum looking for a thread discussing this and was surprised I couldn’t find one. I currently have a Skydrop controller and have become fed up with it and looking for a replacement. Over on the SmartThings forum I asked for input and several people directed me to Rachio, and after doing some reading up on it, I think it sounds like a good fit for me. I especially like that there is an active forum that includes input from both users and staff. . . .that’s a really good sign in my book.

In any case I think I am choosing between the Gen 2 from Costco and the Gen 3. Since the Gen 2 from Costco has Weather Intelligence Plus, the main differences seem to be these I list below. Anyone have guidance or can point me to an existing thread discussing this?

• Dual Band Support: Gen 2 is 2.4 only and Gen 3 is dual band. From reading the forums it seems some people have trouble getting Gen 2 connected to dual band routers. I have a dual band router with distinct network names which seems to make it unlikely to have a problem. That being said I will probably in the next year get suckered into getting a mesh system, likely Google Wifi, which use unified naming. Do people think that is enough of an issue to steer me away from Gen 2?

• On Unit Controls: The only time the unit gets run locally is when there is an irrigation person working on the system. I can’t quite tell, does the Gen 2 have on board controls, but maybe they are just more rudimentary? Can Gen 2 both start and stop a zone? In terms of remote access, is there a safe way to give someone access to control it without having them have to access the wifi network? Not necessarily keen on opening up my wifi network to random people working on the system. If you can give them remote access, can it be only temporary?

• Wireless flow meter: I don’t see my self being brave enough to install my self nor being willing to pay a plumber to install, so don’t think I would miss it.

• 50 bucks: 50 bucks is 50 bucks, if I don’t need the stuff that comes with the newer device, no real reason to pay the extra. That being said, hopefully this is a longer term device so spending to get the newest generation might just be worth it for longevity. I had hoped to get more than 2 years out of my Skydrop, but its just not cutting it even after a good bit of tinkering (and painful interaction with support) and costing me a lot of money from extra watering as water is very expensive where I am.

One last question, for those who have had to get support, has it been a good experience?

post by Gene on Jun 28, 2018

Welcome to the community! Great community is the primary reason I think Rachio will outlast all of the other competition, If you don’t mind me asking, what made you reconsider Skydrop?

Now for some of your questions:

• Gen 2 will allow you to run / stop any specific zone, Gen 3 will allow you to also pause the zone. Pausing the zone is not as needed from the front plate and Gen 2 can be paused via app. Controls of the two devices are about even.

• You can give full (they will be able to adjust settings / schedule & run / stop / pause zones) or limited access (just run / stop zones) to anyone without needing to give up your wifi privacy. All of the unit interactions are done via cloud, you will only need to specify their email address via the app, they do not have to own any rachio devices themselves. Limited access is done via an email as well, either type of access can be revoked by you at any time.

• Rachio support team is pretty great, warranty is solid and I’ve yet to see Rachio refuse to fix or replace the any unit that has not failed due to a deliberate user negligence.

Personally I would recommend you go with Gen 3. Even if you don’t use the water meter right away, having that option is well worth the money. Alternative flow meters, such as those supported by gen 2, can cost 2 to 3 times what Rachio is charging for theirs and you can browse the community for success stories of people saving lots of water & money with their new water meter.

Cheers,

Gene

post by Farlicimo on Jun 29, 2018

Thanks for the feedback. I’ll look more at the flow meter usage to see if I might use in the future. As for Skydrop, I just looked at my activation and it was only 5/2017. Forgot I bought around good Friday and sat on it until Spring. So only 1 good year. What I haven’t liked about it are:

• Support is poor. I’ve never called because it lines up squarely with my work hours. Email or in-app messages take days for responses.
• UI on the device is very slow and clunky to deal with.
• App UI can be confusing.
• Seems to overwater a good bit even when I dialed down the range all the way to the bottom.
• Weather data has always been less than accurate.
• It has no user forum.

post by aristobrat on Jun 29, 2018

I went with the Gen 3 on the hope that they will add more RF accessories down the road.

post by Linn on Jun 29, 2018

Because of this restriction, I would probably set up a fixed schedule with a daily interval of every 3 days. With your restriction, flex daily is probably not going to be a good choice. But you will still get good benefits from the Rachio.

post by Farlicimo on Jun 29, 2018

Thanks for the feedback. If I setup a schedule like this, will it still benefit from skipping waterings if it can make it to the next cycle? I also assume even if it can’t it will adjust the watering time down so as only to bring a zone up to required level of water and not just do a full cycle?

post by Bytored on Jun 29, 2018

Support has been excellent on these forums. Never placed a phone call. Very quick response and great help.

I’ve got a gen 2 I’m selling.

post by Linn on Jun 30, 2018

Yes, if you make sure the weather intelligence features are on.

No, I don’t believe that the fixed schedule is going to adjust the watering time down, unless something changed that I’m not aware of, and that’s always possible. I’m a flex daily user.

post by franz on Jun 30, 2018

Seasonal shift actually does adjust minutes on fixed schedules. We back into minutes based on user chosen watering frequency.

post by 7Natives on Jul 2, 2018

I put in a Rachio Gen II 16-station and set a fixed schedule because Flex is not designed to function with those sorts of restrictions.

The result was spectacular. My lawn became green and lush, my water use dropped by nearly 50%. The City loved it.

post by Farlicimo on Jul 2, 2018

So far it doesn’t seem my town is all that hard on actual enforcement. I think I have decided to just go with the Gen 3. I don’t see myself using the flow meter but I think the dual band support will be worth it as well as I like the suggestion that there might be more addons for future usage.

post by danethomas on Mar 29, 2019

Are the Costco Gen 2’s with Weather Intelligence still being sold? I can’t seem to find them on their website and the “Where to buy” link to them doesn’t work anymore.

post by laura.bauman on Mar 29, 2019

Unfortunately, the Generation 2 with Weather Intelligence + at Costco was a limited-quantity offering and it is no longer available.

post by danethomas on Mar 29, 2019

And there are no plans to make this available anywhere else or via your own store?

post by laura.bauman on Mar 29, 2019

Unfortunately, no plans! It was created as an exclusive product for our partnership with Costco. It was always planned to be a limited-quantity run, unfortunately.

post by Tintn00 on Apr 1, 2019

The item disappeared from Costco’s website literally 24 hours after my order was shipped at end of February.

post by Farlicimo on Apr 27, 2019

FYI gen 3 12 zone on sale for 199 after coupon.

post by Gene on Apr 27, 2019

Nice! Seems Costco’s Gen 3 version comes with 12 zones.