LinkTap G2S Smart Wireless Water Timer with Gateway & Flow Meter - Automatic Sprinkler System for Garden, Long-Range Irrigation Controller with Real-Time Alerts, Rain Delay & IP66 Weatherproof Design - Perfect for Lawns, Flower Beds & Drip Irrigation Systems

I needed to go out of town for a week and we are in year 3 of a drought, which means I had to set up an irrigation system. I read the reviews and chose 5 plain LinkTap timers (red circles) and 1 with the flow meter (yellow). Rather than having to "trust" a long hose across my property under constant pressure (even if high pressure hose, the quality is unknown), I used the flow meter as a "Master" at the faucet. While that would allow the security to put timers at a distance (1 long hose across the property with splitters and multiple timers at that end), I started with everything at the source.My faucet is low and the timers have some weight to them, especially using 6 of them! To help hold the weight, I supported them with a metal hose reel. The lime green splitters were from the local dollar store and worked great. The orange and yellow quick connects made setup and removal easier.The flow meter was important for getting it all programmed. I watered manually and used the data from the flow meter to identify how long to run each timer. I set it up for the minimum I would need each day, knowing I could double it in areas if needed during the drought.It worked great, giving me full access from another state via my phone. I haven't used the rain skip yet (saw reviews that the forecasts weren't the best), but so far they look like they would work fine. But there is a simple red (STOP) and green (START) option to suspend and restart the all the timers with one click that I used to manually skip for rain.I've been pleasantly surprised upon returning home that it is so much easier to let this system run on its own. I thought I might go back to doing it manually but haven't yet. It will be very cumbersome to have to run them and time them myself once I have to put the timers away due to cold temps.My only criticisms are with the software, like the flow meter graph would be better if it did volume instead of time (time is irrelevant when the water pressure is inconsistent). More significant, though was the structure of the timer schedules. There are two independent systems in the software. In the "batch" system you can identify which timer to run for a specific time and then you can set the start time (or in my case the Master+ the timer can run together). But it doesn't allow sequencing them, it is only 1 timer/hose done once.The second system is much more cumbersome, especially with a (duplicate) master timer for recording volume. This system has exact times of day to start and you pick the frequency of the days (Master on 7:00 for 2 min, backyard on 7:00 for 2 min, repeat for each section of the yard with exact times).Maybe I'm missing something, but it would be easier to design the batch plans (Master 1 minute, backyard 1 minute, + the rest of the sequence) and then choose START TIME for the whole batch and REPEAT FREQUENCY (1 time only, daily, every other day, etc.). That would make it easy to move the start times later as the temperatures cooled and to add a 2nd run in extreme drought situations. But maybe that's harder than it sounds.But the timers have worked great and the software is manageable with some nice features. This project took me about a month and probably cost about $1500 with the timers and the hoses and sprinklers and soakers and all the hardware (connectors, splitters). The Eden sprinklers were a little tricky due to water pressure issues. The most that worked in my yard were 5 on a timer/hose at a time, but 4 was better. The soakers could cover more area, but were harder to install where there was a ground cover to snake around. It was quite an adventure that worked out great. Thanks LinkTap!I needed something for my SO's garden since we were going on vacation and she wanted something left alive when we got back :) :) I spent two weeks surfing reviews and basically came to the conclusion that the overwhelming majority of timers out there are absolute overpriced garbage. Just cheap, barely up to the level of throwaway, crap from China.Then I stumbled across the LinkTap stuff. Yes its more expensive - up front. $140 for one faucet. But its very obvious that this product is actually built to last more then one season. You WILL NOT find anything else with even close to equivalent functionality and quality for this price. Anything else will start at $50-60 and MAYBE last one season. We're in a high desert (6K ft) so while the heat isn't overwhelming (high 90's at most), the sun (UV) is brutal! Cheap plastic crap from China has a amazingly short lifespan!The app is clunky but functional. Which is fine. I want a functional product! I don't care if the app isn't a work of art. Read their directions because some things are not obvious. Also, this product will do A LOT. Also, not all of which is obvious.The web site is less clunky and still perfectly functional. The web site is NOT housed on the hub so you can control your watering remotely anywhere you have internet access.NOTE: remote access ONLY works if your hub has internet access! If the hubs internet connection goes belly up, you are SOL. This only affects YOU ACCESSING the hub and doing stuff. Whatever preexisting settings continue on as they are irrespective of whether the hub has internet access or not.The hub uses Zigbee - yea, stop jumping up and down. It is ONLY used to interface with their devices. NO. It will not integrate with a Zigbee hub! Control is only through their app or their web site.There are a bunch of things I REALLY like about this setup, but I'm not going to go through all of them.#1 on my list is being able to see water flow: whether there is any and how much. We use dripper hoses which only flow about 2gph. Not nearly what an open faucet would flow so its easy to see if someone disconnected a hose. It also reassures my paranoid SO that water ACTUALLY IS flowing. :)#2 email alerts for several things like too much flow, no flow. Not much interest if you're at home, maybe, but I'm not down with blowing through 5000 gallons of water because we were gone for a week and the lawn guys ran over a hose with the mower.#3 hub based with remote devices. The app/web site doesn't talk directly to the devices. Which is very good for us since we have a weird shaped house. Wireless connectivity at the faucet is shaky at best. Bluetooth connectivity would be non existent. I located the hub in my office about in the middle of the house where I can supply it with uninterruptible power and internet and it gets 80% connectivity to the faucet which means it work perfectly 100% of the time.#4 it is SUPER EASY to hook this to a POE (power over Ethernet) adapter and only have one wire running to my POE Ethernet switch supplying both internet and power (off my UPS). No wall wart! Another plus to this is it makes things considerably easier if you don't have a power outlet where you want to put the hub. :)#5 this setup is crazy expandable! Unfortunately, I already have a perfectly functional sprinkler system so a hub and one faucet is all I'll probably ever need. But if I were putting in a new sprinkler system, I'd seriously consider this on a larger scale.I strongly suggest looking at their web site and going though their docs. I couldn't begin to give an adequate review of everything. I strongly recommend this over EVERYTHING else on amazon!G2-S bought a week ago. Really impressed with both the timers and the gateway. Setting them up is very easy. I have the networked gateway set up in a bedroom upstairs with 2 timers at the front and 1 at the back of the house. There is a WiFi signal strength test in the app which tells me that all 3 timers have a very good signal. Setting the watering times is also very easy. The app records how much water is used each day and also records a running total. Watering times can be fine tuned to the minute so you don't waste by over watering. You can set up email alerts for restricted flow, extra flow, and even if the timer falls off its perch. You also get an alert when the timers start and stop each time. Amazing really the technology inside them. They are expensive but they are above and beyond the normal consumer unit that I have previously used. The app works on an iPhone, M1 Mac and although an app is not available for an iMac, the timers can be controlled via the web, which is identical to the app. The timers take 4 x AA batteries and there is a low battery alarm. The makers reckon they should last 2 years. I'm very pleased I bought this kit.I've been searching for something like this, and had used the Eve Aqua. This is a potentially better product, and I switched to the Linktap, mostly because it also supported water usage / consumption.First the pros:The actual tap hardware is great. Feels well built, sturdy and works well.The software controls (the app) have tons of features, but the UI is terrible. They could really do with a good designer to work on the user flow. You'll get there, but it's not pretty or user intuitive.The cons:The stupid gateway you need is crap. I have two LinkTaps, one in the front of my house, and one in the back garden. My house is new, and in my part of the world we build with lots of concrete and bricks. However, the actual distance between each tap is no more than 40 meters. I also wave WiFi access points in multiple places and floors of my house, and in my back garden - if the LinkTaps supported WiFi I would be all good. But they don't, and despite trying multiple places for the gateway, I can only ever get it to connect to one tap at a time (unless I have all 3 in the same room, which I did to test, then it works fine). This is really frustrating. I'll probably have to buy a separate gateway now to get them both online at the same time.I had been looking at this device over a year ago but wanted to get garden irrigation plumbing complete first. Since I last looked , from the G1 , the G2 and G2S have since been released. There may be others versions available.I have a splitter tap who's output uses Hozelock connectors as opposed to a standard tap threaded screw, but this was no problem to install. Link Tap provide all the necessary connectors.Set up was straight forward and in less than 10 minutes I was up and running. This is a easy to use and very fleible device allowing a number of schedules, calendar based, time based, rain skipping features, leak detection etc..I would have given Ease of Use 5 stars however :- The app isn't as slick as it could be . I use Android and it feels a little 'frst days of mobile apps' rather than a truly engaging User Interface- The Smarthome integration could be better. I use Google Home and I can't ask it to turn on the Sprinkler. It's like a 3rd party type of integration when you have to say 'Hey Google, ask Link Tap to turn on for 5 minutes'. There is a workaround to thie using IFTTT but true native integration could be better.- I have had the device for 3 weeks but it's too early for me to review the battery life.But I'm not complaining. This is easy to use. Easy to install and maintain. Family friendly and you forget it's there. I just see blooming flowers growing far better than last year. Definetly would recommend this.Link Tap if you're listening.. Please consider developing a multi output device - We all have diffferent beds and borders we want to water. You have many competitors out there, but this would be seperating yourself from the competition.For a single-stream watering timer that can be controlled remotely via and Android or iPhone app, this product seems excellent. It also copes with higher water pressures, which some timers do not. I cannot vouch for how long it will function (previous experience suggests you are lucky if you get two seasons out of a timer). Also, as it is set up in a greenhouse, I cannot say how weatherproof it is. I would have preferred a timer that could control two watering streams independently. It would also be useful to have a display panel on the timer, providing basic information about the next watering time, etc. What I would like to find now is a pipe and jointing system that does not leak - I have found it very difficult to get Hozelock system connected without a few persistent drips.I think I wanted to buy this initially, but as it was during covid, there didn't seem to be any stock, so I ended up with another brand.I know rechargeable batteries are not recommended, but it pains me to use disposable ones. The other brand's controller was fine initially, but recently really started eating them up, hence the change.This controller is brilliant, uses rechargeable batteries without issue and doesn't drain them - I can easily believe the 2-year claim on regular batteries.Initial connection and strength of connection is way better. Set-up of schedules is a bit more of a faff compared to my old controller, there is currently no sunrise/sunset option, but apparently this is coming.The thing I like best though is the "skip watering" feature, works very well. The monitoring of flow is useful too, especially when you input your water rates giving you a rough cost of how much your spending. Very pleased so far.