LinkTap G2S Smart Garden Water Timer & Gateway, 2-Year Battery Life

Over the years I have purchased lots of things on Amazon that were designed and manufactured in China. They usually nearly work. While looking for an automated watering controller, I took a lot of care to make sure I did not purchase a wholly Chinese designed and manufactured product. I used to be in the electronics industry and worked with Taiwanese and Chinese manufacturers. I know from experience that if they try to design and build something for the west, for example emulating other western products, the quality and attention to detail is often missing. This was the reason I wanted to avoid any surprises. I found the LinkTap G2S product and purchased it. It was cheaper than the branded watering systems we are all familiar with in the UK, substantially so. It was designed in Australia, and the reviews were positive. I was not disappointed. It was easy to install and configure. You can download an app for it. It comes with a special gateway which you need to connect to your network through a wired connection. The control connection between the gateway and the external tap adapter is wireless, but does not use WiFi. I assume it uses one of the new very low power connections such as Zigbee. Once configured you can turn the tap on remotely, or set it for a timed duration. You can also set it up to deliver xx litres of water if you have the flow control device attached. That for example was useful for topping up the pond, set a value like 100 litres and forget about it. (Mine came with the flow controller). In terms of the physical tap and hose connectors, it is compatible with Hozelock and Gardena systems. So very easy to install and use. It also is aware of your location, and while not relevant in my case because I am watering a greenhouse, if you are watering outside, it can adjust the schedule based on your local weather, either delivering less water, more water or not at all based on temperature and weather. I have been using this system for around 1 month now, no issues at all. If you are looking for an automated controller that you can set up to cover vacations, or for general daily use and have very accurate control over the device, and a record of how it is working you could not go far wrong purchasing one of these. On the other end of my system is a Gardena distribution network set up for my greenhouse.

We have quite a large garden and while we have set up several manually controlled irrigation zones we want to automate watering since it has become quite a chore in dry periods. You can buy wi-fi valves and timers but walking around the garden with a phone it was clear that wi-fi was not going to give sufficient range without repeaters or boosters, so I started looking for a Zigbee alternative since that has longer range. This seemed to be the only credible product (unless you are brave enough to order direct from China, have good enough Chinglish skills to figure out instructions and enough Zigbee skill to solve problems for yourself) so I contacted Linktap customer support with a range of questions about range and performance. I got a prompt, full, honest and well thought out reply so I decided to buy a valve and give it a go. It comes as two items: a control unit which plugs into your ethernet router (note, it plugs in by cable, not wirelessly) and a valve which goes out into the garden. Build quality and design look good and the instructions are clear. Setting up the kit is straight-forward and comes in three stages: (1) Download their free app on your phone, create an account (1st time only) then log into it. (2) Connect power and ethernet cables to base unit. Scan QR code on it using phone to register it with your account, at which point it will connect automatically. (3) Add the valve by scanning its QR code, this will link it automatically with your base unit. Now you can control the valve remotely using the app on the phone. The ethernet cable they supply is quite short so I bought a longer one to allow me to put the base unit up in our roof in order to maximise its chances of reaching all parts of the garden. Then I went out with the valve and my phone to see if it would work at all wanted locations which - happily - it did. I'd estimate that the furthest was about 90 metres away, line-of-sight to the roof but some foliage in the way. We bought the G2S valve which includes a flow meter and initially I was dubious about whether the extra cost over the G1S (no meter) was worth it. However having now tested the system and observed both the real-time feedback of water flow rate and the various alarms you can set to detect problems with flow I'd say that the extra cost is worth it. Experience has taught me that irrigation systems block up, pipes fall off, dogs crash through flower beds pulling things apart, people leave hoses running, etc, etc so it is worth having something which will let you know promptly that you have a problem. I have two criticisms of the hardware, neither too serious: (1) The valve itself is a solenoid acting on a diaphragm. This is common for such valves but it does create quite a constriction on the flow so if you have low water pressure this may present problems. We achieved a measured flow rate of 10 litres per minute in the irrigation circuit I tested: enough for the micro irrigation we use but possibly not enough for sprinklers requiring high flow unless you also have a lot of pressure available. (The kit is designed to work at up to 8 bar, we use about 4 bar at the pump outlet.) (2) Our garden's water supply comes from both captured rainwater and a borehole, both requiring pumping. Linktap do not provide a "switch my pump on" module controlled by the base unit, assuming instead that you will be using the mains water supply. Linktap's suggestion for point #2 was to have the pump operated by a pressure switch but in fact I have managed to buy a 2nd hand valve on Ebay that I plan to cannibalise, using the circuit which normally opens the solenoid valve to power a relay instead. So hopefully problem solved but I do find it surprising that they don't provide this capability. I would also criticise the App itself. It has clearly been created by people who are better engineers than they are user-interface designers. All the information and capabilities are there but they are not that well laid out and it could be a lot more intuitive to use. Again not a massive problem, just annoying. Update 8th Oct 2023. After the initial trial with one valve we have bought several more double valves (D2S) to automate what were previously manually controlled irrigation zones. They are all working flawlessly and it is *so* nice to think "oh, I should water the garden" and do it, even in the dark, by tapping a button my phone. One thing I have learned though is that to get maximum range and reliability out of Zigbee devices you need to have a clear WiFi channel for them to work in, since Zigbee and 2.4GHz WiFi share the same frequency band. I got a WiFi analyser app for my phone (free) to see what was going on and then moved one of my routers from channel 1 to channel 9 to leave channel 1 clear. This improved the stability of the Linktap connection considerably. I also got my pump controller built from a cannibalised valve bought on Ebay. I have passed the circuit diagram to Linktap so hopefully they will make a unit commercially available. So yes, still "expensive, but worth it". We will be adding more zones next year and will be able to go away in hot weather without worrying about the plants.

Once you buy plants you must look after them, one of the key thing is to water the plants regularly and on time. I bought Link G2S gateway and watering dive over a year ago and I must say this is one of the device which I would highly recommend, an excellent product and robust design, so simple to assemble and start using it. Product - There is nothing out there in the market that matches the quality, reliability and durability of this product, I have had few in the past and this one is above the class. The batteries last forever, well I haven’t yet changed mine and I can see on the app over one year if use it’s still 60%. There are so many features that comes with the device that you would be blown away, weather forecast, don’t worry about turning your timer off, the devices skips watering plan if the forecast is to be rainy, Customer service- one of the best customer service team I had to deal with, Jack is an amazing person works for the company based in Australia, I had few queries and Jack sorted them out promptly. This would be a game changer for you, the best product out there in the market, absolutely no match to its quality and performance.

This product is epic. It works sooooo well that it's hard to believe!! You can have anything from the simplest to the most detailed watering schedules programmed in and it compares them to historical rainfall and/or local forecast rainfall, that can override the program. It measures exact water flow and tells you accurate costs depending on your specific water tariff. It detects water leaks or water blockages or if the item fell off the tap onto the floor (if someone/child tampered with it etc) The app is amazing: You can check and change everything from anywhere in the world, yet the user interface is so easy and simple. Best of all, and very unique in the world of customer service, is just how amazing the company is to deal with, in the unlikely and rare event that something is less than perfect with your product or experience. After 3(!) years of faultless operation in all weather's, my TapLinker stopped connecting to the wifi gateway unit, after a battery change. But, after a single short email to their customer support attaching a short video, they (Jack) instantly dispatched a brand new unit (<1 hour from email to resolution!) Free Of Charge to me, that was with me via Amazon next day Prime as always. Truly painless and epic from start to finish. VERY HIGHLY recommended 👌 👍 👏

If this had have been a little cheaper, I would have given it 5 stars. Yes, it's a very well made device with a proper app (thought a little over confusing to be fair) and a decent wifi range but it is a lot of money. The extender that came with ours was well worth it as I struggle to get a wifi signal at the end of our garden but this connected no problem. Setting this up was easy and being able to see how much water is being pumped out over a given time is super helpful when you know how much water you want to give your plants/veg. The device being able to choose whether to water based on the weather, and by a user set amount, is a water saving and helps your plants get the water they need rather than water logging your soil as with a regular not-so-smart watering system. If we ever need a second one, I would definitely buy one though I just wish it was a little bit more affordable..

I had a cheaper one that you had to adjust manually outside which got really annoying. This one is great, you can do everything on your phone, you have lots of flexibility around the types of schedules and it can skip when it rains. The functionality is worth it alone, but given how expensive water is these days I think this will pay for itself. I had no issues with setup or WiFi connectivity so no complaints. I watched it for a while and it does go on sale so worth waiting for a deal.

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.

Have had this for 3 years and it works perfectly,the App is so detailed and easy to use. Highly recommend and now even cheaper than what I purchased it for 3 years ago.

Super impressed. Seems like a lot of outlay for a small garden but installed and worked flawlessly. App is great, feature-rich and simple to use. Auto shut-off, fall and low/high flow alarms, smart weather settings... excellent value. Will buy again.

Great Product! No BS, no nonsense, it just works. Despite the all-plastic construction, it has yet to leak. The valve operates relatively slowly, preventing water hammer to an extent. That being said, I have highly filtered well water, which operates at a lower pressure than city water; your mileage may vary. The recent UI update to the app has greatly improved the experience. Battery life is good, and I have had no issues with the wireless connection from the valves to the gateway. The system uses a proprietary adaptation of the ZigBee protocall which uses the 2.4Ghz band. If you live in a crowded RF environment, you may have to experiment with different ZigBee channels to find one that's ideal. It was easy to install and configure with the gateway requiring a wired 10/100 Ethernet connection and 5V power over micro USB. One way the gateway could be improved is by supporting PoE; a lot of people, myself included, use it with various 3rd-party automation systems like Home Assistant and have PoE switches. I think support for PoE alongside a 5V input would be appreciated. On the topic of Home Assistant, the integration via HACS works great, allowing for local HTTP control over the valves and live stats reporting. Their app UI previously was atrocious, which is what prompted me to use Home Assistant for control, but since the update, I would be comfortable using the LinkTap app and their web services for control. Furthermore, they designed the valve firmware in such a way that the valves will continue to execute their watering schedule if something were to go wrong with the gateway or your internet connection. This also means that you could program the valve in proximity to the gateway, then move it to a remote location out of reach of the gateway, and it will continue to function. Overall, good product.

Ho acquistato il G2S con flussometro circa un mese fa. E ne ho valutato l’utilizzo per tutto questo tempo. Il prodotto è davvero affidabile, funzionale e direi anche eccezionale. Senza ombra di dubbio un ottimo acquisto, a tal punto che ne ho acquistato un secondo per una casa vacanze per irrigare 5 vasi. Installazione e configurazione molto semplice e rapida. Basta leggere attentamente le istruzioni che sono anche in italiano. Il Gateway, installato all’interno della casa e collegato via cavo al modem/router dà garanzia di affidabilità. Il TapLinker solido ed efficiente e ho apprezzato molto il tasto di accensione e spegnimento, anche se fino ad ora non l’ho mai spento. L'app è molto professionale, direi fenomenale. Tutto in lingua italiana. Facilmente programmabile. Ci si può sbizzarrire con tutte le programmazioni possibili e immaginabili. Avvisi/allarmi puntuali. L’unica cosa che non è precisa è la segnalazione dell’interruzione del flusso d’acqua. Arrivano sull’app dei falsi allarmi. Ho deciso quindi di disattivare questa funzionalità. Ora che si va incontro all’inverno, monitorerò come funziona la parte meteo. Il costo è sicuramente impegnativo, ancora di più se ne si acquistano due. Ma personalmente non amo prodotti mediocri da sostituire dopo un anno. Soldi ben spesi. Mi riservo di aggiornare la recensione solo dopo aver constatato l’affidabilità nel tempo. Consiglio sicuramente l’acquisto.

The support from Link Tap is outstanding. Quick answers to questions and help. The product is of the highest quality.

The LinkTap G2S Wireless Irrigation Computer is one of the most reliable and well-designed watering systems I’ve used. The wireless range is excellent — far better than standard WiFi timers — which makes it perfect for larger gardens or areas where WiFi can’t reach. Setup is straightforward, and the app is very easy to use. Scheduling watering cycles, checking status, and making adjustments all work smoothly. The real-time error detection and notifications are a huge advantage: it immediately alerts you to leaks, valve issues, or unusual water usage, giving you peace of mind even when you're away from home. The built-in water flow meter is accurate and helps track water usage precisely. The device feels sturdy, weatherproof (IP66), and reliable in all conditions. If you want a smart irrigation system that combines long-range connectivity, great functionality, and dependable performance, this is an excellent choice. Highly recommended!