LinkTap G2S Wireless Water Timer & Gateway, Smart Hose Timer for Garden, Weather Adaptive, Wider Range Than WiFi, Real-Time Fault Detection & Notification, IP66, 2-Year Battery Life, 2-Year Warranty

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.

This is an excellent product. Using it for a few weeks now and can’t fault it. It’s easy to setup and install. Comes with a base unit that wires into your network and it pairs with one or more battery powered water timer control devices that attaches to your tap. It uses a private Zigbee network instead of wifi (like Philips Hue lights) so is very efficient on battery on the tap unit. It has a very flexible app that once you get used to it can be configured with whatever schedule want including links to the weather forecast to avoid watering on rainy days.Best feature for me is that it links with Home Assistant which allows you to control and monitor water usage along with all your other smart devices.The smart control of the tap is flawless with no leaks. It’s not the cheapest device but it is quality and better to pay a little more for quality than less for sub standard devices that only partially work.I use to supply water to my irrigation system for my new flower beds and plan to get second tap put in and will be getting a second unit.Highly recommend

Having made the mistake of buying a cheaper Timer that I had to return, I purchased this one.To sum it up you get what you pay for:Clear instructionsGreat connectivityComprehensive AppLoads of featuresWorth every penny.

Excellent addition to my garden. Feels quality, works well, some nice features. Eg you can set it to not come on if there has been or will be rain above a certain level. Remote control via an app is really useful. For me it is well worth the extra cost over a normal cheap manual timer.

I don’t write review often but very impressed with this product. I ordered a similar product and had to return as I couldn’t connect to WiFi but this product is easy to set up and works really well. Build quality feels good and plenty of safety features too!

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..