Contractor Development

5 Ways to Troubleshoot a Wireless Controller

Posted on by vincent.randazzo

How Do You Troubleshoot a Wireless Irrigation Controller?

Do you have clients who have trouble with their wireless controllers? If so, you’re not alone, and you could probably benefit from some tips on how to troubleshoot their devices and WIFI network to resolve the issue. Fortunately, there are several easy steps for irrigation contractors such as yourself to take in order to test their WiFi and get their wireless controllers back in action. At Hydro-Rain we manufacture irrigation products that are built for speed, allowing you to meet the demand of your customers. Let’s take a look at five steps you can take to troubleshoot wireless irrigation controllers.

1) Measure the Signal Strength of Your Wireless Controller

The Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) measures how receptive your wireless device is when receiving a signal from a router or access point. Essentially, this measurement can help you to determine how much signal you are getting. There are apps such as Airport Utility (created by Apple for iPhone users) that allow you to check the RSSI values once you enable the “WIFI Scanner ” setting in your iPhone. Solid objects can actually absorb WIFI signals, including walls and windows, which can cause your signal to be bad (and for you to have low RSSI values). You can even do a much simpler test of seeing how many WIFI bars your smartphone gets when next to your irrigation controller. Measuring the signal strength at the location of your sprinkler controller is important to determine if that is the problem.

2) Move the Location of Your Wireless Devices

The second step you can try piggybacks off of the first. If you find that your device has a very low RSSI value (therefore a bad signal) you should consider moving your devices. If your router or other WIFI device is stowed away under a desk, inside of a closet, or blocked by wall or furniture it weakens the signal strength. Similarly, if your controller is tucked away behind a thick wall or large furniture it will weaken the signal received from the router. If your router is already in an open space in line with your sprinkler controller, you can try simply restarting the router and/or the controller. Sometimes the oldest trick in the book of unplugging, waiting ten seconds, and plugging back in is all devices need. Connected Controllers can even be managed remotely on your smartphone, so the connection of your phone might also improve by putting your router in a more open space.

3) Update Router and WIFI Network

The next step for troubleshooting irrigation controllers is to make sure your clients have updated their WIFI if any of their network settings have changed. Similarly, have them make sure to update their router firmware. Many people purchase routers through an ISP, so they may need to contact them to confirm that the firmware is up-to-date. If the WIFI network and router firmware are updated, you can also try changing both the frequency and channel of the WIFI network.

4) Changing WIFI Frequency

For frequency, while 5G networks have faster speeds, they tend not to have as great a range and are not able to penetrate through solid objects very well. 2.4G on the other hand is not as fast of a signal usually, but it has a wider range. A full strength connection of 2.4G will work better for your sprinkler controller than a weak signal connection of 5G. 

5) Changing WIFI Channels

For the channel, it can be helpful to change the channel to prevent interference from occurring by neighboring networks. Each 2.4G frequency has multiple channels (11), but only channels 1, 6, and 11 do not overlap and are therefore a better bet for a solid signal to your device. This shouldn’t be as much of an issue on 5G. Eliminating other networks can help as well. Sometimes wireless devices pickup on nearby WiFi signals, and if you aren’t using them it is best to remove them to prevent any possible interference with your wireless controllers.

Contact Us For The Speed You Need

Hydro-Rain® is built for the speed, and since your customers demand speed, your business must demand it as well. Contact us today for all of your irrigation needs and we will get back to you as soon as we can. Our commitment to the essential values of integrity, lasting relationships, and fair dealing is at the heart of Hydro-Rain®, so let’s work together to bring your customers the best technology in irrigation.

Contractor Development

Top 6 Most Effective Ways to Close Your Sale

Posted on by Gregg Dayley

When it comes to the sale of any product, you know just how important it is to land the pitch. But when attempting to understand how to “nail your pitch,” you must first understand the intricacies and moving parts of that pitch. It’s never a one step process, and making sure that each step is executed to the best of your ability is of the utmost importance.

This is especially true for effectively closing a sale on the irrigation products. Making sure that you’re hitting every point will help you to close your sales more frequently, leading to more of your success, and at Hydro Rain, we know that your success is our success.

Let’s take a look at the top 6 most effective ways to close your sales on irrigation products.

Our Most Effective Sales Tactics:

Here are the most effective ways to successfully close your sales.

1) The Introduction & Hook

This is arguably the most important part of your sales pitch, as it is extremely important not only to get the customer excited about the products, but you’ve got to hook them. You can so by making sure you engage them with questions about their pain points and what it is they’re looking for. 

2) Establishing Benefits Over Features

Why is this important? Simply put, people care more to hear about how something is going to benefit them rather than the in’s and out’s of what a product can do. In fact, by first presenting the features of a product, you may bore the customer, leading to them disengaging with you. Talk to your customer about how the product will give them the best return on their investment.

3) Active Listening Tactics

It’s important to make sure that you’re truly listening to the needs of your customers rather than just hearing them. Hearing your customer doesn’t allow you to dive into what the real issue is. When you actively listen to your customer, you can find out what problems they truly have and offer to solve them with the functionality of the product you’re selling. 

4) Overcoming Objections

This is truly the test of any salesperson. It’s important to know that you’re going to get push back on every sale you attempt. While some sales may be easier than others, closing the deal isn’t something that will just fall into your lap. It’s important not to take no for an answer. Oftentimes, consumers will need to say no to a product or sale seven times before they will say yes. Be persistent and the close will come. 

5) Closing the Sale

Now that you’ve worked through using the other sales tactics, it’s time to bring them all together at once to finalize the sale. At this point, it’s simply time to coax the customer into finishing up the deal. Being straight to the point and concise is of the utmost importance with this step. 

6) After the Sale

It’s important to make sure that you’re going to be there for the customer for every following step thereafter. This not only helps solidify this sale, but can help to establish rapport with the customer for future sales.

In Conclusion:


When using all 6 of these sales tactics, you can successfully increase your overall monthly sales, thus increasing your yearly sales. Using these strategies can lead to success for you, which means success for us.

For more information on developing your business, increasing your sales and much more, stay tuned for more information to come or give us a call today to get started with HydroRain and selling these products. 

Product

Drip-Lock 2.0

Posted on by Gregg Dayley

Drip-Lock

The Newest Product Innovation for Drip Irrigation!

Ditch the barbs, go drip-lock! Compatible with tubing from 16-18 mm, and so much easier to install. Drip-lock is the latest product innovation for micro-irrigation. With an oversized seal and stainless steel teeth, virtually all brands of half inch lines are held tight with no leaks.

Ditch the barbs, go drip-lock! Compatible with tubing from 16-18 mm, and so much easier to install. Drip-lock is the latest product innovation for micro-irrigation. With an oversized seal and stainless steel teeth, virtually all brands of half inch lines are held tight with no leaks.

Learn more about drip-lock

About Drip-Lock

Features, Benefits, & Video Resources

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Price Increases

Notice of Price Increase

Posted on by Gregg Dayley

March 17, 2021
Hydro-Rain Distributor,

As High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) polymer, manufacturing materials, and freight charges from our Asia factories have continued to rise sharply these costs are now beyond the point needed to act. To mitigate the potential for loss we will be increasing all Hydro-Rain and associated sku’s (Hydro-Rain®, Orbit®, Bond® and Stanley® Tools) 6% on May 17, 2021.

Orders for immediate release will be considered, assuming they are in line with your normal purchasing pattern. An updated price listing will be sent to you on or around April 17, 2021.

Thank you for your continued support as we all navigate pricing and inventory through the season!

Your Hydro-Rain Sales and Support Team

Key Hydro-Rain Contacts
Customer Service- 888-493-6762
[email protected]

Price-Increase (PDF)

B-hyve, New Products

B-hyve and Flume

Posted on by Gregg Dayley

Today B-hyve announced a strategic partnership with Flume, a leading source for real-time home water data. Through the partnership, the two companies will integrate their technologies to provide homeowners with unprecedented insights into their outdoor and indoor water flow rates for better conservation and efficiency.

Combining B-hyve Smart Irrigation Technology with Flume’s Smart Water Monitor creates the most advanced system to provide a fully comprehensive look at water use inside or outside a home. The ability to differentiate how much water is used, whether in the home or in the yard, makes a significant difference when looking to eliminate water waste that can be expensive and damaging.

Through B-hyve’s proprietary technology, consumers can be smarter when watering by connecting into local weather and using environmental characteristics to automatically deliver the right amount of water. Flume’s Smart Water Monitor attaches to existing water meters to evaluate water use 24/7 for the entire home. By merging these technologies, consumers will be able to monitor and receive reports on their outdoor and indoor water use at any time using the B-hyve app.

“Outdoor irrigation is one of the biggest culprits of water waste in the home. But through this powerful integration with Flume that builds off of our great work with B-hyve, we can eliminate a lot of unnecessary water usage by providing real-time insights into their indoor and outdoor water consumption,” said Stuart Eyring, CEO of Hydro-Rain.

Key benefits of this partnership for end users include:

  • Smarter Watering: Using B-hyve’s existing WeatherSense technology and real-time flow data from Flume, homeowners can make informed decisions about their water use.
  • Real-Time Monitoring and Management: The B-hyve app will alert users of any abnormal flow rates, preventing over watering or possible leaks in broken sprinkler lines or heads.
  • Precise Data: Users can measure actual volume consumption rates with detailed reporting showing how many gallons are used for each zone during an irrigation cycle.

“From inception, Flume has been a mission-based company working to educate the public on their water use. We are excited to announce our partnership with Orbit to further our mission,” said Eric Adler, CEO at Flume. “By incorporating B-hyve’s innovative technology and broad industry presence with our intelligent flow meters, we can empower people with the knowledge to better monitor and manage water use for a more meaningful impact.”

B-hyve, Shows and Events

Hydro-Rain is Water Smart

Posted on by Gregg Dayley

We had great meetings and an excellent time at the 2019 Watersmart Innovations Conference in Las Vegas this week. What a fantastic venue to officially kick off our 2020 Water District Smart Controller trial program by inviting 10 agencies to experience Weathersense™ technology by Hydro-Rain. This program is designed to save water within their communities through direct install programs. 


            

            

                        
            
            

                
                

                    
                    
                

            


            

                

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