Now we have to pay for remote access? Disappointing if true
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You can do remote access with ddns but you’ll need to directly expose your RainMachine to the internet. This is a security risk because if there are any bugs in our devices an external attacker or random compromised bot could gain access to your device and home network. Some of the devices haven’t had a software update on a long time and are running super old android.
I hope they reconsider this or else they will lose a lot of their loyal customers as it seems many people are not happy about this.
Can someone from RainMachine please confirm if this change means we will lose the remote access feature?
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I’m in the military and bought this system specifically for the remote access so I could manage the system while I’m away from home. So now it looks like just one more thing my spouse will have to do while I’m gone. :(. Not a good move RM…you need to grandfather in all of us who bought this under the original agreement.
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This is disappointing sure changing why we bought this unit it was a good system now trying to milk us for more money. I’ve recommended Rainmachine to a lot of friends because of the quality but the high cost and now a fee puts it out of my recommendation. Hopefully they mean for new customers not existing.
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Following on from Rainmachine charging for Remote access (which is in itself appalling) I followed instructions to enable Direct Access. Looking at my router firewall log there have been multiple attempts to hack into my system on that port from both China and Russia. I have since removed the port forward. I suspected this might occur and whilst I hope my firewall is good enough the risk isn't worth it. I will no longer recommend Rainmachine and will actually advise against it. Currently looking for a replacement.
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Some of the premium features offered for free at the time of purchase is why I purchased their controller over the competition. Smart schedule, weather data and control from anywhere were their main advertising features on Amazon. They are now trying to package existing features as premium and charge $29.99 a year! I am trying to give them a chance to remedy this, but this is a good way to turn a loyal customer into a customer that will just bad mouth the company. Their products are not even on Amazon any longer. It could be because of this? I agree with others, if they want to charge premium, do it on new models with new customers. Realistically why would someone pay $30 a year, when they can buy a new model from the competition and get remote access for free? I need another subscription in my life like I need a root canal. I am not going to pay to use my sprinkler system.
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@Collin McIlveen
Thats not how the firewall works, if you have opened up traffic on that port to your RM then the firewall will just follow that rule and dont do anything about the traffic comming thru.
With that said, exposing the machine itself to the web is a bad idea since there are no measures such as 2FA implemented. -
It is amazing how a company (RainMachine) can ethically make this change. Who would want to ever purchase another product from them knowing they did this to their loyal customers. If they do it once, they will do it again down the road. I am in the process of purchaseing another controler. I will not let a company hold me hostage. Shame on you RainMachine !!
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I bought mine for our new house in 2016 after weeks of comparison research. I rarely have need to access my RM remotely, but I chose it for that specific feature. I've personally convinced at least a handful of others to buy one since then. Now, once this unit dies, I'll do more research and choose differently.
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Terrible way to treat your customers and handle this situation! If you are struggling to support the servers for remote access, then how about a plea to your loyal customers and some small fee for annual access? I would be okay with paying $10-$15 annually for remote access to keep the system and company alive (even though this was sold as a lifetime feature when we bought the controllers). I pay $19/year for the Wunderground app because it offers that much value to me every year. People don't expect something for nothing but you can't change the rules on us.
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This change in the way the rain machine works, now being a paid service is not acceptable. Now that i cannot use the device as stated when i purchased, i would like to return for a FULL refund. $30 a yr for was has been included in the purchase price is bad corp policy. I will be looking for a new controller.
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All. There is a california law firm interested in class action. please stay tuned for details. Also in addition to FTC, please let Amazon, Home Depot and all third party retailers know of this horrible, unethical behavior. More than $30, it is the absolutely brazen and unethical approach they are taking. best way to hurt them is get the news out to potential customers and impact their future sales.
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I discover now I have now lost notifications on my iOS device which were very useful to make sure everything was fine, I've lost watering history on the device as well. All this means I am not able to check if weather driven scheduling is still present or not. I bought the system for its homekit integration and also for its integration with my Netatmo weather station which gives me a very precise rain, wind and temperature reading for my lawn. Without history and notifications, my system is now a blackbox. And for technical reasons I cannot access it remotely with a direct configuration. We're in blackmail territory here.
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I can no longer remotely access my device, thanks for breaking the access I need for my devices. This is incredibly disappointing and I will join others who want to file an FTC complaint.
They never replied to our questions here but now we know.
Please leave reviews on Amazon or other sites to warn others away from using this device.
You really just killed free word of mouth marketing by doing this, no one will recommend these devices to others anymore after you did this.. what a shame.
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Very disappointing. My local access even stopped working this morning, even though the app sees the local IP (probably a tangential problem).
"Direct Access" is definitely not a suitable replacement for the remote access - like others, a primary reason I bought the device.
I didn't even notice the weather portion being moved as well -- maybe this means I'll switch to the Wyze sprinkler. It also has a subscription for some features, but it's also much cheaper ($10 a year), and they're being honest from the start.
Seems like grandfathering existing users into the premium plan (for free) would have been a better approach -- I understand needing a revenue stream, at least new buyers would understand what they're buying.
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SO disappointed in this decision. I loved mine but since this update, the app is giving me a log in that I dont know what it is when it shows I am already logged in to begin with when I go to settings. Shows I am logged in under my google account but then asks for a password? This is so illegal to sell a bill of goods and then start charging after buying the product that did not have a subscription associated with it. I would not have considered it if I had known they were going to charge a annual fee to use and I have had mine for 5 years or more. To think I have referred friends and family to get one of these and now this happens, it is embarrassing. It is fine if you want to start charging a fee moving forward to those that purchase now, but not to the folks that already bought. I am sure they will not be selling anymore now that they are charging so I guess they are just going to screw their current customers. Just a huge disappointment. Do better RainMachine
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