I’ve had my Rachio for going on 7 years now. Happy with it and still reliable.

Paired a Rachio 3 with a Tempest weather station (PWS) at my house. Both are accessible online for control. You can set the Rachio to pause irrigation at whatever rainfall amount you choose using the Tempest data.

Tempest is pricey but is a no moving parts station. You can set access as public or private.

My station @ Fenney SE: Tempest

You can pair with any local station near you but be aware local conditions can vary over 'short' distances or use the nearcast feature, averages local stations.

Tempest weather stations:
Tempest Products & Services

Access Personnal Weather Stations at Weather Underground:
Local Weather Forecast, News and Conditions | Weather Underground

Hunter X2 and Wifi problem
 

I also purchased the Hunter X2 and Wifi Wand. Worked great until it lost its internet connection, I assume from a brief power outage. Unfortunately, there is no way to reconnect to wifi without physically being there. Have not been able to change or monitor watering since outage. Read the manual or talk to mfr before purchasing if automatic reconnect after outage is important. Or, have a patient/willing neighbor that has access to the garage and house. I've had no problems losing internet with my thermostat or video connections as they automatically reconnect after power failures.

I guess I don't know if mine has gone through a power outage. I know it can reconnect when the wifi goes down - that has happened several times.

WiFi irrigation controller
 

I purchased a Rachio 3 controller and I’m very pleased with it. Easy to install, it took about twenty minutes and easy to program. It uses local weather stations to monitor your area. It has seasonal adjustments for when you should reduce your watering (ie winter when your grass goes dormant) and moisture content or rain. It has cut our water usage almost in half. Love it!

I highly recommend the Rachio Black 6 zone controller. I normally sells for $169.00 and is now available for either $119.00 or $99.00. It is the professional version of the Rachio 3 4 zone controller. It comes with 6 zone capability instead of 4 zone, a four year warranty instead of a two year, free valve monitoring (about a $30.00 value), and one or two other enhancements. It is black in color instead of white. The deal is a no-brainer if you are buying a Rachio product. You will pay more for less anywhere else. I have helped install several of them, including my own. Very simple installation, less than 30 minutes. To get the deal, go to their website (rachio.com), sit on the home page for a few minutes, and a $50.00 pop-up coupon should appear in exchange for you signing up for text messages from them. Alternatively, you can add the item to your cart and at checkout, enter coupon code "rachioblack" or "blackrachio". Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't. If it works for you, it will drop the price $70.00 to $99.00. No, I don't work for the company. I have used Rachio for over a year now and it has literally saved me hundreds of dollars compared to the same period a year earlier. They offer a first responder, military, and educational discount through id.me, though I am not sure if coupons are stackable.

Stay away from the rain sensor(s). They are un reliable and require maintenance. Sprinklers should be run in early AM. Rain usually comes in the afternoon. Chances of your sprinkler running when rain hits are not good.

Weather Station
 

Spot on regarding weather station reliability. The Villages is huge. The fact it’s raining in The Villages likely means little or nothing as to your specific house location.

You nailed it. Personally, I don't even trust my PWS to dictate what my irrigation system does.

The rain sensors are not to prevent irrigation when it is raining, they are to prevent irrigation when a sufficient amount of rain has fallen that irrigation is not necessary.

A weather station (mechanical sensor) will let the system know how much rain has fallen recently. If enough then the system will skip a day of irrigation.

An weather service based system (internet connected) will attempt to predict rain in the future. Mine will skip a day of irrigation if sufficient rain is anticipated within one day of the irrigation day. So far it has worked very well.

THANK YOU, everyone, for your quick postings of helpful thoughts and recommendations! And I appreciate those of you who also made offers via PM. After researching further, I decided to purchase the Rachio Black 6-zone controller, and ordered it online (direct from Rachio, using the discount code) for only $117 total cost “out the door.” I remain hopeful for an easy installation and reliable long-term use. Thanks, again!

Same here, also connects to a server which manages the watering schedule with the rain forecast schedule.

HOWEVER, for a year or two prior to last summer, the 50% chance of rain was set where the system watered when the forecast was less than 50% chance of rain. Last summer the forecast was at 50% for awhile, BUT the rain didn't come, so the lawn went unwatered and some patches of grass burned up.

So be sure that you understand your settings, especially when not local.

Can save a lot of water and dollars with some good experimentation when living locally to monitor the grass . .

YMMV