Blossom
The WiFi Sprinkler Controller
While relocating the existing older sprinkler controller it was identified that it was not wired properly to an AC outlet. This resulted in enough sparks to make me run for cover and I decided a replacement of this old controller was a great idea.
The Blossom is at the best affordability price point while also offering some nice “automation” features such as a weather monitoring and water decisions. I should be clear that it was not my first choice – I had originally ordered a Rachio v3 with inline water monitor/sensor however it has yet to arrive and spring is screaming to summer shortly.
Internals and Connections
The device is based on the “AzureWave AWCU288” and came with a power supply, labels for the existing wires to be marked, it contains a pump control or 8th zone depending on your needs and a nice bright LED/Light to inform you of its operation.
The wire spring clips for the attachment of the zone control wires are strong and the mounting hardware was enough to get it on the wall in either wood or sheetrock needs.
The circles in the center surround the bright LED that lights up the Blossom logo through a large light channel plastic that came off when I popped open the back to get to the wires.
iOS App, pairing and setup
The iOS App is simple and the pairing and controller setup was all walk through based and entering in your home location allows it to decide when to water.
The application performed a scan of the attached valves for zones and identified which ones it thought it saw and which ones it did not and a quick manual adjustment allowed for me to enable and disable them instantly from the app. The scan is a simple circuit detect test and this might indicate I have an issue in the outside box that I’ll need to check.
Settings and Questions
The App asks you about soil and shade and all sorts of information about the lawn and its areas – its quick and painless and I found it intuitive. It then decided that because it rained recently it could skip a day – I thought that was nice considering that truly just adds a level of intelligence to it.
Network and Details
The device connected to the regular IOT segmented wireless network and did NOT require to connect to the legacy network. The Blossom controller also doesn’t seem to reachout to the internet much and doesn’t get “chatty” on the network either which is nice.
The Blossom does however have an open network port and and web-server running. The first few pages were just informative and also allowed you to reset the device. This seemed a little concerning because its just an open port without any controls and without any authentication. However it then got even more concerning when I found the web-page that allows Firmware/Software UPLOAD/UPDATE to the device.
I am not happy with this, regardless of how minimal or small the possibility is of it being compromised. This is just poorly thought out – if in a year or so these devices never get updated and someone tinkers enough to write some compromised code and automates the upload and then recruits your device for an attack… your network then becomes a launching pad for their attach. While again improbable and least likely – it could even be controlled to perform its own attack and information gathering on your own network about your traffic and details.