Yeah any wireless technology and large amounts of metal is not a good combination and magnets will only make it more interesting. The 1/4" wood or plastic buffer would of been my plan of attack as well. I can think of a few possibilities, but ALL are long shots. Your Ecolink door sensor should have contacts for wiring. If this is the case here are some options
- Order an external magnetic sensor and wire it up to the contacts, give yourself at least 1ft from the magnets and the sensor.
- Use some left over wire and wire up the gate so that when the gate is closed the circuit is complete. i.e. the 2 wires touch either directly or through the metal latch.
- Order an external pressure sensor and wire it up to the contacts. Place the pressure sensor in a place so that when the gate is closed pressure is applied and the sensor knows the gate is closed.