I’m having a difficult time finding a good solution for controlling my garage door and gate remotely. Here is what I have:
One garage door – 10-15 year old liftmaster.
One outdoor sliding gate about 50 feet from my garage door. It uses a Ramset 100 operator with external, universal liftmaster RF receiver. So it has a learn button and opens with most universal remotes.
What I want to achieve:
Have the ability to open and close my garage door from anywhere with an internet connection (phone or computer).
Have the same ability for my gate, although it closes automatically.
Monitor the open/close status of the garage door.
Share/revoke access with people.
Bonus feature:
IFTTT support, or at least the ability to do some kind of geofencing where my gate and garage door open automatically as i’m approaching.
I have been looking into the Chamberlain MyQ, Gogogate, avante, garageio, among others. I have not found any of them to be what I am looking for. They all seem flawed in one way or another. I would ideally not want a solution that involves a lot of complex parts that require a very involved installation, but I am willing to tinker a bit if I can get a solution that will be sound and effective.
I had a similar problem like yours: a two car garage (Sommer Synoris opener) and a gate (Doorking 6100) 30 ft away from home. After some research I finally decided to go for the Gogogate2 system which seemed to be the most complete solution available out there. This lovely device has made my life easier ever since I installed it, specially after they released their own iFTTT channel. Now I no longer have to open the garage door from my opener, it’s done automatically.
Installation was easy too, more than I initially thought. You have to wire the device to the push button in the garage and then to the gate operator. This part was a little bit tricky because I had to run some wire from the device in my garage towards the gate but not big deal, any standard cable will do. (FYI, you can see details of the cable in the ones that are provided with the main unit).
After connecting the device to the push buttons and gate operator, you put their wireless sensor in the garage door and a wired sensor in the gate. I did not had to run wire for the wired sensor because it comes with a very long cable already (they say 50ft.). Installation for both sensors is very straight forward. For the wireless sensor they have a label so you know where to place the sensor in the upper part of the garage door. For the wired sensor, it is mounted like any standard magnetic contact for windows but in the gate (FYI, you can stick the sensors either with double sided tape or screws, both are provided).
Once the hardware is set up, you only need to synch the device with your Wi-Fi network. This can be done directly from your Smartphone which initially connects to a Wi-Fi network generated by the Gogo device itself. Then you follow a few steps. I have a dual band network, so I had to make sure I was connecting the device to the right one (FYI, they have a system that scans networks around the device).
I’ve been using this system for over a month now and I can tell it works fine and seems reliable. Quality looks good and app interface is quite nice, specially if you choose the Video option, that allows you to integrate an IP camera to watch the garage door and get some events recorded (FYI they have a list of compatible cameras).
All in all, it is a device I would highly recommend although they need to offer more storage for video in my opinion (now it is only 1GB).
I use the liftmaster device type here in the forums, works really well with the internet gateway. Some delay, but that may be built into the system (maybe 10 seconds? max)
How old is the gate controller? It may work with the liftmaster gateway., but I believe it relies on the myQ protocol.
I have a 14 year old liftmaster garage door opener and have done just what you are looking for.
I placed an Ecolink door/window switch on the door. This gives me the ability to determine remotely if the door is open or closed. The Smartthings app gives me that info from anywhere.
I attached a Linear FS20Z-1 relay to the liftmaster. This gives me the ability
(through the Smartthings app) to open or close the door remotely.
Also the smartthings app can be set up so that if the door has been open for a predetermined amount of time, it closes automatically. I currently have my set so that if the ecolink switch reports that the door is still open 20 minutes after I opened the door, then a signal is sent to the Linear relay to close the door.
You can also use a smartphone, or a device known as a presence sensor, to have the door open or close as you arrive/leave home.
Other people can have this same access/ability if you give them the app and the credentials to have access to your devices.
There are many other ways to accomplish this. I have outlined how I did it. If you search this forum for “Garage Door” you will find lots of info about the subject.
Thanks, Btcompute. That seems like it could work for me. I ended up trying the Chamberlain MyQ and it seems like a pretty simple approach for me. I love the ease of setup and lack of wires. I just plug in the hub and attach the sensor to the door. That’s it. It’s very simple to use for a regular garage door.
What I wanted to test was the ability to use it with my gate as well. You can use one hub for two doors. You just need a second sensor. The problem is the sensors work by tipping as the door rolls up, and they are not weatherproof. So it would not work for my gate. HOWEVER, I don’t need to monitor my gate. It always closes automatically, and if for some reason it doesn’t, it’s not a big deal. So I tried setting it up and putting the sensor in closed position on the wall inside my garage. When I open the gate with the app, the gate opens but the sensor never goes into open position and eventually resets to showing closed. The gate actually will be closed.
As far as I can tell, this will work. My only problem now is the lack of integration with IFTTT and the lack of features, like auto close, and auto open when arriving home, etc.
Jacob,
Did, your solution also address the “Share/revoke access with people” requirement?
I have very simular need, minus the sliding gate.
I rent my house on airbnb occasionally and need the ability to give temporary access and then revoke it.
Unfortunately the only solutions I have found so far that allow for it, with some what complete functionality and ok price tag are the gogogate2 and Asante garage door opener.
None of them however seem to integrate with SmartThings (that I have found so far).
I would ideally prefer to setup something that can integrate with my other items already linked to SmartThings but have not found a solution that would fulfill my requirements:
Sense when the door is open/closed
allow to open/close remotely
share/revoke access with other people - without giving them access to my main app account
Bonus : track what account /user opened the garage and when