How to make your garage door smart

Have you made your garage doors smart yet? We’re talking about adding smart home features to your garage door that will make using your garage door and giving access to individuals that you trust east, safe, and most importantly cost effective! If you’re unfamiliar with smart home garage door features, then join Pacific Experts Garage Door as we break down the best reasons why you need to make your garage doors smart!

Smart Home Features for Garage Doors

First of all, what are smart garage door features? Smart garage door features are technology, typically wireless add-ons, that you install on your existing garage door opener to allow you to have more control over operating and monitoring your garage. The most common smart garage door features are the smart garage door opener, the smart garage door hub, and smart garage cameras.
Smart garage door openers are modern operators (like the one on the ceiling of your garage) that can connect to your home’s wifi allowing you to control it from your cellphone.
Smart garage door hubs are essentially adaptors that allow you to turn your old garage door operator into a smart garage door operator at a fraction of the cost. Most smart garage door hubs cost less than $100.
Smart Garage Cameras are wireless cameras that allow you to monitor your garage via a live stream feed that you can tune in to whenever you feel like it. Smart garage cameras also allow for 2 way communication.

The Benefits of Making Your Garage Doors Smart

Making your garage door “smart” is efficient, cost-effective and, and adds security to your home!
With a smart home garage door system, you can add trusted users such as your spouse, children, and family who can operate the garage door from their devices as well. This gives the whole family access to the garage so they never have to be locked out or worry about losing their garage door remotes.
Additionally, in select markets where Amazon Key is available, your Amazon delivery person will also be able to open your garage door in order to deliver your packages. This is great if you want to prevent thieves from stealing packages from your front porch.
And with a smart garage camera, you can keep an eye on your garage to make sure that nobody ever comes in uninvited or leaves with any of your valuable possessions.

Pacific Experts Garage Doors Las Vegas Garage Door Installation

Are you ready to have the latest smart home features installed on your garage doors to increase the security and convenience of using your garage doors? Then give Pacific Experts Garage Door in Las Vegas a call. Our garage door technicians can install any smart home features that you need on your garage door. We service the greater Las Vegas valley from Summerlin and Centennial to Henderson and North Las Vegas. Give us a call today to schedule your smart garage door installation.

You can buy a smart garage door opener for your home, but it will cost you more than making one. With just a little bit of effort and a few bucks, you can make your own using a Shelly 1 Wifi relay. If you have a more advanced garage door opener, you may need to use this technique instead.)

Shelly 1 Smart Garage Door Opener

Table of Contents

Why would you DIY your smart garage door opener?

You can go out and buy a device that makes your garage door smart, but it might cost you. Some of the more popular commercial options include:

These commercial units run on the expensive side. Although the price is certainly an issue, the bigger problem is that these garage door openers require Internet access to work, and send your open and close information to the cloud. I’d rather keep that information locally, or at least have the option to do so.

This led me to look at more do it yourself solutions. In fact, I implemented a DIY solution using a Z-wave relay and a Z-wave tilt sensor a few years back. Although that solution has been reliable, I wanted to try something new, and maybe even save some money. Some other more DIY/non-cloud options include:

• Garadget (WiFi)
• OpenGarage (WiFi)
• MOES WiFi Smart Garage Door Opener (can be flashed with Tasmota for local control)
• GoControl GD00Z-4 (Z-wave)
• FortrezZ Mimo-lite (Z-wave)

These all seem okay. In the end, I decided to go a little more DIY and use my trusty Shelly 1 device that I used to make my light switch smart. A 2 pack of them can be had for less than $25, which is much less than any of these options.

What you’ll need to make it

It’s possible to get this project done really cheap, depending on what materials and tools you already have. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Shelly 1 Smart Relay – See my review of it and how I used it for a light switch for more details. This will be the brains of the smart garage door opener.
• Doorbell wire or equivalent – You may have some wire you can use already. This will be used to connect the Shelly 1 to the garage door opener.
• 12V DC adapter – In my case I had one lying around from an old Netgear router. You can also use the one I’ve linked without even cutting the wire. This will be used to power the Shelly 1.
• Good 2.4Ghz WiFi signal where you will put it – The Shelly 1 is controlled over WiFi.
• Advanced: A connected (e.g. Z-wave or Zigbee) tilt or door sensor and home automation software (like Home Assistant). This will allow you to know whether the garage door is open or closed along with being able to open and close it. More on this later in the article.

Making your smart garage door opener

Lets start with a diagram of what you are going to build:

Step 1: Prepare the 12V DC Adapter

First, shift the source voltage jumpers on the Shelly 1 into the position for 12V DC. By default, the Shelly 1 is set to take in mains AC voltage or 24-60V DC. For this project, we are using a safer low voltage of 12V DC.

Cut and strip the adapter. Then plug into relay pins L (-) and N (+).

Step 2: Prepare the doorbell wire

Cut a sufficiently long piece of the doorbell wire. It needs to be long enough to connect the Shelly 1 and the garage door opener relay terminals from the spot where you will power and mount the Shelly 1. Then, strip the wires and plug them into I and O inputs.

When you’re done, it should look similar to this:

Shelly 1 Relay connected to doorbell wire and 12V DC adapter

Step 3: Power your Shelly 1 and configure

Now it’s time to configure the relay. Plug in 12V DC Adapter. When the Shelly 1 first boots up it starts up in WiFi AP mode. This allows you to connect directly to the device via its WiFi network.

With your tablet, phone, or laptop connect to the Shelly 1’s local wifi. It should look something like shelly1-12AB34 (the last six characters will be different). After connecting, open a browser and connect to 192.168.33.1. This should bring up the relay’s configuration page.

Second, configure the Shelly 1’s WiFi connection (Internet & Security->Settings) to connect to your home network. BTW, I highly recommend isolating your IoT devices from the rest of your network. I also recommend either setting a static IP on the Shelly device or setting up a static lease from your DHCP server (usually your router).

Shely 1 Relay Wifi Configuration

Next, I recommend you update the firmware (Settings->Update Firmware). Then, configure the Shelly to turn off after turning on (Timer->Auto Off). If you leave it on, the button to open your Garage door will not function. I set mine to .5 seconds.

Configre Auto-Off for the relay

I also recommend setting the the relay to to be off by default. (Settings->Power On Default Mode). If you lose power then your garage door will start in a state where you can use the buttons.

Now would be a good time to test the relay. There is a power button at the top right of the web interface. If you have configured it correctly, when you press the button it should turn blue and you should hear a click. Shortly thereafter the relay should turn off and the power button should go back to normal.

Step 4: Connect to garage door opener

Let’s connect the Shelly 1 to the garage door opener. Before plugging in the 12V DC adapter, connect the doorbell wires in parallel (into the same openings) to the wires coming from the button that control your garage door opener. You may need to look at the garage door opener manual if you aren’t sure where to plug in.

Now, plug in the adapter and wait a few seconds for the Shelly to boot up. Connect to the web interface, and click the power button. Your garage should open (or close if it was already open). The power button should behave just as if you pressed the garage door opener button.

Smart Garage Door Opener connected up, before mounting

Congratulations! You’ve made a smart garage door opener! The Shelly is pretty easy to mount, because it is so small. Put it someplace safe and secure.

How often have you asked yourself, “did I close the garage door?” With a smart garage, you won’t have to wonder. That’s just one of the many reasons to bring smart home technology into your garage, too.

Start With a Smart Garage Door Opener

Unless you have a carport, it’s very likely your garage has a garage door, and thankfully there’s no shortage of options to make your garage door opener smart. And that’s good too because you’ll get a lot of peace of mind when you switch to a smart opener. If you can’t remember if you closed the garage door, for instance, you’ll be able to pull out your phone and check. Did you forget? You can then close it too.

Depending on your smart garage door opener you buy, you may even be able to close it using Alexa or your Google Home. Just keep in mind that most smart garage door openers won’t let you open them by voice for security reasons. Some smart speakers can hear commands through a closed window. You wouldn’t want someone to yell the command to open your garage door to break into your home.

You have two basic options for smart garage door openers: add a device to your existing dumb garage door opener to make it smart or replace your garage door opener with one that is already smart. Adding a smart device to your existing opener is an easier and cheaper option. Generally, that’s probably the way you should go unless you have a specific reason for replacing the entire opener (like wanting a quieter model).

Most smart garage door openers work by placing a sensor on the door that measures current tilt or aiming a laser that hits the door when it’s in the closed position. They then mimic your wireless garage door opener to send an open and close signal.

While there are plenty of smart device add-ons to choose from, which one you choose will be determined in part by who made your existing garage door opener.

If you have a Chamberlain garage door opener, you may have to use Chamberlain’s hub. The company uses a proprietary protocol that prevents many other smart devices from seamlessly operating your Chamberlain door openers.

If you don’t have a Chamberlain, you have plenty of options ranging from Nexx to Garadget.

And if you want, you can always buy a garage door opener, like Ryobi’s Opener, that comes with smart home tech. It’s more expensive and harder to install. But if your existing garage door opener is older, a new one may come with additional benefits like a quieter opening mechanism or better lights.

Combine a Camera with Sensor to See Who’s There

Although it’s getting harder to fake garage door signals, it’s still possible. Just because someone managed to open your garage door doesn’t mean they belong. And what if you forgot to check whether you closed the garage door?

A camera and sensor system can help. By pairing a Wyze IR sensor with a Wyze Cam, you can get a notification anytime someone steps into your garage (or the sensor detects any other movement). And you can set up a routine that starts recording video when the sensor detects motion. The IR sensor is small and will stick directly to your garage door opener. All you need is a place to tuck away the camera.

Another more expensive option is the Nest Cam. Although you don’t benefit from a dedicated motion sensor, you can subscribe to Nest Aware for smart motion alerts and notifications about familiar faces.

If you’re not sure you trust your smart garage door opener to detect that you closed the garage door, the camera is one more confirmation. You can pull up the feed and see for yourself.

Add a Smart Lock to the Other Door

Whether your garage is attached to your home or not, you can benefit from a smart lock on its door. Not only is it one more barrier of entry to keep unwanted people out, but it’s another component that makes your day easier. Can’t remember if you locked the door? That’s OK; you can lock it from an app, or ask Google Assistant or Alexa to lock the door. And with routines, you can automatically lock the door every morning and night.

Smart locks are also great because they cut down on the keys you need to carry. If your keychain holds a dozen keys, it’s nice to dump the home keys in favor of a smart lock.

Smart locks use a variety of different wireless standards, from Z-Wave and Zigbee to Wi-Fi. If you already have a smart home hub, then a Z-wave or Zigbee lock makes the most sense. Otherwise, Schlage’s Wi-Fi lock will work directly with Alexa and Google Assistant. The good news is, smart locks are straightforward to install.

Use Smart Plugs and Lights to Cut Down on Electricity

Sure your garage door opener turns its built-in light off automatically, but what about the other lights in your garage? And if you use your garage as a workshop, chances are all your batteries for your cordless tools have a home in the garage, and they’re plugged in all the time. Even when the batteries aren’t actively charging, the chargers themselves draw energy to remain active, measure your battery’s temperature and current charge, and illuminate their power level indicator lights.

For those reasons, your garage may be using more electricity than you know. How often have you left a garage light on all day? Smart lights will take care of that. You can schedule them to turn off every morning, for instance. And if you regularly arrive home from work after dark, you can even schedule them to turn on a few minutes before you arrive.

If you’re using the Wyze IR sensor to start video recordings, you can also have it turn on Wyze bulbs. You can even limit the rule to certain times of the day (though in that case, you’ll want one rule for video recording and another rule for lights).

Smart plugs can save electricity too. While you do want your cordless batteries charged when you need them, you probably don’t need them charging all day long every day. Batteries do a good job of holding a charge when they aren’t in use. That means you could schedule the smart plug to turn off an outlet every other day. Or, if you’re a weekend project warrior, you could leave the smart plug off throughout the week and turn them on overnight on Friday.

What Smart Garage Tech Should You Start With?

What smart tech you add to your garage depends on how you use the space. If it’s your workshop or storage area, you may want to focus on smart lights and plugs. But if it’s your home’s primary place of entry, then focus on the tech that adds peace of mind and security. At least it will be one less thing to worry about as you drive to work.

Have you made your garage doors smart yet? We’re talking about adding smart home features to your garage door that will make using your garage door and giving access to individuals that you trust east, safe, and most importantly cost effective! If you’re unfamiliar with smart home garage door features, then join Pacific Experts Garage Door as we break down the best reasons why you need to make your garage doors smart!

Smart Home Features for Garage Doors

First of all, what are smart garage door features? Smart garage door features are technology, typically wireless add-ons, that you install on your existing garage door opener to allow you to have more control over operating and monitoring your garage. The most common smart garage door features are the smart garage door opener, the smart garage door hub, and smart garage cameras.
Smart garage door openers are modern operators (like the one on the ceiling of your garage) that can connect to your home’s wifi allowing you to control it from your cellphone.
Smart garage door hubs are essentially adaptors that allow you to turn your old garage door operator into a smart garage door operator at a fraction of the cost. Most smart garage door hubs cost less than $100.
Smart Garage Cameras are wireless cameras that allow you to monitor your garage via a live stream feed that you can tune in to whenever you feel like it. Smart garage cameras also allow for 2 way communication.

The Benefits of Making Your Garage Doors Smart

Making your garage door “smart” is efficient, cost-effective and, and adds security to your home!
With a smart home garage door system, you can add trusted users such as your spouse, children, and family who can operate the garage door from their devices as well. This gives the whole family access to the garage so they never have to be locked out or worry about losing their garage door remotes.
Additionally, in select markets where Amazon Key is available, your Amazon delivery person will also be able to open your garage door in order to deliver your packages. This is great if you want to prevent thieves from stealing packages from your front porch.
And with a smart garage camera, you can keep an eye on your garage to make sure that nobody ever comes in uninvited or leaves with any of your valuable possessions.

Pacific Experts Garage Doors Las Vegas Garage Door Installation

Are you ready to have the latest smart home features installed on your garage doors to increase the security and convenience of using your garage doors? Then give Pacific Experts Garage Door in Las Vegas a call. Our garage door technicians can install any smart home features that you need on your garage door. We service the greater Las Vegas valley from Summerlin and Centennial to Henderson and North Las Vegas. Give us a call today to schedule your smart garage door installation.

You + Sharing This = Us as Best Friends

At least once a week I will leave the house, drive down off my street and think “Did I close the garage door?” Immediately causing me to turn around, drive back to the house and check to see if it’s still closed. It’s a nuisance and a time waster. This constantly nagging question has finally been answered by buying a Chamberlain MyQ Smart Garage Hub. This is our MyQ Smart Garage Hub review.

Table of Contents

Overview of the Chamberlain MyQ Smart Garage Hub

• Easy to set up
• Easy to use
• Simple installation (we’re talking minutes)
• Very affordable smart home addition
• Customizable app notifications and settings
• Easily add users
• Integrates with Google Home, IFTTT and HomeKit (with add on device)

• Not Alexa compatible out of the box (you can get around this with SimpleCommands
• Requires additional sensor for each garage door
• Loud noise when you use it to close garage door (it beeps for a few seconds) cannot be shut off

What does MyQ Smart Garage Hub do?

MyQ allows you to open and close your garage door essentially turning it into a smart garage door. They do this with an app and it is done over your household wifi. MyQ Smart Garage Hub allows you open and close your garage door from anywhere in the world.

What is MyQ Smart Garage hub?

The MyQ Smart Hub is a smart home garage door opener (and closer) that connects via wifi and allows you to open and close your garage door from anywhere in the world. It also gives you notifications when the door has been open or closed so you can see when your garage is being accessed.

How does MyQ Smart Garage hub work?

The MyQ Smart Hub works via a hub and a sensor (comes with 1) that installs on the interior part of the garage door. The hub connects to your home Wifi and can be controlled via the MyQ app. The app can be customized to send you notifications every time your garage door is opened and closed.

Where do I put MyQ Smart Garage hub?

Depending on your garage layout you will want to have a clean line of sight to your garage doors. We mounted ours on the ceiling (takes less than a minute). It comes with a mounting bracket and screws so you can easily drill it into the ceiling or a higher spot on a wall that is unencumbered.

Installing the Chamberlain MyQ Smart Garage Hub

This was a piece of cake, it took less than 10 minutes from opening the box to having it up and running. You will need a ladder and a power source for the MyQ. Once you plug it in, the app walks you through the set up and Wifi connection. Then you pair the door opener with the Chamberlain MyQ Smart Garage Hub.

In all honesty, this is one of the more seamless smart devices I have installed. The app was easy to navigate and set up was really easy. They have thought through the whole process and made it incredibly simple.

Chamberlain MyQ Smart Garage Hub FAQ

You likely have a bunch of questions (we sure did) about this device. Here is all the questions we came up with in buying this and creating this MyQ Smart Garage Hub Review.

Are Homelink and MyQ compatible?

They are compatible in many cases see the Chamberlain site here to see if it is compatible for you.

Can MyQ work with Alexa?

Right now Alexa does not work directly with the MyQ Smart Garage Hub. It does work with IFTTT and can get set up in a matter of seconds, I did it while writing this question it takes less than a minute to make myQ work with Alexa.

Can MyQ work with Google Home?

Yes the MyQ Smart Garage Hub works with Google Home.

Can MyQ Smart Hub control 2 doors?

Yes, it can control more than one door but you will need to purchase an additional sensor for each door. This is because each sensor is connected to a different garage door opener.

Can MyQ control 2 garage doors?

Yes MyQ Smart Garage Hub works with 2 garage doors if you have purchased the additional sensor. Each garage door requires a separate sensor

Can MyQ work with Siri?

Yes MyQ liftmaster does work with Siri when you purchase this MYQ Home Bridge.

Does Myq work with Homekit?

Yes MyQ works with Homekit, but you will need to purchase this MYQ Home Bridge to add that compatibility.

Does MyQ work with Smartthings?

Yes MyQ works with SmartThings.

Does MyQ work with Ring?

MyQ does not work with Ring doorbells, but you can use them in a third party app SimpleCommands to create something that may work to suite your needs.

Does myq require a subscription?

No there is no subscription required for MyQ garage door smart hub.

Does MyQ cost money?

Yes, though it is very affordable these days as the technology has been around for several years. It’s one of the most affordable smart home additions you can do.

Does MyQ have a monthly fee?

No there is no monthly fee for the MyQ Garage Smart Hub

Does MyQ Smart Garage Hub have to be mounted on ceiling?

The MyQ Smart Garage Hub is recommended to be placed on the ceiling, however I found that by mounting higher up on a wall worked as well. As long as there is an unemcumbered view of the sensors on the door it is fine. The

Does Myq Garage Door Opener Have a Camera?

No there is no camera with the MyQ Smart Garage Hub but they do sell a separate camera. You can see this camera here.

How many users can you have with MyQ?

My Q users setting allows you to invite two co-owners as well as up to 5 guests if you need them. You can add them without needing to share your password.

Will MyQ work with Vivint?

Yes MyQ Smart Garage Hub is compatible with Vivint home alarm systems.

Where is Myq serial number?

The serial number is on the box that it came with, if you no longer have the box it is mounted underneath the MyQ Smart Garage Hub.

Where to mount the Myq garage door opener hub?

It is recommended that you mount your MyQ Smart Garage Hub on the ceiling but I also found it to work when I mounted it high on a wall as long as the garage door view was unobstructed.

Who makes Myq?

Chamberlain is the maker of MyQ Smart Garage Hub.

Why does myq keep beeping?

You may be wondering why your MyQ beeps every time you use the appto close the door. This is a safety feature to let people in the garage know that the garage door is closing.

Will Myq work with Craftsman?

MyQ claims to work with most garage door openers built after 1993. If you want to check their compatibility you can see if your Craftsman garage door opener is compatible here.

Final Thoughts on the MYQ Smart Garage Hub Review

If you are looking to make your garage door smart and want to do it for a very affordable price (the hub and sensor is often less that $40 online) then the MyQ Garage Door Smart hub and sensor is a great smart home addition that is easy to install, simple to use and very affordable. I wish I had bought this sooner.

Looking for more smart home stuff? Check out our what to know before buying a smart lock area for more products and reviews.

Have you ever left your home or gone to bed only to wonder if you closed the garage door? Turning around or getting out of bed isn’t fun. If you make your garage door smart, you can close it from anywhere! Here’s how.

What a Smart Garage Door Can Do for You

Smart garage openers can save you a lot of anxiety. Instead of wondering if you remembered to close your garage, you can check from an app or ask a voice assistant, like Google Assistant or Alexa. Combined with a camera, you can even see who’s coming and going, which can be especially useful if you’re a parent. You can even schedule a daily close time at the end of the day, so you don’t have to be concerned if you forgot.

Don’t worry—you won’t always have to pull out your phone to open or close your garage door. These devices come with traditional remotes for your car and keypads for outside your garage, too—the smart features are just a bonus option.

For a smart garage door opener to work well, you need a stable Wi-Fi signal in your garage. And you might have to either replace or add hardware.

The Expensive Option: Replace Your Garage Opener

If you have a particularly old garage door opener, it might be time to replace it. If that’s the case, you can save yourself some effort and choose one that’s either smart out of the box or that you can make intelligent with a bridge.

Chamberlain: Well Known, Well Regarded

Chamberlain is probably the most popular consumer-grade garage door opener manufacturer. The company offers “whisper-quiet” openers with plenty of sensors, battery backup, buttons for your cars, keypads, and so on. It also gives openers smart capabilities, like the B970 or the C870. These units have built-in Wi-Fi capability and communicate with a Chamberlain app. With a quick check, you can see if you left the garage open and then open or close it remotely.

Chamberlain even integrates with IFTT, Google Assistant, and Amazon Key, although those integrations do require a $1 a month subscription. Google Assistant can only close your garage door, to prevent someone yelling the open command through a window. This is a shame, considering many smart locks enable open voice commands with a pin.

If you have a Chamberlain garage door opener with MyQ and Wi-Fi markings on it, you already have a smart garage door opener. If you just see MyQ markings, you need a Hub.

Ryobi’s Modular Opener

Another option is the Ryobi Smart garage door opener. It includes a built-in Wi-Fi radio and an app so you can check the status of the door.

This opener’s modular nature makes it unique. You can purchase add-on modules, like a fan, laser parking guides, an air compressor, a camera, and more. The modules easily connect to the garage door opener, and you can swap them out as needed. If you already own Ryobi high-capacity rechargeable batteries for the company’s tools, you can use it for a battery backup during power failures.

The main downside to the Ryobi garage door opener is its lack of Amazon and Google integration; you have to use the app to check if you left the door open and to open it.

How to Make Your Existing Opener Smart

Your current garage door opener might work perfectly fine and, if so, you probably don’t want to replace it. In that case, you might be able to convert it to a smart garage door opener instead. In some cases, you can get the same features you would if you purchased a new smart one. A few options even offer more capabilities, like smart hub integration.

If You Have a Chamberlain, Get Chamberlain’s Hub

You might already have a Chamberlain (or LiftMaster, which is owned by Chamberlain) garage door opener, but it just isn’t Wi-Fi enabled. In that case, you should consider Chamberlain’s Garage Hub. At $45, Chamberlain offers one of the least expensive options for adding smarthome capabilities to your garage door opener.

You should check your model number against Chamberlain’s compatibility tool. As long as you purchased it after 1993 and your safety sensors work, you can probably add the Hub. And if your safety sensors don’t work, you should get those fixed right away.

Chamberlain’s Hub effectively turns your existing garage door opener into one of the company’s smart garage door openers. You get all the same features and capabilities and access to Chamberlain’s app.

Even if you don’t have a Chamberlain or LiftMaster garage door opener, the Garage Hub might work with your equipment. You can check the compatibility tool to be certain—choose “other brand” when prompted.

Installing the Garage Hub is simple. You mount a battery-powered door tilt sensor directly to the garage door and pointed toward the garage door opener. Pair the main Wi-Fi bridge with your app, and then mount the bridge to the ceiling near your garage door opener and power source.

You don’t have to connect any cables from the bridge to your existing garage door opener, as it uses the same radio signals as the existing buttons.

For Other Models, Use Garadget

If you don’t have a Chamberlain garage door opener and want more functionality than the Garage Hub provides, the $79 Garadget is a good choice.

Garadget aims a laser at a reflective patch on your garage door to determine if it’s open or not. If the laser hits the patch and bounces back, Garadget knows you closed your door; if the laser doesn’t bounce back, the door must be open.

The device mimics the main door opener button in your garage. You wire Garadget into the same terminals that button uses, and it sends a signal to open and close the door. It also pairs with many smarthome services and hubs, including SmartThings, Vera, Home Seer, OpenHab, and Alexa.

If you have a Chamberlain garage door opener, you can still use Garadget, but installing it might require extra steps. If your equipment has a yellow learning button, then your Chamberlain communicates using a proprietary signal that Garagdget can’t mimic.

As a workaround, you can solder a spare remote to Garadget so it can “press” the remote’s button. The company knows not everyone is comfortable with soldering, so it also sells pre-soldered remotes.

Out of Stock

We originally planned to recommend the Nexx Garage, Garageio 2, and Gogogate 2 smart garage door openers. All three are well regarded and highly recommended by other publications, like Wirecutter. But currently, all three have something in common: they’re out of stock everywhere.

Unfortunately, smarthome technology is still a growing field, and not everything survives. When a company folds, your smarthome might break, and there’s little you can do about it beyond replacing the pieces. Guardian access acquired the Garageio 2 company early last year and is currently taking pre-orders for the smart controller. The company isn’t promising a ship date yet, so we’re holding off on recommending it.

If you want the safest, least expensive, and easiest to install option, Chamberlain is your best bet. It’s one of the largest garage door manufacturers and—short of discontinuing support for smarthome technology—it’s unlikely the company is going anywhere.

Last updated on September 10, 2020

Here are the steps you can take to make your garage door smart and improve your home security at the same time. Read on!

Your garage door is the weakest link when it comes to the security of your home. Even if you have a detached garage, it’s still an easy target for would-be burglars. However, improving the security of your garage and increasing the comfort of its use is well within your reach!

The easiest way to do so is to install a smart garage door opener. Such devices are easily accessible, and they offer a range of useful features. In this article, you will learn why it’s beneficial to upgrade your garage door opener and what exactly you should do if you want to make it smart. Without any further ado, let’s jump right into it!

Why Should You Get a Smart Garage Door?

A smart home is not a new concept, and it’s becoming increasingly popular. With new technological advancements, you have an opportunity to make your living easier and more comfortable. One of the easiest ways to do it is by getting a smart garage door opener. Though unassuming, this tool can make all the difference when it comes to your car and storage experiences.

Having a smart garage door has numerous benefits. According to experts from A1 Garage Door Services, installing a smart garage door opener is a great investment due to the frequent use of your garage. On average, garage doors in a residential home open and close 1,500 times a year. We bet that sometimes you leave for work or lay in your bed at night and wonder: “Did I close my garage door?” Smart garage door openers come with an app that allows you to check that. What’s more, the app notifies you whenever someone opens the door and allows you to control it from a significant distance. Comfort, security, and peace of mind make it a great addition to your home.

The Easy Way: Replace Your Garage Door Opener

You may consider buying a brand new smart garage door opener, especially if the opener you have already is old, or you still have to open your garage door manually. It can be an expensive investment, but it’s also the fastest way to upgrade your garage.

The Crafty Way: Add WiFi to the Existing Garage Door Opener

In case your garage door opener is fairly new but doesn’t connect to WiFi, you can retrofit it with a WiFi controller. You can do it by following these instructions:

• Make sure there’s WiFi in the area. If you want the device to work properly, you must ensure that you have a strong WiFi connection, especially in the ceiling area, because that’s where the opener will be mounted.
• Add a WiFi range extender or buy a new router. In case your connection is not strong enough, purchase one of these devices. You can also buy both if you feel the need. Either way, a WiFi range extender or a new router should provide you with additional internet coverage.
• Purchase a WiFi garage door controller. This device will connect to your WiFi and allow you to operate two or three openers, depending on the manufacturer. There are many models available on the market, so feel free to do your research, read reviews and product descriptions. This way, you’ll make an informed decision.
• Perform a compatibility test. If you want it to work, you have to ensure your garage door opener is compatible with your WiFi controller. Fortunately, most manufacturers put this information on their websites, most likely in the product description of their openers.
• Mount the controller and door sensors. Your WiFi controller should be secured on the ceiling between garage door openers. As for the sensors, they should be placed on both sides of your garage door, preferably near the top.
• Connect the controller to the openers and door sensors. This step will differ depending on the brand and model, but the procedure is similar in all cases. You’ll have to push the “Learn” or “Pair” button and wait for the confirmation light or signal.
• Test it out. If you followed all the steps, you should now be able to open and close the door with the help of your app. Feel free to see if it works by using your app and changing the door status to open or closed. When the app and your actual door show the same thing, it means you have succeeded!

The Takeaway

Getting a smart garage door would greatly improve your smart home experience, not to mention it’s also very convenient. Of course, you can choose the more expensive option and replace your old garage door opener with a more innovative model. However, if you’re more about the DIY approach and the opener itself works just fine, feel free to make some smart upgrades yourself.

As you can see, adding WiFi to your existing garage door opener requires some effort, but it’s definitely doable. It’s a safe and fairly inexpensive way to improve the functionality of your garage and, by extension, your home in general. If you want to live more comfortably, make sure you look into your options, and maybe hire a professional for this purpose.

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Have you made your garage doors smart yet? We’re talking about adding smart home features to your garage door that will make using your garage door and giving access to individuals that you trust east, safe, and most importantly cost effective! If you’re unfamiliar with smart home garage door features, then join Pacific Experts Garage Door as we break down the best reasons why you need to make your garage doors smart!

Smart Home Features for Garage Doors

First of all, what are smart garage door features? Smart garage door features are technology, typically wireless add-ons, that you install on your existing garage door opener to allow you to have more control over operating and monitoring your garage. The most common smart garage door features are the smart garage door opener, the smart garage door hub, and smart garage cameras.
Smart garage door openers are modern operators (like the one on the ceiling of your garage) that can connect to your home’s wifi allowing you to control it from your cellphone.
Smart garage door hubs are essentially adaptors that allow you to turn your old garage door operator into a smart garage door operator at a fraction of the cost. Most smart garage door hubs cost less than $100.
Smart Garage Cameras are wireless cameras that allow you to monitor your garage via a live stream feed that you can tune in to whenever you feel like it. Smart garage cameras also allow for 2 way communication.

The Benefits of Making Your Garage Doors Smart

Making your garage door “smart” is efficient, cost-effective and, and adds security to your home!
With a smart home garage door system, you can add trusted users such as your spouse, children, and family who can operate the garage door from their devices as well. This gives the whole family access to the garage so they never have to be locked out or worry about losing their garage door remotes.
Additionally, in select markets where Amazon Key is available, your Amazon delivery person will also be able to open your garage door in order to deliver your packages. This is great if you want to prevent thieves from stealing packages from your front porch.
And with a smart garage camera, you can keep an eye on your garage to make sure that nobody ever comes in uninvited or leaves with any of your valuable possessions.

Pacific Experts Garage Doors Las Vegas Garage Door Installation

Are you ready to have the latest smart home features installed on your garage doors to increase the security and convenience of using your garage doors? Then give Pacific Experts Garage Door in Las Vegas a call. Our garage door technicians can install any smart home features that you need on your garage door. We service the greater Las Vegas valley from Summerlin and Centennial to Henderson and North Las Vegas. Give us a call today to schedule your smart garage door installation.

I don’t know a single person who hasn’t left their garage door open when they didn’t mean to. Even the mom from Home Alone thought a left-open garage door was the reason she felt super anxious on her plane flight to France (when in actuality, she forgot her child. Whoops.)

Whether you’ve been laying in bed at 3am or two days into a cross-country road trip, we’ve all had that moment when it pops in our head and we’ve realized our mistake. And you’re either too dang tired to get out of bed or hundreds of miles away.

Unless you’ve got people in your neighborhood you trust and can get ahold of, normally you’re out of luck until you get home. Which puts your home and your possessions at risk for theft or damage. Luckily for us, we live in the era where our appliances are getting smarter and smarter. Now there’s a solution that’s about to make your forgetful days a whole lot easier.

Smart Garage Door Openers are small devices that work in conjunction with your garage-door opener that’s already installed. They allow you full control (to open or close) or even just give you the status of your garage door when you aren’t home (or when you just don’t want to get off of the couch to go see if you closed it–no judgment here!) Everything is controlled through an app on your smartphone and some even connect to voice assistants in your home like Siri, Alexa, or Google.

Here’s 3 things you need to know about Smart Garage Door Openers:

1. It works with the garage door opener you already have–no need to get a brand new one!

Installing an actual garage door opener is pretty complicated and we really only recommend having one installed by a professional (Hey there! Nice to meet you!) Smart garage door openers are different because it’s not actually an opener itself. It works to take the one you’ve already got up a few notches technology-wise. Which is really good news for you when it comes to the cost (see point #3!)

2. They are super simple to install.

While we don’t recommend taking on the challenge of installing an actual garage door opener by yourself, smart openers are easy breezy. Most can be completely installed in about 10 minutes and don’t even require power tools. Plug in the hub and follow the instructions to sync it to your wifi. Attach the sensor to your garage door with velcro or screws (usually they come with the opener) and then sync the hub to your actual garage door opener by simply pushing the button on the unit. BINGO BANGO BONGO, you’re done (don’t fret, detailed instructions will come with it, but I promise it’s easy.) Now you just control it in the app!

3. They are very affordable.

I mentioned earlier that a smart opener isn’t really an opener–it just makes your existing opener, “smart.” Which means no purchase of a new garage door opener and more money in your pocket. A quick search online shows that most smart openers on the market are under $50. The ones that were more expensive were much more expensive and jumped to $100 and some almost $200. But truthfully, I couldn’t find anything that jumped out at me to justify that expense. Even the lower priced models had the ability to make schedules that automatically open or close the garage door at certain times or that will alert you if your garage door has been open for a specified amount of time. My one piece of advice is to make sure to pay attention if the particular model you are interested in requires you to have a monthly subscription for their app. Some do, some don’t–so just make sure you read the fine print before ordering!

Installing a smart garage door opener is easy and affordable–and will certainly save you time and heartache when you have a moment of forgetfulness.