Gone are the days where you find yourself down the road from your home, questioning whether you remembered to shut garage door or not. Chamberlain, a manufacturer known for their garage door openers, has introduced a new way to ease your mind. Their Chamberlain MyQ Garage Smartphone Garage Door Opener allows you to check in on the status of your garage door, and even shut it from afar. Even better, MyQ Garage should work with the garage door opener you already have installed, as it is compatible with most post-1993 “dumb” garage door openers. Chamberlain works to integrate into your existing smart home, pairing easily with Apple HomeKit, Google Nest, Xfinity Home, and the Wink App.
MyQ Garage Features
The MyQ Garage is a cool bit of technology that comes in the form of a small hub that you attach near your existing garage door opener apparatus. Black and sleek, the design is an attractive and inconspicuous addition to your garage. The MyQ Garage hub is quick and easy to install, the process taking only a few minutes. It connects to your home Wi-Fi, so there’s no need to buy any additional equipment. You can check the signal in your garage to find out if your Wi-Fi reaches by connecting to Wi-Fi with your smartphone. If it’s a weak signal, you can purchase a Wi-Fi extender.
When you buy your MyQ Garage, it will come with the Wi-Fi hub, door sensor, mounting bracket, power cord, and instructions. Before you buy, you should make sure your garage door fits the requirements set forth by Chamberlain. The door must be one of the more modern sectional doors with mechanisms that slide the door up into the garage, not a one-piece door that only lifts up. It requires that your garage door has sensors that reverse the door’s motion when something is blocking it from closing, located near the bottom of the door track. That’s it. Most doors come equipped with these features. Click here for a full list of manufacturers that work with the MyQ Garage door opener.The App and Compatible Devices
Now on to the good stuff. The free app is just that - totally free. You don’t need to pay an ongoing service fee or anything to use the MyQ Garage. Once you buy the hub kit and install, you’ve got yourself a smart garage door. The app is what provides you with peace of mind when leaving your house, showing you if your garage door has been left open, or if you shut it. You can get alerts that you can customize to tell you if your garage door has been open for a specific period of time, and notifications when the door is being opened.
Should you find yourself down the street with an open door, you can close it immediately via the app. In fact, you can close it from anywhere in the world - so if you find yourself panicked at the airport about leaving your garage door open, you need not be, as you can simply close it then and there. No more worrying about that aspect of your house as you’re on your way to your destination, no matter how far. As an added bonus, you can control up to two garage doors from one MyQ Garage app.
Chamberlain made the MyQ Garage door opener accessible to everyone, whether you prefer Apple, Android, or other brand name devices. The MyQ Garage is compatible with iPhone 3Gs to the current iPhones, iPads, 4th and 5th generation iPod Touches, Android Smartphones and most of their Tablets, Blackberry, Windows, and other smart devices.
