Funny thing happened to get this topic of interest: I “lost” a garage door opener at a car dealer. Left it in the old car when driving out of the lot in a new one. “Not to worry” said the Sales Manager, “We’ll find it and ship it to you!”
The idea of my garage door opener somewhere other than in my car was a little unsettling. Might someone find it and drive through the neighborhood clicking away until a garage door opens? Naw, never happen. (Not gonna’ take that chance!)
So, I decided that it would be a good idea to install a wifi controlled garage door opener and to disconnect the remotes that exist and rely on my smartdevice(s) to open/close and monitor the door. Problem solved.
Not quite. Finding alternatives was the easy part. Installing and setting up were a bit more challenging.
There are a few retrofit wifi garage door opener adapters on the market. I conducted a little research and initially purchased a Next Garage™
“Nexx Garage is a companion device to an existing garage door opener that securely allows one or more users to open, close, and monitor their garage door from anywhere in the world.”
A few hours into the install process, I was beginning to sour on Nexx. Although it WAS wifi-enabled, it had door open/close contact sensors that were WIRED from the contact to the motor. That should have been an alert. Wifi is wireless. If one component of a wifi device is wired than it’s only partially wifi. It also failed four times to connect to my home wifi network; hence, no Nexx wifi. Returned that one and ordered a Chamberlain MyQ™ (again, retrofit modification).
Long story: that product didn’t work either. NOTE: most wifi retrofit kits state that they are compatible with garage door openers manufactured after 1995. While I believe that is (most likely) true, my experience indicates that these two (Nexx and Chamberlain MyQ) do NOT … more specifically, they do not work with a 10 year old OverheadDoor Superior™
What to do? I was already spending approximately $150.00 for the device. I researched further and discovered that an NEW opener (the entire unit, track, sensors, rails … EVERYTHING included) was approximately $250.00 and I located a highly recommended installer who quoted me $150.00 to remove the old unit and install the new one.
Done deal.
The new unit is a Chamberlain MyQ. NOT the add-on, retrofit device. An entirely new garage door opener that INCLUDED wifi capability! I am a happy camper! No more worries about someone driving through the neighborhood clicking a random (lost) opener hoping to find the door it opens. The security of a new (warranted) unit that works quietly and, with wifi, from anywhere in the world that I have a wifi connection.