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Home Assistant blocked from integrating with Garage Door opener API

home-assistant.io

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Re: Home Assistant blocked from integrating with Garage Door opener API

#241

Post by jqpabc123 »

The gnashing of teeth here reads like software people trying to solve a simple hardware problem.

You don't need anyone's permission or API to control any garage door opener --- smart or dumb. The suggested "ratgo" device is one option but looks kinda overpriced to me.

Every garage door opener has 2 sets of dry contacts. One set controls the open/close function and normally connects to a physical button on the inside wall. This is easily shared with any other device. The other set is a limit switch that tells the motor to stop once the door is open. This too can be easily shared and read.

All that is required for full control is a wifi device with 1 output and 1 input that speaks Home Assistant. Sonoff or some other manufacturer must have an affordable one. If not, maybe I'll make one. It's not that hard with readily available hardware.

Re: Home Assistant blocked from integrating with Garage Door opener API

#242

Post by organsnyder »

pmontra wrote: post #198
colinmorelli wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Putting aside the very legitimate use cases highlighted in other messages, a very simple one is: you're just arriving at home, but are still not (yet) connected to wifi. These very practical daily occurrences can make devices incredibly annoying and frustrating for typical consumers who want it to just work.

That's why I have a radio remote in my car and in my living room and never bothered automating the garage door any further.

I find it handy for when I'm outside but not in my car—on my bike, working around the yard, etc.

Re: Home Assistant blocked from integrating with Garage Door opener API

#243

Post by mikestew »

organsnyder wrote: post #239
jacquesm wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not simply allow HA to integrate on site rather than to have to go through some crappy service that likely will not last the lifetime of the doors in the first place?

I bought MyQ's Homekit bridge to allow local integration with Home Assistant. It was a bit of a pain to set up initially, and it's stupid that I have a separate device when the openers themselves support wifi natively, but it's been rock-solid.

You know that "bit of a pain to set up initially" you mentioned? Yeah, I've had to do that repeatedly because its little pea-brain forgets every few months. It's been anything but rock-solid for me. I just gave up on it.

I initially bought the bridge because I thought a wireless relay spliced into the hardwired door switch would be too much trouble, so I'll spend a little and save some time. Boy, was I wrong.

Re: Home Assistant blocked from integrating with Garage Door opener API

#245

Post by whoopdedo »

paulgerhardt wrote: post #234

Partially responsible for this. (Sold Lockitron to Chamberlain in 2017 which became the basis for Amazon Key integrations.) Contrary to the popular sentiment in a lot of the comments here, there’s not much value in the analytics. As we all painfully found out in the 2010’s, there are only two viable recurring revenue streams in the IoT space - charging for video storage and charging for commercial access. Chamberlain…

A stressed out underpaid and overworked delivery driver is the last person I want in my garage. Verified deliveries are left at the wrong house, or the driver simply takes it with them after posting the porch picture. And I've seen boxes arrive that were forced open and the contents pulled out. But sure, it's the customers who are untrustworthy not the delivery people.

Re: Home Assistant blocked from integrating with Garage Door opener API

#246

Post by lock-the-spock »

oskapt wrote: post #128

Something that I don’t see people talking about here is that MyQ is the core/required integration component for Amazon Key in-garage delivery, a service used by millions of people to have their packages delivered to their garages instead of having them stolen off their porch. That’s why it needs Internet access. All the talk about how Chamberlain will go bankrupt because a comparatively small number of tech people st…

Somewhat off topic but it is quite stunning to me that American carriers just leave the package at the door. I lived in different European countries and in all of them the expectation is that the mailman (official mail, or any of the services like dhl, ups, etc) will ring the bell. If you don't answer they will ring the neighbour and then take it back and either try again another day or you can go to a pickup point. Instead the U.S. has an entire category of devices to avoid package theft when the solution lies in holding carriers to account. I don't want to open the garage for Amazon or Bol or any other delivery company...

Re: Home Assistant blocked from integrating with Garage Door opener API

#247

Post by tensor »

nijave wrote: post #32
api wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that these require some kind of server. Get one that just talks to HA over your local network. Why in the hell does a garage door opener need a server? Oh, data collection. And subscriptions. Nothing for the user. I avoid any home automation thing that has any cloud backing that's not strictly optional. It's a strong anti-feature. In home stuff cloud means it won't work when the Internet is down, it sp…

You can access the device when you're away from home if it's internet connected. Of course, the server doesn't need to be doing much besides proxying connections.

Homekit provides this as well, and by default is local only. There really is no excuse for these devices not to support homekit out of the box other than a money grab.

Re: Home Assistant blocked from integrating with Garage Door opener API

#248

Post by tkems »

A gentle reminder that the Security+ and Security+ 2.0 RF protocols have been reverse engineered (https://github.com/argilo/secplus). While they are not the most secure thing in the world, you can build a custom RF transmitter (remote) that is network connected.

Having done some research into Chamberlain's products, I don't recommend anyone to use them if they have the choice.

Re: Home Assistant blocked from integrating with Garage Door opener API

#249

Post by TeMPOraL »

colinmorelli wrote: post #164
iAMkenough wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like there's a market for intermediary tech support

Perhaps in general, but if the problem here is "I don't want a corporation to have access to when my garage door is open or closed" I can't fathom how "Give another corporation access to my entire network to troubleshoot my VPN and LAN configuration of my devices" is the solution?

The solution is to "give my tech whiz kid/neighbor/friend, or a local IT shop two blocks over, the responsibility of managing my home network".

This is where ideas like non-shit IoT, Right to Repair, Free (Libre) Software, and even "how to not fuck up foreign aid 101", all converge. The point isn't to make everyone their tech support. The point is to allow local communities to be more self-sufficient, able to manage technology on their own - as opposed to outsourcing everything to some faceless companies that have no attachment to any given community.

Note that this doesn't preclude business - on the contrary, local businesses are the fundamental part of any community larger than couple dozen people; the ideas converge not on everyone doing stuff pro bono, but on small, local businesses* doing things for their communities, accumulating and retaining know-how.

I wish more people from aforementioned movements realized their ultimate goal (at least in form that's possible in the real world) is the same, and joined forces.

Re: Home Assistant blocked from integrating with Garage Door opener API

#250

Post by marcosdumay »

ourmandave wrote: post #43
api wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that these require some kind of server. Get one that just talks to HA over your local network. Why in the hell does a garage door opener need a server? Oh, data collection. And subscriptions. Nothing for the user. I avoid any home automation thing that has any cloud backing that's not strictly optional. It's a strong anti-feature. In home stuff cloud means it won't work when the Internet is down, it sp…

In the updated fairy tale, the 3rd little piggy actually perishes, because his house got bricked by the Big Bad Wolf IoT service.

Nah, the wolf just pays a minimal fee to the IoT provider so it unlocks every door on the pig's house.
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