A smart garage-door controller is an add-on that works with your existing garage-door opener, letting you control the door from anywhere through an app on your smartphone, tablet, or computer. It does not replace your existing garage-door opener or prevent other devices that open your garage door—such as visor clips, push buttons, and keypads—from working as before.
A smart garage-door controller is an excellent security and access tool for your home, vacation home, or rental property. An estimated 71 percent of American homeowners use the garage door as the main entry point to the home, and being able to open and close it remotely is very convenient. For example, if you or another member of your household often forgets to shut the garage door while driving away, a smart garage-door controller will tell you it’s still open and let you close it remotely. The device will also give you a heads-up if you leave the door open when you come home, or if it’s open when it shouldn’t be, so that you can close it from wherever you are, even if that’s just the couch. You can view the status of your garage door at any time, so you can be sure your home is safe and secure.
These devices also offer a simple, convenient way of granting people access to your house when you’re not present. The Gogogate2 in particular caters to rentals and condominiums with a feature that lets a landlord assign an unlimited number of access “keys,” useful if you live in an apartment complex with a shared garage.
All the controllers integrate with home-automation systems, and some do so with individual devices such as lights, thermostats, cameras, and locks. But you don’t have to be fully invested in home automation for a smart garage-door controller to be useful—it’s a simple, entry-level item that can make your life easier. Most are easy to install and easy to use, and don’t require additional hardware to operate. So you can just buy one, plug it in, and start controlling your garage door remotely.
If you’re shopping for a whole new garage-door opener (like MIGHTY MULE MM260 ) you can now buy all-in-one smart garage-door openers from Chamberlain and LiftMaster with Chamberlain’s MyQ technology built in. Gogogate2 has partnered with Sommer to offer an opener with its tech incorporated (currently available from The Home Depot). Genie makes one that works with Lowe’s Iris, and GoControl is planning to release a GoControl/Linear integrated opener this fall (both Linear and LiftMaster are sold only through dealers). But if your garage door is already opening and closing fine with its existing opener, and you just want to add some smart features, a smart garage-door controller is the right choice for you. Such a device typically costs between $80 and $200.
Finding a compatible controller for your garage
Not all smart garage-door controllers will work with all garage-door openers. And contrary to what you might normally expect with technology, the newer your door opener is, the less likely it is to work with the majority of replacement garage-door controllers.
If you plan to buy a smart controller, check its compatibility with your garage-door opener first, and if you can’t find your exact model listed as compatible or noncompatible at the below links, try to contact the company’s support before purchasing to be sure your model will work.
To test all of our chosen controllers, we had to use four garage-door openers: the Legacy Overhead Door Opener (for the Garageio), the LiftMaster 8365, MyQ enabled, 2016 (for the Chamberlain MyQ Garage), the LiftMaster Professional Formula 1, 2011 (for the Gogogate2 and Iris), and the Linear Garage Door Opener, 2016 (for the GoControl).
As a general rule, here is how you can tell which controller your garage-door opener will work with:
If your garage-door opener was manufactured between 1993 and 2010 and has infrared safety sensors installed, it should work with any of these replacement devices.
If your door opener does not have safety sensors (most likely because it was manufactured before 1993), it will not work with the MyQ Garage but will probably work with the GoControl, Garageio, and Gogogate2, because those wire directly into the opener.
If your door opener was made toward the end of 2011 or later and is a Chamberlain or LiftMaster (or branded under one of the company’s many OEMs), it is probably compatible only with the MyQ system.
To check the compatibility of your door opener with the models we tested, you can consult the lists posted for the MyQ Garage (Chamberlain models; for LiftMaster models, go here), the GoControl and Iris Z-Wave, and the Garageio. The Gogogate2 is compatible with all garage-door openers except Chamberlain, LiftMaster, and Craftsman openers with MyQ technology (built-in or enabled) or using Security+ 2.0 wall push buttons.
Why do the newer Chamberlain/LiftMaster openers not work with smart controllers other than MyQ? Because, according to the competition, Chamberlain doesn’t want them to. “Chamberlain (who owns nearly 60% of residential market) is making their new openers (2011 and above) non compatible with us and the rest of the competition in this segment,” wrote Juan Roca Arderiu, operations and sales manager for Gogogate2, in an email interview.
Chamberlain says it launched a patented radio-encryption method in late 2011 that has been embedded in every opener manufactured since then. We asked the company why this change was necessary, given that it apparently broke compatibility with third-party openers. The response was: “This updated encryption provided a new level of safety and security to consumers. Of course third parties are welcome to partner with Chamberlain.”
Another potential compatibility issue is with single-panel flip-up doors. The manuals for both MyQ and GoControl state that the tech is designed to work only with sectional, roll-up doors. This is because single-panel doors typically do not require a garage-door opener. The Gogogate2 is the only model we tested that promises to work with flip-up doors connected to a garage-door opener, though anecdotally we’ve heard of people being able to get MyQ to operate their flip-up door connected to an opener.
All the models we tested will control more than one garage door—up to three in most cases, if you purchase another door sensor (usually around $35) for each additional door.
