Chamberlain MyQ Smart Garage Hub review

CNN
—  

The Chamberlain MyQ Clever Garage Control clarifies by itself with the name. For $29.98, it sets out to be a catchall resolution for remote access to a garage door comprehensive with intelligent functions. By definition, it is an entry-level wise household gadget — and not just one that involves you to leap into the deep close of the clever residence globe.

With just two parts of hardware, a Wi-Fi connection and the application on your mobile phone, you are going to be in a position to see the standing of your garage door, remotely open up or shut it and even incorporate home associates as users. For $29.98, it’s almost a steal. And after a couple weeks of testing, it is protected to say that it will work as promised. Let’s unpack it.

Who this is for: The Chamberlain MyQ is for a person who desires to command or retain tabs on their garage doorway from around or afar.

What you want to know: Setting up this gadget took about 15 minutes, and it is very intuitive. Chamberlain claims the MyQ supports most garage door openers made following 1993, but mileage could potentially fluctuate. It also does not assist Amazon Alexa or Apple HomeKit integrations.

How it compares: For $29.98 (when it’s not on sale), the Chamberlain MyQ is a no-brainer addition to a residence with a garage doorway. It does not demand the extensive set up or price of a new garage door opener with a good hub developed in and supports a prolonged record of openers. Prospects are that involves the one particular in your property. The obligatory application for setup and management is intuitive and considerably less cluttered than other sensible choices on the current market. It does not function help for core good dwelling ecosystems like Amazon Alexa or Apple HomeKit. BeamUp is a equivalent alternative which is a lot more pricey at $77 but supports Alexa out of the box. People hunting for HomeKit integration can glance at the $119 iSmartGate. The MyQ and the alternate options all use comparable tech to get on the web, although, and perform with most openers created just after 1993.

Jacob Krol/CNN

In the Chamberlain MyQ Good Garage Control box, you are going to come across two main parts of components and some extras. What you will not locate is a garage door opener, nevertheless — the MyQ technique operates along with your recent garage doorway to make it clever.

The good hub, which we’ve been affectionately contacting the mind, receives mounted on the ceiling, shut to the actual garage doorway motor. It is a sq. piece of plastic with technology inside to hook up with your garage doorway, together with some buttons and a power port. Chamberlain didn’t hold back on branding with two significant logos. The other piece to the puzzle is a doorway sensor that will stay in the bottom corner of the physical garage doorway. It’s significantly smaller sized in comparison to the hub and opts for a battery. It’s all very straightforward, and Chamberlain features some mounting tools (a frame and screws) for an quick installation.

Together with the physical hardware, you’ll need the MyQ Garage & Entry Manage app — it’s available for Android and iOS. The app is the main management panel for both equally setup and making use of the MyQ. You are going to also want to build an account, and reasonable warning, it can acquire a little bit to get the confirmation e mail. That hold off in generating our account was the only delay we skilled.

At the time you’re in, the MyQ application does an superb occupation of providing distinct instructions to get you by the procedure. It took us between 10 and 15 minutes to get the entire technique performing. And it in essence functions by the wise hub acting as a remote handle opener. It can mail and acquire indicators with your garage door opener. Chamberlain says the MyQ system should function most garage door openers built immediately after 1993 — some of the huge names include Chamberlain, LiftMaster, Craftsman, Genie, Linear and Raynor. A great convey to is a “learn button” on your garage door opener, as this is utilised to send out out a signal for pairing with controllers or devices like the MyQ. Present day garage doorway openers created by Chamberlain even function the MyQ hub crafted in.

The intelligent hub also functions Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz connectivity for connecting to your home’s Wi-Fi community. Garages can often be a lifeless zone, specifically if they element concrete walls or are detached from the household. In possibly of those people scenarios, you may possibly require to enhance your Wi-Fi’s array, and a option could be a Wi-Fi extender. If you have a mesh Wi-Fi process, like Eero, you could obtain another node or position to prolong your network. There is no way to get close to the Wi-Fi need, however.

And for the duration of setup, get completely ready to see your garage doorway make some unexpected movements. In our practical experience, it will elevate and lower a few occasions during the approach. And when it is done, you are going to be able to handle, see a position and even connection it with other intelligent residence units through the application.

Jacob Krol/CNN

The setup system is the only major lifting you’ll have to do with the Chamberlain MyQ Sensible Garage Controller. You’ll see the garage door status and how extensive it’s been in that point out front and centre. For instance, if you closed 40 minutes ago, it will clearly show just that. You can conveniently tap the garage doorway to open it as perfectly. You can also look at a timeline of sorts that shows you when the door was opened or shut. It’s all really useful.

From a protection standpoint, you will have to have to be actively signed in and authenticated to start the app. You can choose for a passcode on your mobile product or use the constructed-in authentication process, these types of as unlocking with a fingerprint or your confront. The application at this time doesn’t give a two-element authentication solution, but we’re hopeful it could be supported in the future.

You can also share entry to your dwelling and the garage door (or doors, if you have a multi-auto garage) via the People tab. They’ll need to have to create a MyQ account and authenticate. And the popular theme here is that Chamberlain isn’t adding complicated interfaces to entry data or performance. It is all front and centre with menus at the base. The Schedules discipline allows you pick predetermined instances for actions to take place. It is an superb way to make positive the door is shut at night.

In terms of compatible techniques, you will come across most of the significant gamers here: Google Assistant, IFTT, Alarm.com, Residio Complete Connect and Vivint, among other individuals. The huge two that you will not find assistance for are Amazon’s Alexa and Apple HomeKit. The former is a big surprise, thinking of this supports Important by Amazon — the brand’s support that lets shipping motorists open the garage door to leave the offer in a protected place. It’s just peculiar that you just can’t tie this into Alexa. HomeKit is a bit trickier to integrate with, but equally would be awesome to see in the long term.

The simple answer right here is to use the application you are going to want it for setup immediately after all.

At less than $30, the Chamberlain MyQ is the quick way to get distant accessibility for your garage doorway and make it intelligent. You really do not require to hurry out and invest hundreds on a new opener or decide for a distinct manufacturer. It brings a tremendous amount of value, and when it is not great with some missing smart companions, it nonetheless delivers a lot of features.

Whether you’re interested in starting a clever property or just want an simpler way to control your garage door, the Chamberlain MyQ can stand on its have as a marvelous gadget to include to your residence. Just keep in thoughts that you need an opener built soon after 1993 and will require Wi-Fi in the garage. In any other case, you are established up for success.