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Home Assistant blocked from integrating with Garage Door opener API

• eamonnsullivan 3y ago
  Here's the company's statement, which they've updated to accuse HA of, basically, DDOS: https://chamberlaingroup.com/press/a-message-about-our-decision-to-prevent-unauthorized-usage-of-myq https://chamberlaingroup.com/press/a-message-about-our-decis...
  • deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  • Nextgrid 3y ago
    Even if we assume that's true (I very much have my doubts), this is a totally self-inflicted problem as a result of bad design: there's no reason a garage door opener should rely on a remote server instead of local communication.
    • malermeister 3y ago
      If it's not on a remote server, then how would you know when people leave/arrive at their homes? You'd miss out on so much sweet, monetizable personal information. Won't anyone think of corporate profits???
    • mindslight 3y ago
      You don't even have to go so far as saying they should change the embedded software. Here is the problem: > The MyQ integration was introduced in Home Assistant 0.39, and it's used by 3.1% of the active installations. Its IoT class is Cloud Polling. "Cloud Polling", meaning they don't have a way for an API client to register for state change callbacks. I'm sure this is why there is so much traffic - if Home Assistant wants to support triggers based on state changes (eg door opening, turn on home lights), then it needs to repeatedly check the status so that it becomes aware of the change in a timely manner. (Personally I only buy/use devices with local control, and generally cut them off from Internet access. Just saying though)
  • Someone1234 3y ago
    As they themselves admit in that statement: There used to be an official way to integrate locally, but they discontinued it (myQ Home Bridge) and they're hard to find today (inc. huge markups when available).
  • lvh 3y ago
    Perhaps they updated the statement since then, but they're not accusing them of "basically" DDOS: they literally say DDOS now. Which of course prompts the question: is the problem that the CTO doesn't understand what DDOS is, or are they intentionally painting HA as malicious somehow?
  • _ea1k 3y ago
    TBH, that's better, as that is a problem that could be fixed. Even if we had to switch to a tilt sensor and just retain control, that'd be much better than their approach. IOW, this real reason is better than their dumb comment about "unauthorized use".
• dathinab 3y ago
  can we just make non-sens like that illegal no one has time for it you bought the device you should own it it's not even anything fancy where you could argue that continuous software updated need to be done or similar also pass a law that all smart home devices had to go through a hub, no direct internet connection allowed, uh put it under "reducing DDOS potential due to long term issues with internet connected smart home device security"
  • pjc50 3y ago
    The problem is it's routed through a central server. > all smart home devices had to go through a hub I think ultimately this is the only way to get it to even work properly, let alone last long enough that the next purchaser of a smart home can use it reliably. But it will also slow innovation and Big Tech will hate it.
  • rft 3y ago
    > all smart home devices had to go through a hub I fully agree, this is the reason I mostly buy Zigbee devices for my smart home. The problem with this rule is that there is already a device on the market that complies with it on paper, but not how you intended: Amazon Echo devices act as Zigbee gateways. While I never tried it, I bet it will not turn on your lights without calling the mothership. If this rule were to become reality, vendors would just sell your their "mandatory" hubs that handle the calling home part. Smaller vendors would no longer be able to offer their ESP based devices, even though I can easily decloud them via ESPHome etc, if even necessary. From a purely idealistic PoV, I guess the only way we achieve ownership as you described is if we require by law, with proper enforcement, that reasonable technical people are able to connect to the device on a local interface. But this has so many weasel words already, it would be ineffective and/or lead to regulatory capture ("implement this 600 page, 200$ ISO standard based on XML, don't mind the proprietary extensions ensuring no interop!"). For me, the way to have some degree of ownership of my smart home is doing research before buying to ensure the device either runs on Zigbee, has a local network interface and does not rely on the cloud even for initial configuration or can be flashed with Tasmota or ESPHome with minimal fuzz. I don't see this changing any time soon. It is sad that you need to have the knowledge and time to be able to "own" your smart home, but I at least can help my "tech support circle" where possible to make informed decisions.
• TeMPOraL 3y ago
  From company statement: > Our customers rely on us to make access simple without sacrificing quality and reliability. Unauthorized app integrations, stemming from only 0.2% of myQ users, previously accounted for more than half of the traffic to and from the myQ system, and at times constituted a substantial DDOS event that consumed high quantities of resources. Yeah, that sounds plausible, because: - Home Assistant users are power users, thus more likely to actually use the devices in question; - Official IoT software and integrations are uniformly shit, designed to discourage effective use (while maximizing data collection). Thus, I read this statement as: "We're not happy that some of our customers decided to actually use the 'smart'/'connected' aspects of our product; our service-providing part was not ready to provide the service, and unlike the data collection part, it was never intended to."
  • api 3y ago
    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 spies on you, and it can become a brick or start requiring a subscription at any time.
    • nijave 3y ago
      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.
      • cassianoleal 3y ago
        And of course, you can easily run a VPN/Tailscale/ZeroTier/whatever to achieve the same without the downsides.
        • api 3y ago
• simbolit 3y ago
  If you buy a device that relies on a server connection for functioning, you might legally own it, but it essentially is 'on loan' by the company. Well, you could always strip it for copper, I guess...
  • causi 3y ago
    Devices that rely on cloud infrastructure should be required to carry an expiration date right on the box. "This item guaranteed to receive support until XX/XX/XX"
    • denysvitali 3y ago
      I prefer to have an e-waste law that says that if you stop maintaining the service, you have to open-source it :)
      • theK 3y ago
        Also a very good option. Ideally it should trigger immediately once a regression happens and at least 12 months prior to service eol (give users time to migrate)
      • kubik369 3y ago
        Unfortunately, this is just wishful thinking. Take an example where a company is going under. If such a law existed, it would be unenforceable as the company does not have the resources and know-how how to do such a thing. After they file for bankrupcy, there is no point in punishing them.
        • sokoloff 3y ago
          Software escrow processes could (partially) solve this, at an upfront cost for every company developing and selling such a device (meaning, at a price that will ultimately be paid by consumers).
          • 3y ago
• rft 3y ago
  Parallel discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38188614 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38188614
• deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
• dinckelman 3y ago
  Another one on the shame list. You can use the public api, but only if you send your local data through our dogshit online channels, so we can sell it later
• lvh 3y ago
  Based on my local big box store and garage installer availability, Chamberlain has a de facto monopoly. They also pulled the rug out from under customers: that behavior had been in Home Assistant since 2017, and it's their own recent changes that caused the alleged "DDoS". They say it's to promote official products, but the company previously had a local hub that didn't require their cloud service and discontinued it. The API breakage coincides pretty well with their brand new CTO, whose objective is apparently "transformation to a smart access software company". It's unclear if the CTO just doesn't understand that "DDoS" generally implies malice, or if they're intentionally using that language to blame users for using their product. Good news: ratgdo, an ESP-based local solution works great. I hope the author is making a decent profit on the kits.
  • deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  • hanklazard 3y ago
    That project looks great! Now the issue is finding a Chamberlain or Liftmaster opener without myQ built-in. Or maybe I just don’t have to activate it.
    • lvh 3y ago
      Odds are that whatever nice Chamberlain opener you want will have myQ built in because that's their business strategy. You can try getting a different brand if you're voting with your wallet -- but if all you care about is security: the Cloud connectivity is optional and you can just not connect it to WiFi. The ratgdo is more trustworthy, and it just connects (really easily, too, especially with the new v2.5 board) to the opener via the same contacts that the dry contact button does.
  • ur-whale 3y ago
    >The API breakage coincides pretty well with their brand new CTO You can go and engage him directly on the topic, maybe he'll present a perspective we haven't seen, or maybe he'll listen to your arguments and reconsider: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-phillips-9a33831/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-phillips-9a33831/ (and no, this is not doxing: his profile is public).
• meindnoch 3y ago
  Is this "myQ ecosystem" the only way to interact with these garage doors? i.e. is there no way to communicate with them without involving the manufacturer's server?
  • HunterWare 3y ago
    You can buy little ESPHome devices that will speak it’s local serial protocol and control it. (And then link to them how you want) It’s incredibly annoying and dumb and I now have to get some. grumble
    • op00to 3y ago
      You can just use a relay to open and close the door if that’s all you want. Edit: no you can't, if it's the fancy one. You gotta hack a switch like this: LiftMaster 883LM Security+ 2.0 MyQ Door Control Push Button
      • lvh 3y ago
        Sort-of: the newer ones require the physical button to speak the same rolling code protocol the remotes do. So, yes: but you have to modify a real door opener. ratgdo has the advantage that it pretends to be said door opener.
        • op00to 3y ago
          bummer! i had no idea it wasn't just a dumb switch! also super cool that they reverse engineered it. :)
        • jpitz 3y ago
          There's often a pair of pins on the internal board that you can attach a relay to. Shorting the pins causes the door to close.
          • lvh 3y ago
            That sounds even dicier than modifying the wall switch, but sure :) There is a part of me that wants to break the damn thing open to hunt for a 3.3V line so I can power the ratgdo without a USB PSU...
• zamalek 3y ago
  Home Assistant should really maintain a list of actively hostile (and actively cooperative) manufacturers to make it easier to decide what to purchase.
  • ryukoposting 3y ago
    https://home-assistant-shitlist.com https://home-assistant-shitlist.com any takers?
  • HunterWare 3y ago
    And put it high and proud on the site!
  • gog 3y ago
    On each integration page there is a button that states if the integration is local or remote.
    • lvh 3y ago
      That helps, but a remote integration doesn't _have_ to be hostile. I get that it's different from IoT, and most of my stuff is local Zigbee after learning the hard way, but my Home Assistant also talks to the Norwegian meteorological institute and Tailscale :) One reason this is tricky to do is because up until let's say the last 6 months or so, myQ _wasn't_ hostile, even if it was Cloud-based. (I get that that aligns with your point! I'm not arguing with you there.)
      • egberts1 3y ago
        All remote are more potentially hostile than any local will ever be.
        • lawn 3y ago
          Yes, but some can't be local. For instance an integration that scrapes news from a website.
• HunterWare 3y ago
  I use Home Assistant and have this openner. My installer recommeneded it because he’s had happy customers like me who use home automation. I can tell you that I a) will never recommend or buy the brand again, and b) have already complained to my installer about his recommendation of this line (and he is moving to another brand). I wish ratgdo a ton of success and have several on order.
  • travoc 3y ago
    On top of the lack of integration support, the MyQ app used to open garage doors is full of advertisements. It's ridiculous. I regret buying their products.
    • dspillett 3y ago
      > the MyQ app used to open garage doors is full of advertisements. This will most likely be a significant factor in though, though good luck getting them to admit it. HA users will mostly be bypassing the app and therefore not providing revenue via ad impressions.
      • toyg 3y ago
        The fact that a garage door accessory company relies on showing ads is a triumph for MBAs programs and a tragedy for the human race.
        • TeMPOraL 3y ago
          The stuff I learn in this thread is so unbelievable that I don't even know what to say anymore. This feels like pulled straight from Idiocracy.
          • LocalH 3y ago
            Ow, My Balls
          • jrockway 3y ago
• ekianjo 3y ago
  Why does a garage door need an API?
  • LeifCarrotson 3y ago
    Two reasons: 1. My wife can check that we didn't forget to close it instead of driving 20 minutes back home to quell her nerves. 2. We can let a friend or neighbor into the garage (or into the house if we use the smart lock on the door inside the garage) when we're not home. Without giving permanent access to a key or PIN code.
    • op00to 3y ago
      My chamberlain remote pad opener from like 2012 has “burner” codes that operate a certain number of times, down to a single use. I have one programmed if I need to let someone in.
    • sgu999 3y ago
      > 1. My wife can check that we didn't forget to close it instead of driving 20 minutes back home to quell her nerves. Seems like a bit of an ill-adaptation. I used to want a smart door lock for exactly this reason, but instead I learned to be mindful when I close my dumb door...
      • lvh 3y ago
        My garage was broken into. The open door warning is how I found out.
      • theshrike79 3y ago
        You can teach yourself to be mindful, how about the other people in the house? Or will you personally check it every time the house is empty?
        • sgu999 3y ago
          They do the same, and I trust them...
• j45 3y ago
  One extra step I’ve learned to follow is to verify if needed, could the hardware be permanently redirected to a local server, and worst case reflagged with a different firmware or it can be redirected to remain local. The latter is sometimes easier if it’s a Tuya based device, which a lot of these unknown devices are. https://github.com/make-all/tuya-local https://github.com/make-all/tuya-local One of the main things these “smart” devices do is use your internet connection. It’s wise to create a dedicated _IoT suffixed wifi which can’t access your network or devices, but at the same time your other devices can ping them. How? This is a pretty solid guide of a home network setup here. It can be running a $50 EdgeRouter X or translated to other devices. https://github.com/mjp66/Ubiquiti/blob/master/Ubiquiti%20Home%20Network.pdf https://github.com/mjp66/Ubiquiti/blob/master/Ubiquiti%20Hom... Edit: comments below have additional info on Tasmota and ESPHome
  • rft 3y ago
    > https://github.com/make-all/tuya-local https://github.com/make-all/tuya-local Just a small warning: make sure to check whether your device needs to be added to the Tuya cloud to get a local API key. I was only able to get "my" lamp working locally after registering it via the app and creating a developer account. Another option can be flashing it with Tasmota: https://tasmota.github.io/docs/Tuya-Convert/ https://tasmota.github.io/docs/Tuya-Convert/
    • j45 3y ago
      Thanks for that clarification, I also couldn’t remember the name of Tasmota.
    • Nextgrid 3y ago
      > Another option can be flashing it with Tasmota ESPHome is also a good option and makes Home Assistant integration easier.
• Moldoteck 3y ago
  FYI if you want smart things that are not yet limited by this bs decisions, afaik IKEA products are pretty neat
  • rft 3y ago
    Yepp, I have some IKEA buttons and they are just Zigbee devices. They also sell lamps etc., mostly Zigbee based from what I remember. For the Germans (maybe other countries as well): The Lidl smart home things are nearly all Zigbee based. So far no problems with them and they are, IMO, reasonably priced. I somehow trust Lidl more to not burn my house down than random Amazon sellers. They also sell a Zigbee gateway that phones home by default, but can be converted to local only, dumb mode that works fine with Home Assistant [1] with a tiny bit of soldering. I use these exclusively without problems, even the one I rooted for my parents works without any maintenance. [1] https://paulbanks.org/projects/lidl-zigbee/#overview https://paulbanks.org/projects/lidl-zigbee/#overview
    • theshrike79 3y ago
      Zigbee in general is great. If you want the more expensive stuff, Philips is the leader in that. And now that Matter support is slowly trickling in, they should all be fully interoperable. Currently it's touch and go if a Ikea bulb works well with the Hue hub for example.
      • mmcclure 3y ago
        It’s not the same as MyQ here, but Philips (specifically Hue) recently pulled a similar move around requiring accounts. Thankfully it’s not as big of a deal for the HA crowd because the lights can be controlled directly via zigbee, but it certainly caused a kerfuffle in their ecosystem. Related thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37594377 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37594377
    • erinnh 3y ago
      I moved away from the Lidl Zigbee stuff. It was just too low quality. Motion sensors would activate later and/or less than other vendors etc. Stuff like that. Ikea is great, Aqara and Sonoff works well as well. They arent much more expensive (if at all) than the Lidl stuff either.
• op00to 3y ago
  I built my own HA integration with a tilt sensor and a relay to trigger the button. I have a camera on the door, I wonder if I can use that to validate the switch. I normally leave it disconnected from the switch because I don’t need to open the door remotely and I am afraid that some exploit will have a Russian 13 year old opening and closing my door at 4am.
  • juahan 3y ago
    I have my Home Assistant completely local, if I need to access it from outside, I open Wireguard VPN to my local network and do my business in Hassio locally.
    • op00to 3y ago
      Oh my Hassio has no open ports to the internet, but I sleep better knowing no one can open my garage from another country.
• Yhippa 3y ago
  Once they broke Google Assistant integration, I decided to replace them and never use any of their products again. I use a lot of connected devices and this is the only company that has gone backwards in terms of interop over time.
• ivanstegic 3y ago
  The Homebridge integration is also, obviously, broken.
• ranting-moth 3y ago
  > We understand that this impacts a small percentage of users, ... Wow, what a contemptuous statement. I have news for you, Chamberlain Group. You are not only alienating, being hostile and losing a "Small percentage of users" (most companies would prefer to call them "valued customers", but I get it). You are causing an enormous permanent damage to your own brand.
  • Tangurena2 3y ago
    This is the own goal that Intel did with their Pentium FDIV bug. They were absolutely correct that it only impacted a small percentage of users. They still ended up losing their shirts over the problem.
    • deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
  • Spivak 3y ago
    As much as I want this to be true I kinda doubt it. People who install and configure home assistant are far and away niche users. Almost everyone with one of their products will just use a physical clicker or pair it with their car directly.
    • ranting-moth 3y ago
      These specific niche users are the geeks that all relatives and friends ask what to get.
    • phpisthebest 3y ago
      I use HA, however I do not have it tied to my Garage door, and have no plans to do so. I am in the market for a new opener.. I just need the physical clicker. I will not be buying one from this brand, as even if I do not need the HA functionality I no longer trust them as a company.
  • blitz_skull 3y ago
    Yeah, fuck these guys big time. I'm literally going to sell my garage door opener and buy a new because of this.
• alistairSH 3y ago
  Aren’t garage door button just simple momentary switches? So use an aftermarket “smart” remote or button?
  • lostapathy 3y ago
    Not with newer openers - they speak a serial protocol to the opener.
    • alistairSH 3y ago
      Oh wow, what a pain in the butt.
• unixhero 3y ago
  Great to know which vendor I will NOT be buying from.
• tecleandor 3y ago
  There's a key point on the data-mining-cloud-only route Chamberlain is taking: they were acquired by Blackstone a couple years ago [1], so not "family owned" anymore [2]. No doubt they want to exploit that data and begin integration with all their shady Real State business [3]. Their new CTO/Executive VP says in one of their PR news: "With Blackstone’s partnership, we will capitalize on new market opportunities". And a Senior Management Director says "...unique opportunity to build on its leadership position at the center of housing and e-commerce megatrends (...) expansion into connected homes, businesses and communities" [4]. Very alarming in times that big owners are trying also to force biometric data collection in their buildings (see Atlantic Plaza Towers) or are blindly giving information to agencies (see Amazon Ring cameras and the likes). Now, the rant: Of course, with one hand the CEO is donating to buy his name in institutions: "There is a Stephen Schwarzman building at the New York Public Library, a Schwarzman centre at Yale University and the Schwarzman College of Computing in Massachusetts. Soon, the University of Oxford will open the Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, funded by the largest single donation it has ever received." [5] and the other is receiving billions from universities like UC to speculate in real state [6]. One would say it's curious how Schwarzman creates a huge publicity stunt with "biggest single donation 'since the Renaissance'" (£150m) [7], but why would be important to donate to Oxford, when they have almost £8b in endowments... [8] 1: https://www.blackstone.com/news/press/the-duchossois-group-completes-saleof-chamberlain-group-to-blackstone/ 2: https://www.wsj.com/articles/blackstone-to-buy-chamberlain-group-11631019601 3: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/26/blackstone-group-accused-global-housing-crisis-un 4: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chamberlain-group-adds-top-tech-leader-dan-phillips-as-cto-to-accelerate-companys-technology-transformation-301744538.html 5: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/sep/29/blackstone-rebellion-how-one-country-worlds-biggest-commercial-landlord-denmark 6: https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2023-01-20/university-california-blackstone-real-estate-fund-housing-prices 7: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/jun/19/oxford-receive-biggest-single-donation-stephen-schwarzman 8: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_universities_in_the_United_Kingdom_by_endowment#Endowments_over_%C2%A31_billion
• acjohnson55 3y ago
  I own a MyQ garage door opener and this is infuriating. We would be so much further along in home automation if companies were mandated to produce interoperable devices. Every appliance should expose its controls, events, and state in a standardized manner. I don't know what such a mandate would look like. I just know that we're at least a decade behind where we should be because the market isn't getting it done.
• sarchertech 3y ago
  Any IOT device that requires the cloud for functionality is a trap. I bought a Miku baby monitor specifically because of the 2 devices that offered a feature I wanted, Miku had no subscription fees. And they advertised that they never would. It cost $400. Then they went bankrupt and during bankruptcy they sent out a proposal to start charging for previously free features. Then they retracted that proposal. Not sure if the judge shut that down, or what happened. But then they sold to a company conveniently created the day of the sale. Within a month the new company forced out an over the air update that disabled most functionality until you pay them $10 a month (they went bankrupt in the first place because they did a normal over the air firmware update that bricked every single unit and had to replace them all). Last time I checked they were still being advertised on Amazon as being subscription free. Honestly I think we need regulation to force companies to purchase a bond to provide basic security and support for any IOT devices they sell for some number of years from the purchase date. I don’t see any sign of the market solving this anytime soon.
  • cogman10 3y ago
    Sounds like bait and switch to me, which is illegal. You can report this action to the ftc https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/ https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/
    • mindslight 3y ago
      Especially that it was a new company deliberately disabling the devices, it sounds like a straightforward criminal CFAA violation. Of course, such laws are really only for persecuting little guys doing uppity things like trying to make scientific knowledge available to the public. Even if you could convince any six-degrees-of-golf-buddies prosecutor to take the case, I'm sure the malicious crackers have some fake contract to hide behind that claims a transferable right to remotely destroy your property.
      • teachrdan 3y ago
        I wonder if you could take them to small claims court. That's a potentially useful remedy, although pretty much everywhere, if they lose in small claims they can appeal it to regular civil court and make it prohibitively expensive to fight them.
• ajsnigrutin 3y ago
  We have nutriscore labels, excessive sugar labels, "smoking kills" labels... Why not "This device does not support local cloudless control" and "This device does not allow 3rd party software access" labels too Garage opener is a 10+ year device, expecting the company/cloud service to survive for that long and still be supported is too optimistic, but local control will still be usable, even if some 'adjustments' are needed.
• hennell 3y ago
  I'm not clear if people are really replacing a physical something here, but if you have an old smart home device which sucks, be sure to put it up on online marketplaces. List it cheep along with a warts and all discussion of it's problems. Means less waste as there's always someone who'll want it, people who are looking for the product hear about the limits upfront, and the company actually gets a real loss from you leaving (assuming it sells to someone who might have bought a new one). Plus it's fun to try to convince enquirers why they shouldn't buy your item
• macNchz 3y ago
  Honestly smart features in large/permanent appliances is something I explicitly avoid these days. The majority of smart home products I’ve bought over the last ten years have been somewhat disappointing if not outright rage inducing. I don’t want that in something that is difficult or expensive to replace. I sort of have to assume in the case of large appliances that the manufacturer will drop support for it well before I want to replace it, and that if there is any sort of functionality fully gated behind an app, that it will become unusable to me at some point when I reset my phone and discover they’ve unpublished the app from the store. I’d much rather buy a dumb garage door opener and bolt on that ratgd device mentioned in this post, than be beholden to the manufacturer’s whims and invariably godawful garbage horrible no-good app.
• novakinblood 3y ago
  I felt silly at first complaining to my wife I couldn’t get myQ working again, thinking I did something wrong after adding an automation. We tried to open the door (remote via hass) for my son when he got home but it didn’t work. Obviously it was something I did?(nope) Then I watched the discussion on discord and realized I’m not alone albeit still a small percentage. Then I see this as top post on hn. It’s frustrating to have a company do this. I don’t agree with their choice. Plus forcing you to see ads whenever you open or close the door is Orwellian. Now I need to somehow sell this device on eBay with hopes a large percentage still wants it.
  • bonestamp2 3y ago
    It does suck, but can you still use it remotely via the myQ app?
    • chewmieser 3y ago
      MyQ app should work fine. Just not the API integration to MyQ.
      • EMIRELADERO 3y ago
        Couldn't people do some reverse-engineering to figure out the first-party protocol and impersonate the official app in the API integration?
        • AJayWalker 3y ago
          AFAIK yes, but to quote the article (which quotes the maintainer of the MyQ integration, Lash-L [0]), “We are playing a game of cat and mouse with MyQ and right now it looks like the cat is winning” [0] https://github.com/Lash-L https://github.com/Lash-L
        • saagarjha 3y ago
          Yes, that's what they've done. The problem is that myQ keeps trying to fingerprint the device to check if the requests are coming from a real app before offering service.
• tempaway334751 3y ago
  Chamberlain sound like dicks but to be fair, when we're talking about remotely opening doors that give access to people's houses, it seems fair enough IN PRINCIPLE for them to restrict access to the API to 'partners' and for them to have some sort of payment and maybe even approval process around who becomes a 'partner'. Obviously that sucks for open-source projects that can't afford to pay up. But it seems fair enough to put some payments or approval processes in the way here.
  • kzemek 3y ago
    And why does it seem fair enough? The garage door is mine, not Chamberlain's (although that starts to be more and more debatable the farther into enshittification we go).
• spandextwins 3y ago
  +1 home assistant -1 Chamberlain
• emilecantin 3y ago
  Having been impacted by something similar (company changing their cloud and breaking my HA integration), I think that when companies do this, the least they could do is offer refunds/buy-back to impacted customers. In my case, I bought a slightly-inferior product specifically for its HA integration; now that it's broken it's just an inferior product...
• chewmieser 3y ago
  I use HomeBridge but have also been noticing connectivity issues recently. Just ordered two of those Ratgdo devices, thanks. Sounds like a better solution anyway.
• oskapt 3y ago
  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 stop using the product is fluff. I ran into the MyQ API problem with Homebridge a couple weeks ago, and I bought a unit from Meross that integrates directly with Apple HomeKit. I still have the MyQ installed because I _need_ it for Amazon deliveries. Yes, all the fury about ads and user hostility and probable polling requiring extra resources with no recompense is correct and justified. But at the end of the day, Chamberlain doesn’t care if they piss us off. They get all their money from the same people who think their phone screen is _supposed_ to be covered in ads on every page they visit, and they likely get TONS of money from Amazon.
  • ryukafalz 3y ago
    > 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. Would be nice if this functionality could work with arbitrary openers via webhooks. You could even have a fancy auth flow that you trigger from your smart home dashboard so users don't have to know or care how it's implemented under the hood.
  • lock-the-spock 3y ago
    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...
• WirelessGigabit 3y ago
  The reason they caused that much traffic is because Home-Assistant has no other way of finding out the status. If only there was a LOCAL way. But I can't poll the device locally. I can't send it commands.
  • lvh 3y ago
    Good news: you can now, I just installed it and it was easy and fun. https://github.com/PaulWieland/ratgdo https://github.com/PaulWieland/ratgdo But it is external to the device, you're right :) And for some crazy reason this guy is getting a lot of orders recently ;)
    • jermanoid 3y ago
      Of all the options we have, the RatGDO is the only one that taps into the serial connection to the Garage Door and circumvents the "security+" marketing gimmick. With it you get access to all the door metrics/controls. Door State, Door Position, Wireless Remote Lock/Unlock, Obstruction Status, Light Status. So you don't need any extra sensors and wires dangling around. To each their own. The other options seem to work great for most people. But RatGDO will work best for me (And they arrive tomorrow. Stoked). I want to know exactly when my door starts to open. Not 10 seconds later when the tilt or reed sensors are triggered, because I want my exterior lights to come on immediately and voice notifications to not be delayed. Also I want to lock my wireless remotes out at night and when I'm away because my wife uses her garage for projects and parks outside with her remote in the car. Lastly I want something that appears the least messy. My only minor concern is Chaimberland would somehow try and gimp this solution with a firmware update. My initial thoughts were that they would probably break the wall buttons in everyone's homes. I still don't believe they have the ability to update the wall button firmware to work with any changes to the software in the motor. Everyone started echoing that after I made an assumption about it, but I'm not 100% certain if it's the case or not. Alas it doesn't matter because I'm disconnecting my doors themselves from wifi, unpairing them from MyQ and deleting my account once my RatGDOs are wired up.
• XorNot 3y ago
  LOL. I have Chamberlain garage doors, and paid $30 for an Athom ESPhome preflash kit that includes a box, power supply and reed switches. Works great. If there's one thing I'm dedicated to now, it's that all of these custom cloud IoT things are transient user hostile junk. If it's not open source and in my control, then it's not mine.
• egberts1 3y ago
  That's why all of my installed IoT devices are either custom-firmwared or can be as well as configured to be not "dialing home" to some nosey data collection and aggregation center.
• tibbon 3y ago
  Could there be a suit against them over this? I bought one explicitly for home automation, and it seems them disabling it turns that into some sort of false advertising
• dannytrigo 3y ago
  Received my ratgdo yesterday and uninstalled the myq app. They won’t be getting any more traffic from me
• bradyholt 3y ago
  I surmise part of the reason they did this is to protect revenue from "authorized" partners. I'm sure these partners are not happy paying money to Chamberlain so their customers have access to myQ while other unauthorized partners get free access.
• nunez 3y ago
  I wrote the below in another post on this topic: They never technically allowed it in the first place. Homebridge and Home Assistant used a popular Python library that reverse-engineered the MyQ API from the Android app. Many companies couldn't care less until abuse ramps up, but given that Chamberlain (Blackstone-owned) has gone into rent-seeking mode all of a sudden (or an incident happened that they won't disclose but prompted them to take a hard look at this), they decided to turn the Cloudflare Super Bot Fight stuff way the hell up on their OIDC token exchange endpoint (you can still request auth codes). I decided to abandon trying to get MyQ to work with Home Assistant (it would have required hours of trying to figure out what combination of headers would have passed the CF checkpoint) and ended up getting a Meross Smart Opener. It was shockingly easy to install (plug the relay device into the same pinouts that your wall door opener uses) and works even better than MyQ (in that you won't get a weird "close error" that prevents you from operating your door that not even MyQ customer service will clear) --- I still use and recommend MyQ, however. The Amazon Key and Tesla integrations work great. If they had previously allowed API access but then rescinded it in favor of "providing a better experience" like Reddit is doing, then I'd feel differently. In this case, however, it feels like we took advantage of a backdoor for a long time and the club decided to finally put a lock on it. Shitty, but reasonable. The next big one to watch out for is Ring. Ring does not (will not?) support HomeKit. Lots of folks (myself included) have resorted to using Homebridge or Home Assistant as an alternative. Both are using a library that reverse-engineered Ring's API (though Ring engineers supposedly contributed to it). While the Homebridge plugin simply exposes device statuses and metrics and RTSP feeds for the cameras, Koush's scrypted NVR platform enables HomeKit Secure Recording for the cameras, which allows more adventurous users to skip paying for Ring Protect ($10/mo) While I get a lot of value from Ring Protect and will continue to pay it, I really hope Ring doesn't decide to "improve the user experience" for us like Chamberlain did. I'd be really sad if that happens, since HomeKit is amazing and is much better than having a million apps on my phone that don't talk to each other.
  • nfriedly 3y ago
    > Many companies couldn't care less until abuse ramps up I think "abuse" is the wrong word here. I'm just trying to automate my garage door. If there was a way to do that over my local network, without touching their servers, then they'd never see any traffic from me.
• aurizon 3y ago
  Burglar App:- Drive up, open door, drive in, close door, load up, open door, drive out, close door = clean getaway. Advertise to burglars at top of screen....
• 404mm 3y ago
  I don’t understand how the MyQ app has such a high rating in the App Store. 4.8, 1.5M reviews. It’s so bare bones, no shortcut support, (obviously) no HomeKit, no widget, literally nothing to make the use easier or more convenient. To make things even worse, first position above you devices is an ad (for their other devices) and it periodically suggests that I connect it to Amazon so some random people delivering packages have the power to enter my home. Genuine question, how?????
  • skywhopper 3y ago
    Fake reviews.
    • water-data-dude 3y ago
      That’s my suspicion with Philips Hue’s 4.6 rating on the iOS App Store. They’ve got to have gamed the system somehow - it’s not a good app, and their “you need an account now…for reasons” change is unpopular
  • koyote 3y ago
    It only has 3.9 on Google's store, but maybe that version is even worse?
  • philomath_mn 3y ago
    There is a button that reliably opens and closes my garage door and it also gives me an accurate door state. So it is a 4 or a 5 for basic users like myself
    • 404mm 3y ago
      I see your point and I don’t disagree with you on that. It was reliable for me as well. My ultimate wish is to have only one of these apps (ie. the Home app) so I can control all devices.
• tgtweak 3y ago
  The solution seems pretty clear - buy a 3rd party opener OR use a different vendor that does play nice. I have a meross garage door opener that uses homelink (a standard that virtually ever garage door opener supports) to open/close the garage door with a sensor on the top of the door to detect when it's open and closed. It was $49. That's cheaper than myQ addons for chamberlain. It works with google home, ifttt and home assistant. (I have reminders set if the door is open for more than X minutes and if it is still open after a certain time of day). Having to have "yet another app" (myQ) installed just to use a garage door is pretty ridiculous - if you're a power user you should understand the folly of using unofficial integrations and as an unofficial integration provider you should know you're walking on ice.
• throwanem 3y ago
  Wait. People bought and installed garage doors that need to talk to the Internet to work? People on here did this?
  • achandlerwhite 3y ago
    They can still work the old fashioned way. But not the fancy stuff.
    • throwanem 3y ago
      But they're just actuated by radio signaling with some standard protocols, right? I mean, I don't have a garage and in this city probably never will, but my car still came from the factory garage-door controls built into the rear-view mirror. I assume it would take a bit of configuration to work with any given receiver, but I also infer it would work with most, otherwise they wouldn't have built it that way. Is it hard to find an "IR blaster" equivalent for this kind of signaling? I'm just bewildered to understand why someone with the focus on self-hosted infrastructure that Home Assistant implies can still end up in a position where a third-party API restriction can pose a problem in controlling a locally installed device.
  • mbesto 3y ago
    You don't have a choice...all of the major garage doors are supplied by one company (Chamberlin Group)
    • throwanem 3y ago
      Ugh. Maybe I'm not too sorry not to have a garage - the workshop space would be nice, but a basement suffices, and at least parking where I do I can trust the street won't stop working.
• xyst 3y ago
  Chamberlain Group products now officially on my blacklist. They join the ranks of Rivian, Tesla, any QVC marketed product, and social media (IG, FB, TT, …) marketed junk.
• davitocan 3y ago
  https://paulwieland.github.io/ratgdo/ https://paulwieland.github.io/ratgdo/ is a home assistant compatible board that emulates a garage door opener. It adds local control and is easy to setup.
• siffland 3y ago
  You would think a company would like to negotiate and be seen by a community as a positive company. I would not buy a product from them on principal after their statement. myQ could have engaged the home assistant maintainer and worked out, less API calls or something. On a side note, i do love my home assistant, but ANYTHING that has to do with entry into my house is not and will not be automated, garage doors, door locks, etc. However that is my personal paranoia talking.
• klinquist 3y ago
  I've had nothing but bad experiences with Chamberlain in IoT integration discussions. I have since replaced all garage door openers I own with Genie/OHD.
• ryukafalz 3y ago
  I'm in the market for a garage door opener, incidentally. This narrows down my options, so glad I hadn't bought one yet - there's a chance I might have ended up with a Chamberlain if I had. Out of the question now!
• codezero 3y ago
  I’m recently in the market for a garage door opener I can automate (specifically close automatically after X time open) - does anyone have recommendations or is ratgdo the way to go? Also I understand one of the reasons this isn’t a standard offering is because garage openers have a hard time not crushing things? Kind of surprised me.
• mattgreenrocks 3y ago
  It's hard to emphasize how different the mindset of the late 2000s Internet is to nowadays. APIs were more readily available and open. Mashups were usually encouraged, so long as you didn't generate undue stress. Nowadays its a million tiny business silos hoarding tediously-obscure-but-still-sometimes-useful data. And you have to prove that what you want to do with the API doesn't infringe on their ability to capitalize on it better. The irony is that all the data is way more easily accessible from a technical POV now due to the prevalence of SPAs and REST, but the legal environment is significantly more dangerous.
• eddiezane 3y ago
  I never bothered with the myQ bit and instead sacrificed one of the garage door opener remotes by wiring the button up to a relay (z-wave by Zooz) that I zip tied to the scaffold. It's worked great for the past 4 years in Home Assistant.
• ChainOfFools 3y ago
  I highly recommend anyone having problems with this consider trying this free as in speech (and as in beer if you've got solderimg skills and an ESP laying around) solution: RatGDO [0] 40 bucks, HA, and about half an hour each (mostly fiddling with the ESP/shield pcb wiring inside the light cover of the opener from the awkward overhead-on-a-ladder position) for me to no-cloud smartify two chamberlain MyQ openers. Special sauce is that the device can MITM the "Security2.0+" signal and emulate the discrete functions of the wired wall remote, not just act as a dry contact relay on the motor. Result is that separate entities are created not just for the door open(ing)-clos(ing) states, but also for the obstruction sensor and a separate switch to turn the opener's light on or off remotely, all exposed (as MQTT topics) in HA. [0] https://github.com/PaulWieland/ratgdo https://github.com/PaulWieland/ratgdo
  • barroomhero 3y ago
    I think I have everything needed lying around in spare parts. Know of a guide for install? I tried building something similar years ago but got stuck on the software.
    • ChainOfFools 3y ago
      You may actually need a little bit of extra information to replicate a handful of traces (i.e.on breadbpard) present on the little PCB that the ratgdo software relies on to interface the espressif to the terminals of your opener. It's not terribly complicated but for reasons that are polarizing to many in the garage-door-automation society, the author of the software, although leaving the code completely open source is averse to publishing schematics for the PCB board itself, so others have had to step in and reverse engineer these. It appears that this project has gone from a very minor side hobby an actual business for the author, and the PCB schematics are pretty much the only IP moat he has, without them he's just providing a very easily (and cheaply) replicated PCB assembly service. I believe, although I have not verified because I haven't tried this myself, that this site provides both the schematics you need as well as information necessary to Flash the software onto your ESP device. https://github.com/Kaldek/rat-ratgdo/tree/main https://github.com/Kaldek/rat-ratgdo/tree/main
• ChrisArchitect 3y ago
  [dupe] More discussion over here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38186303 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38186303
• paulgerhardt 3y ago
  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 does both with the MyQ cameras and with the garage access program to partners like Amazon and Walmart. Both retailers have a fraud problem (discussed here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38176891 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38176891). “In garage delivery” promises dropping delivery fraud to zero - ie users falsely claiming package theft. That solution is worth millions to retailers, naturally Chamberlain would like a cut but only if they can successfully defend that chokepoint. For historical reasons having to do with the security of three or four generations of wireless protocols used in garage doors they can’t (and products like ratgdo and OpenSesame exploit this.) Other industries such as automotive have a more secure chain of control over their encryption keys so one has to (for instance) go to the dealer to buy a replacement key fob for your Tesla for $300 and not eBay for $5. Given the turnover in leadership there I’m not surprised the new guy needs to put their hand on the plate to see it’s hot, but there’s a reason this wasn’t implemented before and it wasn’t because of lack of discussion. I can see the temptation in going for monetization given their market share but I think this approach was ill conceived rather than fix foundational issues which would allow home users to integrate with 3rd party services and still charge industry partners for reducing incidences of fraud.
  • whoopdedo 3y ago
    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.
    • traviswingo 3y ago
      True. Delivery drivers consistently deliver to my neighbor instead of myself. The last three digits of our addresses are 885 and 855, and they consistently confuse the two. They’re tired, overworked, underpaid, and I honestly don’t blame them. But I wouldn’t trust anyone in my garage/home when I’m not home. Not sure why these companies think that will actually work.
• alhirzel 3y ago
  I wonder if there is a device that just taps into the open/close wires, with a sensor that will optically detect the distance along the track of the highest roller of the door, and attaches magnetically to the track. This solution would have first-class home assistant support and work across all door openers. ratgdo[1] is close. [1]: https://paulwieland.github.io/ratgdo/ https://paulwieland.github.io/ratgdo/
  • TrisMcC 3y ago
    I use opengarage. https://opengarage.io/ https://opengarage.io/
    • alhirzel 3y ago
      Nice! Thanks for pointing their project out.
• jqpabc123 3y ago
  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.
• m4tthumphrey 3y ago
  Not sure if related or not but I literally just an email informing me that Hive will remove their IFTT integration next month…
• tkems 3y ago
  A gentle reminder that the Security+ and Security+ 2.0 RF protocols have been reverse engineered (https://github.com/argilo/secplus 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.
• throwaway14356 3y ago
  I had this vision long ago with household appliances (from different vendors) waging war in our homes. Looks like we've finally made it there.
• vel0city 3y ago
  I had a Z-Wave garage door opener which was wired to my old garage door opener's button switch port. The old unit's logic board started having issues, so I went ahead and replaced it with a cheap Chamberlain. I got the most basic unit thinking the one-button opener would be a basic switch style like old, but alas it is still some kind of serial connection. The Z-Wave controller can't effectively signal to it, but since it has a basic tilt sensor it can at least open the door state. I'm thinking I'll just get a cheap garage door opener remote, solder the trigger pin to the button on the remote, and tape that to the ceiling next to the z-wave controller. Janky, but at least I'll be able to get it functional again to send the command.
• rootusrootus 3y ago
  Sigh. I'm otherwise perfectly happy with my Liftmaster openers. As long as HomeKit continues to work (and it should; I don't allow the bridge access to the Internet), I'm still happy. I did buy a ratgdo device as a backup, however. And when I buy new openers at some point off in the future, Chamberlain is off the list.
• cdchn 3y ago
  Not at all surprising to me. Recently I got 3 new LiftMaster garage door openers with the built in cameras. Over the course of a few months the HomeLink connection to the box supplied remotes stopped working, never worked syncing to (multiple) HomeLink transmitters in vehicles, and the installer cited "supply chain issues" when I wanted a replacement. The only thing that worked was the MyQ app which was less good than just pushing the button. And of course the video for the cameras only worked with a damn SUBSCRIPTION after 30 days with no way to integrate them with a networked DVR system. Just one of the most awful customer hostile products I've ever wasted money on.
• matthewmcg 3y ago
  They can lock you out of the API, but they can't stop you from installing hardwired devices that simulate a press of the open/close button. I just chucked my MyQ device and replaced it with a Meross MSG100HK--it works perfectly and natively with HomeKit--no cloud service required. Incidentally, the latency is much lower too. The device is basically a wifi-enabled, USB powered "dry contact" switch. You connect the pigtail in parallel with your existing wired open/close button. There's also a magnetic sensor (similar to what old door alarms used) that goes near the door to verify it has closed.
  • js2 3y ago
    That Meross opener is rock solid. I've had one for almost two years now controlling two doors. Even with a marginal wifi signal it always just works. Homebridge + HomeKit is also an excellent middle ground between Home Assistant and HomeKit alone w/o having to go with some cloud-based solution. For example, I wanted my garage door to automatically open and close as I leave and arrive in my car. Here's how I did that. I have a pair of dummy switches in Homebridge. One of those tracks the state of whether my phone is in CarPlay mode or not. I do this with a Siri Shortcut on my phone that toggles the "CarPlay status" dummy switch when my phone enters/exits CarPlay mode. The second dummy switch triggers my garage door to open/close whenever the dummy switch turns on/off. This is a work-around for the opener itself being a secure accessory which HomeKit won't operate w/o the phone being unlocked. The last piece of the puzzle is a HomeKit location-based automation: if my phone leaves my home location and the "CarPlay status" dummy switch is on, then set the garage door dummy switch to off; if my phone enters my home location and the "CarPlay status" dummy switch is on, then set the garage door dummy switch to on. I drew the home location as tight as possible around my home. The door opens just as I'm pulling up to my home and I see it close just as I'm leaving. As to why I don't just use the CarPlay garage door button: I mean, why automate anything? Also, if you have multiple garage doors, there seems to be no rhyme or reason to which door CarPlay gives you the button for. As to why I don't just use the button on my rear view mirror: Again, why automate anything? My mirror also has 3 buttons and it's easy to accidentally press the wrong one.
• chris_wot 3y ago
  The ratgdo says it work with “dry contact”… what does that mean?
  • scottlamb 3y ago
    "Dry contact" is what a button does—connect two leads together when it's being pressed, otherwise not. Older garage doors simply have a pair of wires for this that gets run to where you mount the button on the wall. You can just splice into that and have the microcontroller connect them when it wants to open/close. I thought all garage doors had this, but from ratgdo's website I learned that the newer Security+ 2.0 ones don't. Possibly as part of the same money grab to prevent local/third-party; paulgerhardt's comment nicely explains the motivation for that. [1] [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38191712 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38191712
• nfriedly 3y ago
  I have one of these garage door openers, and their MyQ software is absolute garbage. I set up Home Assistant specifically to avoid it and now they've gone out of their way to break that. I' absolutely pissed - I just called the folks who installed my garage door and explained the situation to them, and recommended that they look for a different brand for anyone that wants wi-fi access in the future.
• efitz 3y ago
  I wish I had known about ratgdo a few months ago. I spent a month trying to get a Meross smart garage door opener add on to work with the chamberlain that was already in my home, only to realize that the button was using some kind of obfuscated signaling, not just connecting the circuit. I ended up soldering a pair of wires to the button on the board in the button unit, and then connected my smart home stuff to those wires; worked like a champ. F** you Chamberlain; try blocking that.
• YaBa 3y ago
  I usually check up compatibility with Home Assistant and if the service is cloud or if it can work locally. If both check, they have a new customer, otherwise, there are plenty of brands and products out there. Protest with your wallet, buy from others, the sooner the hardware companies realize this is a stupid move (locking down), the sooner we'll have better integrations.
• dburkland 3y ago
  This move by Chamberlain screams malice in order to squeeze more profits out of their platform. Either they come out with homekit integration for their existing hub or I'm ripping them out in favor of something like meross.
• snapetom 3y ago
  This is rich. HA, with their own history of shutting out other open source projects, complains about being shut out of a proprietary product. https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/126326 https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/126326
• nkrisc 3y ago
  Now my setup of a Wemos D1 Mini with a relay to simulate a button press on the dumb wall mounted opener of my Chamberlain system doesn’t seem so bad. Even have sensors at either end of the track to tell the state of the door (open, closed, neither open nor closed but possibly anywhere).
• fennecfoxy 3y ago
  Why even buy a product like this anyway? Aren't there plenty of "dumb" smart garage door openers? Aren't there plenty of great stand alone garage door openers that you can wire a smart relay or whatever into? From what I can see there are plenty of "wifi garage door adaptor" options and everything looks to have pretty standard wiring, it's only not "plug and play" cause it's bare wires rather than plugs but it's essentially the same.
  • rootusrootus 3y ago
    > Why even buy a product like this anyway? It's more like 'why not?'. It's still a dumb opener with a physical button and wireless remotes, and all the same third-party tricks work the same. A nice thing about tight integration is that you don't need a bunch of extra wiring and a kludge to figure out door status. Minor annoyance, but real. In any case, I'd wager a fair number of the people complaining about this don't even have the newer 'smart' openers, they have the original MyQ Internet Gateway or the newer MyQ Home Bridge. Liftmasters have been a very popular opener for decades.
• lowbloodsugar 3y ago
  What brands are not owned by chamberlain then?
• lxe 3y ago
  Why hasn't a non-crappy iot/smart hardware line and ecosystem emerged after years and years of "internet of shit" catastrophes such as this one? So many angry users are a market ripe for capturing, aren't they? Or maybe there aren't as many angry ones as it seems, and it's just a small portion of power users?
  • sedatk 3y ago
    Ubiquiti is one, but they’re mostly enterprise oriented.
  • pkulak 3y ago
    ZWave. It a closed system, with hardware licensing, all that stuff. But it offers local control, at all times, exclusively. Zigbee is the fully-open version, but as such it's not a "hardware line" like ZWave is.
  • rootusrootus 3y ago
    > just a small portion of power users? It is exactly this. Average Joe just downloads the MyQ app for remote control. Or uses Wyze, or Tapo, Kasa, etc, for whatever they buy. The number of people trying to get everything integrated into a single environment like Home Assistant is low. Which makes sense, because HA is a pain in the ass if you're not already technically inclined. Regular folks just don't have any appetite to deal with that.
  • Forge36 3y ago
    Some have, I'm using opengarage[1] I'm not big on DIY hardware. This has made the "pre-packaged" solution around an open standard nice. Integration within HA was very straightforward. [1]: https://opensprinkler.com/product/opengarage/ https://opensprinkler.com/product/opengarage/
• scottlamb 3y ago
  ratgdo looks really nice! I've been controlling my garage door via dry contact on my Elk security system [1] and monitoring the door status via a separate rolling door reed sensor. [2] But from following the ratgdo link, I learned that my "Security+ 1.0" garage door opener has a RS-232 interface with a protocol that will tell you about door status and obstructions. That's better! I just clicked ratgdo's buy link to support the nice, well-documented open-source [3] project. In truth though I have the right hardware sitting around here already, so I might just use that depending on how long the "back ordered" status lasts... [1] There's a Home Assistant integration for the Elk M1 Gold with some Python library; I also have my own WIP Rust library for interacting with it here: <https://github.com/scottlamb/elkm1 https://github.com/scottlamb/elkm1> [2] something like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Gebildet-Security-Rolling-Magnetic-Applications/dp/B0B96QRP6X https://www.amazon.com/Gebildet-Security-Rolling-Magnetic-Ap... [3] docs at <https://paulwieland.github.io/ratgdo/ https://paulwieland.github.io/ratgdo/> but the actual code is in a separate repo at <https://github.com/ratgdo/esphome-ratgdo https://github.com/ratgdo/esphome-ratgdo>
  • jaredhobbs 3y ago
    Here's a project I used to build my own ratgdo: https://github.com/Kaldek/rat-ratgdo https://github.com/Kaldek/rat-ratgdo
• thedangler 3y ago
  I don’t understand why I can say if my garage door is open longer than 10 minutes between these hours close The door. If someone leaves it open over night. Or during the working day. I have about 20 schedules to close the door lol
• benced 3y ago
  I installed Tailwind for my parents (it’s a little module that plugs into the motorized unit which allows the motorized unit to stay dumb) and it’s been flawless. Good app and good integration with smart services. I haven’t used their Home Asssistant integration but I can confirm their local control API works and I see that a HA integration exists. Tailwind is my model for what all smart home stuff should be.
• mkasberg 3y ago
  Most important quote: > Buy products that work locally and won’t stop functioning when management wants an additional revenue stream.
• xattt 3y ago
  Is the 10,000,000 user figure accurate? A quick Google search shows there were approximately 144 million homes in the US. Do wifi door openers really have 1% total home penetration?
• joe_blow_devops 3y ago
  I have a MyQ on my door. Just use the basic app that came with it and like the notifications / door status. Reading this is the first I've learned about ads in the app (sure enough, I looked and they are there now). This annoys me greatly as if the device bought and paid for isn't enough, so now they get to serve up ads...
• homero 3y ago
  Idk if their API is open but I replaced it with the Genie Aladdin that works much better
• bob1029 3y ago
  I'm in the market for a new door opener, but I can't do the plastic wifi crap anymore. Been looking at some options like this: https://www.grainger.com/product/LIFTMASTER-Commercial-Door-Opener-Trolley-6UR99 https://www.grainger.com/product/LIFTMASTER-Commercial-Door-...
• happytiger 3y ago
  If you don’t own the API you don’t own the product.
• gorkish 3y ago
  I posted a comment here on HN not 60 days ago voicing concerns about Chamberlain MyQ's monetization push and received quite a bit of blowback from others explaining about how I was wrong. HN is quite a fickle place isn't it? Anyway as should be evident I was completely on the money. Sounds to me like it's about time to publish some 3rd party firmware for the hubs/embedded controllers in the openers. Software developers who tolerate implementing consumer-hostile antipatterns all day long tend to be absolute shit at embedded systems security. At the end of the day it's just a garage door opener. The hardware is based on an FN-Link WiFi IOT module with fairly minimal customization. The door sensor is BLE. This shouldn't be too hard to root.
• panki27 3y ago
  Chamberlain... Which security level do you want? 7, 8, 9, 10, or 11 bits? Not sure how the situation is today, but the ones I'm referring to can be brute-forced in a matter of minutes.
• bryanthompson 3y ago
  Of all the IoT contraptions and ecosystems, I hate garage door openers the most. My opener came with some sort of goofy base unit where you can hit the "close door" button and it'll sound an alarm, trigger close, and then the happy little LED shows you that it is indeed, closed. My solution, after looking into every off-the-shelf option, was to take an esp32 running esp32home + Home Assistant and hot wire it to buttons and status LEDs on a remote + base unit and stick it on the shelf in the garage. It's not pretty, but it works reliably.
• SoftTalker 3y ago
  Is there not an open-source alternative to this? A garage door opener can be activated from the inside with a momentary pushbutton switch. It should be trivially easy to have a Raspberry Pi or similar wired in parallel, and have that running some code to enable remote operation by an app or service.
  • hellotheretoday 3y ago
    https://paulwieland.github.io/ratgdo/ https://paulwieland.github.io/ratgdo/
• gtirloni 3y ago
  I bought a free smart switches and haven't implemented snything with them yet. Part of it is because I don't want to actually deploy these things and then be stuck with some crappy proprietary app. Home Assistant looks pretty cool in that regard. Are the device brand that are more adequate for Home Assistant?
• bluSCALE4 3y ago
  Just adding a comment if someone from myQ is keeping count. I'll buy Chamberlain if it's on sale but that's about it.
• crumpled 3y ago
  I had it working with home assistant for a week before they pulled support. Honestly I was always bothered that it used a cloud API at all. The device is right there in my house, on my own wifi. Why should it even phone home if I don't need it to?
• crumpled 3y ago
  Here's the solution for my hardware hacker homies. Buy a regular garage door remote, and wire it to an ESP8266. I'm going to do this for a cloud-free solution.
• WheatMillington 3y ago
  Why do people want their garage door to be connected to the internet?
  • dxf 3y ago
    I can easily see the status of my garage door (open or closed) from anywhere. Solves the problem of "Did I forget to close the garage door?" (and the number of times the answer to that question is "Yes" is > 0). I can open the door from anywhere to let someone in if they've forgotten their keys (times I've done this is > 0). I can enter the house through the garage if I've forgotten my keys (times I've done this is > 0). I have given access to my house to a houseguest without giving them a set of keys to my house; I easily revoked this access when they left.
• makr17 3y ago
  I don't have an automated garage door opener. The only "garage" is as old as our historic house, and is a glorified shed. I would never put a car I cared about in it. That said, I _do_ have an automated gate controller. The installer wanted some insane amount to connect it to wifi. Politely no. An esp32, a couple of relays, some reading in the installation manual about control circuits and a bit of custom code... And now the gate is on local wifi, easily integrated with HA, and nothing opaque about it. Do garage door openers have the same sort of control circuits?
• hnatt 3y ago
  "I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that"
• mackross 3y ago
  I ended up using a servo and 3D printed holder to literally push the button on our clicker. No company is banning that.
• SuperSandro2000 3y ago
  Big middle finger from me to MyQ
• azinman2 3y ago
  They call out ratgo for its ability to speak the protocol and be a full replacement. But I cannot find an installation video to see how to keep my existing button (with its screen and controls) while also installing this. Does anyone have better documentation? I’ve already soldered contacts to a garage door opener to a relay with esphome. That works well, but doesn’t give me as much info as theirs does. I also am at risk of the battery dying.
• dhosek 3y ago
  Capitalism. It’s why we can’t have nice things.
• hnaccountme 3y ago
  Why is this story circulating in HN so much? Its been there every day for about a week