Our Pick: Tailwind Iq3 Smart Automatic Garage Controller
*At the time of publishing, the price was $60.
The Tailwind iQ3 Smart Automatic Garage Controller delivers the best performance and is the most reliable of all the smart garage-door opener controllers we tested. We attribute that to two features: a hardwired door sensor and a unique Bluetooth/GPS technology that lets you control the door hands-free.
With these two components, Tailwind has successfully solved two of the most common problems weve found with smart garage-door opener controllers: false alerts, and unreliable geofencing for opening and closing your garage door .
The Tailwind iQ3 is compatible with all garage-door openers . And it can operate up to three doors with one controller . In extensive testing over 12 months, the iQ3 worked flawlessly, immediately opening the door as we pulled into our driveway and closing it before we were out of sight. Its the only device that sends alerts to your smartphone telling you who opened or closed the door. And you can set the door to auto-close, if its left open for a set period of time.
The Tailwind iQ3 is compatible with Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant, IFTTT, and Samsung SmartThings, allowing you to open or close the door, query its status, or set up automated routines via their respective apps.
An Intuitive Setup That Requires Wi
In the Chamberlain MyQ Smart Garage Control box, youll find two main pieces of hardware and some extras. What you wont find is a garage door opener, though the MyQ system works alongside your current garage door to make it smart.
The smart hub, which weve been affectionately calling the brain, gets mounted on the ceiling, close to the actual garage door motor. Its a square piece of plastic with technology inside to connect with your garage door, along with some buttons and a power port. Chamberlain didnt hold back on branding with two big logos. The other piece to the puzzle is a door sensor that will live in the bottom corner of the physical garage door. Its much smaller in comparison to the hub and opts for a battery. Its all pretty simple, and Chamberlain includes some mounting tools for an easy installation.
Alongside the physical hardware, youll need the MyQ Garage & Access Control app its available for Android and iOS. The app is the main control panel for both setup and using the MyQ. Youll also need to create an account, and fair warning, it can take a bit to get the confirmation email. That delay in creating our account was the only delay we experienced.
And during setup, get ready to see your garage door make some sudden movements. In our experience, it will raise and lower a few times throughout the process. And when its done, youll be able to control, see a status and even link it with other smart home systems through the app.
How To Pick The Right Smart Garage Door Controller
While garage door openers come in a vast range of brands, styles, and capabilities, the good news is that youll likely be able to find a smart controller that works with your system without much trouble.
As I mentioned above, the Chamberlain myQ is my top pick for a variety of reasons, but because it exclusively relies on wireless technology, it isnt compatible with every system on the market. To start, visit myQs compatibility tool and check whether your existing opener is supported. If it is, and you dont care that its not compatible with Alexa or Samsung SmartThings, your work is done: Get the myQ. If it isnt, you can either get an all-new opener as Chamberlain suggests , or delve into the world of wired smart garage door controllers.
The Nexx NXG-200 must be attached to your garage door opener via wires, and space can be tight depending on your ceiling height.
Actually, upgrading your old, incompatible door opener is not a terrible idea, and new models are more secure and less expensive than you might think. Considering that a wired garage door controller can run you about $100, its worth thinking hard about whether you want to pour more money into an outdated system that might be close to failure, or just upgrade it from the start.
The Garadget fires a laser once a second at the door to determine whether it is open or closed.As with the product from NEXX, the Garadget must be hardwired to your opener.
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Why You Should Trust Us
Ive spent the past four years testing smart garage-door opener controllers and have installed more than a dozen of them in four different garages. Ive been a journalist for 20 years, and I cover smart-home technology for Dwell Magazine, BBC Science Focus, and The Ambient. For Wirecutter, I have spent many, many hours over six years testing dozens of smart-home gadgets, including smart smoke alarms, smart thermostats, smart-home sensors, and smart sprinkler controllers.
A Word About Chamberlain Group Openers With Yellow Learn Buttons
In combing through the opener compatibility information for each of these garage door controllers, I discovered a consistent exception involving garage door openers made by the Chamberlain Group with a yellow learn button. Three of the five controllers I evaluatedincluding the Chamberlain MyQ modeldont work with these openers, which were made by the Chamberlain Group and sold under the Chamberlain, LiftMaster, and Craftsman brands in the U.S. between 2010 and 2021.
The only controllers that will work with these openers are the Meross MSG100 and the Tailwind IQ3 model , which can be purchased with special adapters for these openers. Tailwind includes them at no additional cost.
I reached out to the Chamberlain Group to learn more about this odd group of openers, and a spokesperson told me they use photoelectric sensors with an energy conservation feature where the sensor lights would shut off after the garage door had been closed for some time. The feature has since been removed from all Chamberlain, LiftMaster, and Craftsman openers.
The bottom line: Check first to determine whether the controller you buy is compatible with your garage door opener. To help you do so, Ive included a link to the compatibility checker provided by each brand in their write-ups below.
Editors Choice: Meross MSG100 Smart Wi-Fi Garage Door Opener
Most Compatible: Tailwind IQ3 Smart Automatic Garage Controller Pro
Easiest to Set Up: Chamberlain MyQ-G0401-ES Smart Garage Control
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Smart Starts In The Garage
With the myQ Garage & Access Control App, you’ll always know what’s going on at home, even while you’re away. Let in the dog walker or a repairman. Feel reassured that the kids got home safely. Never wonder if the garage door was left open again. That’s peace of mind, right in the palm of your hand.
How We Chose Which Smart Garage Door Opener Controllers To Evaluate
There are many garage door controllers on the market, ranging in price from about $30 to well over $100. We started by including the controllers made by the two biggest garage door opener brands on the market: Chamberlain and Genie . We then included a few upstarts and budget-focused brands: Meross, Tailwind, and Wyze. The Wyze model in particular stood out to us as one of the first controllers to also include a camera. That means you can visually check to see whether your garage door is closed from anywhere.
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Easy Installation For One Or More Doors
Toms Guide described the setup instructions for MyQ as convoluted. However, Im not sure what they had problems with. I had zero problems setting up the MyQ. In fact, it was really easy. I would go so far as to say that the easy installation is one of the MyQs best features.
With other smart garage door controllers, Ive noticed three installation steps that can be time consuming, difficult, or both:
The design of the MyQ avoids all three of these steps:
How To Use The Chamberlain Myq Smart Garage Hub
via merchant
All you need to set up the Chamberlain MyQ Smart Garage Hub is a compatible garage door opener, a WiFi signal that reaches your garage and a Bluetooth-enabled mobile device.
To get started, install the myQ app and set up an account. The app guides you through installing and connecting your new hub.
Depending on your garage, you might need to mount the door sensor with included screws, base plate and Velcro strips in the garage. Setting it on a work bench or table also works. The only wiring you need is an outlet to plug it in. Once thats done, just launch the app to check the status and control your garage door and lights.
You can set up real-time alerts if you leave your garage door open, as well as notifications whenever it opens and closes. To automate things, set up daily schedules that establish preset times for your garage door to close or the garage lights to turn on and off.
Another cool feature? You can sync the hub with so delivered groceries and packages can be left securely in your garage.
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How Our Picks Compare
Can users opt out of data sharing?
| Tailwind: Yes, by not using some features that rely on location-tracking. |
| Chamberlain / MyQ: Users can unlink accounts with third-party partners or request to opt out of communications with MyQ at any time. |
| Remsol / iSmartGate: No data is shared with third parties. The only data collected is user IP address which is shared with Remsol only for a period of 7 days. |
What data is shared? And are customers notified?
| Tailwind: No data is shared. |
| Chamberlain / MyQ: We do not provide any customer data to any third-party data brokers or similar. If a user links an account to a partner service, data may be shared to deliver the service. |
| Remsol / iSmartGate: No data is shared. |
The Best Amazon User Reviews
Amazon shoppers love how simple the MyQ Smart Garage Hub makes managing the garage door and accessing settings on the go. More than 77,000 reviewers gave it an average of 4.4 stars.
Verified purchaser Penna Guy writes, Awesome WiFi garage opener and very easy to set up! I was up and running in 15 minutes after hooking this up to my 15-year-old Craftsman garage door opener.
Another verified purchaser, Paul J., writes: Super easy, super fast installation. The unit basically works as a remote control for your garage door. Given the cost of the unit is $30 I cannot imagine why you would not buy this.
Verified purchaser Allison writes, I stress about packages sitting on the doorstep, so I was really excited about Amazon Key where they deliver packages inside your garage with the Chamberlain garage door opener. It was very easy to set this up. I followed the instructions in the box to initially get started.
It comes with two parts: a hub which is the brain of the thing that plugs in to an electrical outlet, and a sensor that sticks to the back of your garage door with provided Velcro sticky mounts.
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Sends Out A Warning Before Closing
One minor annoyance I discovered when using the MyQ is that it the garage door doesnt close immediately when you tell it to. Instead, it sends out a five second warning of beeps and flashes before it starts to close.
Some people probably like this safety feature, but I find it somewhat annoying. However, its not really Chamberlains fault. Since the MyQ works wirelessly, it is required by law that the hub flashes and beeps for five seconds before closing.
And in case youre wonderingno, it cant be disabled. Ive seen a few forum posts of DIYers successfully disabling the flashing and beeping, but the five second wait still remains.
Complete Your Experience By Connecting To Myq Compatible Devices And Platforms
The Liftmaster garage door myQ® is compatible with many top-rated devices and platforms to help customers customize their myQ® to interact with their favorite devices. Integrate your myQ® with your favorite smart tools to easily monitor your home systems from one location. Some devices and platforms you can integrate and connect with include:
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A Simple Schedule Goes A Long Way
Most smart products come with some sort of schedule feature. Its such a basic feature that its usually not very useful and not worth mentioning. However, in this case, Ive found its exactly what I need.
Before I had the MyQ, I would say my wife and I combined to leave the garage door open all night about 2-3 times per month.
Luckily, we never had anything stolen. However, we have had:
Since I cant remember to shut my garage door, I bought the MyQ to do it for me, and it works great. I use the MyQ schedule feature to shut my garage door every night at 11pm.
Chamberlain Myq Smart Garage Hub Review
I recently picked up a Chamberlain MyQ smart garage hub during Amazons Prime Day. It was only $30 which seemed like a great deal. After all, some of the big time product review sites list the device as the best smart garage door controller.
After using it for about a month, I dont think its the best one out there, but for the price its hard to beat. I think if youre a casual smart home user looking for a widely compatible device thats easy to install and use, youll be happy with the Chamberlain MyQ.
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Subscription Based Smart Home Integration
The MyQ system includes free integrations with the following services: Amazon Key, Tend, Alarm.com, Wink, XFINITY, Alpine in-vehicle dash system, Clare Controls, Tesla EVE, Honeywell Total Connect.
However, the major integrations for the average smart home user are Google Assistant and Alexa. Why are they not on the free list?
Well, its because Chamberlain has decided they are going to charge a subscription for your MyQ hub to work with Google and IFTTT.
The subscription is only $10/year , but Ill be damned if Im going to pay extra for something that nearly every other smart home product offers for free.
On top of that, their subscription still doesnt support Alexa. Technically, Alexa integration can be achieved if you have IFTTT. But again, IFTTT requires a subscription.
Myq Smart Garage Door Opener Is Only $24 In This Early Black Friday Deal
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Chamberlain is one of the leading brands out there when it comes to garage door openers and controllers. The company has a long history in the industry it has been a part of for 68 years now. Unlike other longtime industry leaders, however, Chamberlain has adapted and changed with the times. All it takes is one look at the MyQ smart garage door opener to see that.
Now, the company has expanded beyond making some of the most popular traditional garage door openers. Its also a leader in this emerging segment of the smart home space. The companys beloved MyQ smart garage opener has been one of our readers favorite smart home gadgets for such a long time.
Today’s Top Deals
Now, theres a hot new version released last year that retails for just $30. Thats definitely a steal considering the original model cost over three times that much when it first launched. A smart garage door controller is a gadget thats often overlooked by people shopping for smart home devices. But thats a mistake.
Once you start using one, youll wonder how you ever lived without it. You have to stand around punching your PIN into a keypad that never seems to work on the first try. Meanwhile, I can open my garage door in an instant with a quick tap on my smartphone!
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Chamberlain Myq Smart Garage Control: Security And Smart Home Compatibility
One of the first steps in setting up the myQ mobile app on your smartphone is that it will require that you set up an account. After you set it up, youre sent a verification email, which requires that you click on a link in the email.
However, the myQ app does not have two-factor authentication on by default. In the security section of the app, there is a section for setting up a passcode, which could make the system more secure, but the setup did not require this.
This system works with quite a number of different smart-home technologies, including Google Assistant, IFTTT, Vivint Smart Home, XFINITY Home, Alpine Audio Connect, Eve for Tesla, and Resideo Total Connect. However, as noted earlier, its still not compatible with Amazon Alexa.
But it does work with , which lets delivery people leave packages inside your garage, to lessen the chance theyll get stolen. The service is free for Amazon Prime members, and youll need authorized shippers to have access to your garage or your car truck in order to successfully make those deliveries to you. But it can give you peace of mind if youre often away from your home and fear that your deliveries might be stolen.