Shopping for opener - please enlighten me on MyQ

Posted on
Sat Nov 10, 2018 12:48 am
dduff617 offline
Posts: 659
Joined: Jul 05, 2006
Location: Massachusetts, USA

Shopping for opener - please enlighten me on MyQ

I'm in the market for new garage door opener. I've been using IOLinc to control my old openers and have generally been happy with that system.. I currently have "basic" control and monitoring from home and away with this system.

My IOLincs are functioning, so I would be content to just get a reliable opener and set it up the same way.

I could imagine some improvements in terms of control/monitoring. For example, an API with discrete commands to raise/lower/stop the door (right now I just have one momentary pushbutton control that simulates pushing the button on the remote. I could also imagine better monitoring that indicates door in motion vs. stopped and possibly door position (right now I just have a simple binary sensor that is ON when door is completely closed).


Some questions:
  • Can someone explain to me basically what I can do with this plugin, assuming I get a new Chamberlain/Liftaster opener such as B970?
  • I've seen some discussion online about MyQ requiring a paid subscription -- Is subscription required to experience the full benefits of this plugin?
  • What is the monitoring-side like? Screens on the Chamberlain site make it look like you can actually see when door is moving - is that realistic?
  • Do updates propagate quickly? Is monitoring done via the cloud service or is there direct communication between the opener and the Indigo plugin?
  • What is control-side like? Do you get discrete open/close commands? Is there a stop command? Can I control the light separately?
  • Do MyQ and this plugin work smoothly if I have two openers? Can I have two on same MyQ account?
  • Is there any advantage to using a cloud service like MyQ? (I already control/monitor my old opener remotely just fine via Indigo w/o cloud service).
  • Another unit I'm considering is the Ryobi unit - does anyone have experience with using that with Indigo?

Posted on
Sat Nov 10, 2018 1:49 pm
FlyingDiver offline
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Posts: 7189
Joined: Jun 07, 2014
Location: Southwest Florida, USA

Re: Shopping for opener - please enlighten me on MyQ

dduff617 wrote:
Can someone explain to me basically what I can do with this plugin, assuming I get a new Chamberlain/Liftaster opener such as B970?


You can command the door open or closed. You can query the MyQ servers for the current state of the door. The plugin does NOT communicate directly with the opener.

dduff617 wrote:
I've seen some discussion online about MyQ requiring a paid subscription -- Is subscription required to experience the full benefits of this plugin?


Never heard of that.

dduff617 wrote:
What is the monitoring-side like? Screens on the Chamberlain site make it look like you can actually see when door is moving - is that realistic?


Since the plugin can only poll the MyQ servers every minute or so at best, you're not going to see any in-motion indicator unless the timing is just right. The app shows an animation of the door closing, but I don't think it's actually real-time.


dduff617 wrote:
Do updates propagate quickly? Is monitoring done via the cloud service or is there direct communication between the opener and the Indigo plugin?


Cloud service. You can only poll the servers on rate limited schedule.

dduff617 wrote:
What is control-side like? Do you get discrete open/close commands? Is there a stop command? Can I control the light separately?


Yes to open/close. No to a specific stop command. But if you try to reverse the door while it's in motion I think that actually stops it. Haven't tested that specifically. No, the API the plugin uses does not have light control.

dduff617 wrote:
Do MyQ and this plugin work smoothly if I have two openers? Can I have two on same MyQ account?


Yes, the plugin supports multiple devices per account.

dduff617 wrote:
Is there any advantage to using a cloud service like MyQ? (I already control/monitor my old opener remotely just fine via Indigo w/o cloud service).


It's very hard to control modern openers with relays. The wires going to the openers from the internal wall controllers are no longer simple relay outputs. They actually send the rolling codes over that wire. So using an IOLinc like you do with your old opener means hacking into the button sensor in the wall switch, not just adding the IOLinc to the wire going to the opener.

dduff617 wrote:
Another unit I'm considering is the Ryobi unit - does anyone have experience with using that with Indigo?


I do not.

joe (aka FlyingDiver)
my plugins: http://forums.indigodomo.com/viewforum.php?f=177

Posted on
Sat Nov 10, 2018 6:01 pm
dduff617 offline
Posts: 659
Joined: Jul 05, 2006
Location: Massachusetts, USA

Re: Shopping for opener - please enlighten me on MyQ

Thanks very much, Joe, for the detailed reply.

Using either dynamic DNS or reflector, I can access Indigo on my phone from both within and outside my house. It sounds like my IOLinc-based solution from ~15 yrs ago is still pretty close to state-of-the-art.

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