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My daughter and SIL have house built in the late 70s
Think the garage door opener might be original
Thinking to get him a new one for Christmas
It has single double door probably 7 ft high
Right now there is no outside control which would be helpful for them or for us--who live next door--
Any suggestions for quality unit that will handle one door--
My daughter was looking at a Chamberlain model 1.25 with a wifi feature to connect via phone app and check when door goes up or down...
But someone on Lowe's site posted the router for his wifi system and the garage door app would not stay connected--and he works with IT and still had problems with it...
I have a similar Chamberlain from a garage door installer local company and I have the same issue. It never would connect to my wifi. I was moving up from a broken unit it did not bother me since I was happy enough to not have to raise the door by hand, or actually back and legs.
With the rubber belt drive it is very quiet and was easy to set up for positions.
Location: San Ramon, Seattle, Anchorage, Reykjavik
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The wifi issue, I believe, is due to a weak signal. Most ISP-provided wifi routers are very weak on the best of days. Get a new one or a repeater. Up against the garage ceiling a garage door opener needs full strength. Any less and results will be inconsistent.
I have three Liftmaster 8355 openers in two different houses. Liftmaster is the commercial installer version of Chamberlain. Chamberlain is what's sold retail in Costco, Home Depot, etc. I have had absolutely no issues with the gateway working with either router. One gateway says Chamberlain on it and the other say Liftmaster on it. They are the same and are interchangeable. I also have a higher end Linksys router in each house. If your router has been around for a number of years or it's a $50 cheapo piece of junk, then that's where I would look first. In both cases installation and setup of the gateway was a breeze. But I have used my smartphone app to open the garage doors a number of times without any issue. It's really nice to have when you need to open a door and you're somewhere else.
Chamberlain is fine. I have a WiFi add-on unit (Chamberlain "My Q") ... works "okay" ... It takes hours to days to reconnect after a power intruption. Also I did add a 2nd router in the garage.
Better than nothing and is up 90% of the time ... although I do wish that they would add the ability to hardwire the unit (vs. wifi)
All of the responses regarding the WiFi have been spot-on. I am going to replace my opener (actually move it to the other garage door which has no opener at present) and install a Chamberlain B970 (1.25HP belt-drive) which has built-in WiFi. But first, I need to install an access point out in the garage. I checked the WiFi and it just does not sufficiently penetrate the block walls of the 3-car attached garage even though I have multiple APs in the house. I pulled an ethernet cable through the attic when I did the rest of the house and left it coiled up above the garage ceiling. I am going to install a ceiling-mounted AP in the garage for the opener and so I can stream stuff when I am out there working.
Download the WiFi Analyzer app on an Android phone (I am unaware of an iOS equivalent in the Apple world) and see what kind of signal strength you have in the garage before proceeding with the WiFI-enabled opener.
BTW, I do work in IT and hope I've given you better information than that reviewer on Lowes.com .
My daughter and SIL have house built in the late 70s
Think the garage door opener might be original
Thinking to get him a new one for Christmas
It has single double door probably 7 ft high
Right now there is no outside control which would be helpful for them or for us--who live next door--
Any suggestions for quality unit that will handle one door--
My daughter was looking at a Chamberlain model 1.25 with a wifi feature to connect via phone app and check when door goes up or down...
But someone on Lowe's site posted the router for his wifi system and the garage door app would not stay connected--and he works with IT and still had problems with it...
Get the Chamberlain belt drive. Had a screw drive for 10-years and it shook the bedroom above. This new belt drive is SOOOO quiet! Wish I had changed it years ago. The myQ app works fine. Have demonstrated it to Dad in Florida. Home in Virginia. You can see the status of the door from anywhere to confirm if closed. Very cool.
This is the quietest unit made. It uses a DC drive and the drive acceleration is microprocessor controlled in both directions to minimize vibrations. It is from Germany.
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