Homelink really this bad?
02-06-2020, 03:10 PM
#16
Banned
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Chicagoland Area
Posts: 26,141
Likes: 0
Received 5,402 Likes
on
2,513 Posts
Originally Posted by B Russ
I tried 3 times to get my remote to sync with my 2017. The car lights flashed as if it accepted the signal but mine has yet to work. I carry one of my spare remotes in the car 
The following 3 users liked this post by LexVan:
02-06-2020, 10:34 PM
#17
Rennlist Member
The first time I programmed my 2017 991 (which was a multi-day effort) I got inconsistent results like you described. A few months later, when the garage door tech was visiting, we did the programming again, and since then Homelink has been reliable. Still not great range, but reliable.
02-07-2020, 02:11 AM
#19
Rennlist Member
Buy something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Hook it up to Alexa or IFTTT and never press a button again.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Hook it up to Alexa or IFTTT and never press a button again.
Dude...you rock. I've got an electric gate to my home and was going to switch out the controller box.
Thanks!
02-07-2020, 02:25 AM
#20
If the device does not work natively, it will work if you hotwire an old controller or just message them and they will send you a free mini-controller. Mine was one that did not work without using the controller so I have used both options and they work great. You can also have it close when you leave if you want to but I have not done that yet. It does send you a phone alert through the app so you can be confident it actually closed while you were heading down the street.
02-07-2020, 03:01 AM
#21
On my '19 C4S, there are times that the opener refuses to work, other times it's fine for long stretches.
I've got two garage doors and the single is an older opener (still works well) with a wireless adapter retrofit. That could be an issue.
Noticed that during cold weather there seem to be more malfunctions.
One other thing, the 911 has the Homelink transmitter behind the front bumper, so it's low to the ground.
Too many variables.
My fall back is to open/close the door with the iPhone app.
I've got two garage doors and the single is an older opener (still works well) with a wireless adapter retrofit. That could be an issue.
Noticed that during cold weather there seem to be more malfunctions.
One other thing, the 911 has the Homelink transmitter behind the front bumper, so it's low to the ground.
Too many variables.
My fall back is to open/close the door with the iPhone app.
The following users liked this post:
Norge911 (02-09-2020)
02-09-2020, 10:26 AM
#23
No issues here.
Here is a pro tip: If you have a typical GDO, go up on a ladder and find what looks like a small wire hanging out of the unit, perhaps 10" long. Make sure the wire is as straight as possible, and pointed to the ground.
If it is not, take a plastic straw, and fish the wire through, then tape the end at the bottom. Point the straw to the ground as best you can.
What this wire is is the antenna for the GDO receiver. It turns out the length of the wire is matched to the frequency of the GDO transmitter. The straighter you can make the wire, and the more you can make it orthogonal to the earth, the greater the "gain" of the antenna and thus the greater range you can typically see in operating your GDO.
Here is a pro tip: If you have a typical GDO, go up on a ladder and find what looks like a small wire hanging out of the unit, perhaps 10" long. Make sure the wire is as straight as possible, and pointed to the ground.
If it is not, take a plastic straw, and fish the wire through, then tape the end at the bottom. Point the straw to the ground as best you can.
What this wire is is the antenna for the GDO receiver. It turns out the length of the wire is matched to the frequency of the GDO transmitter. The straighter you can make the wire, and the more you can make it orthogonal to the earth, the greater the "gain" of the antenna and thus the greater range you can typically see in operating your GDO.
Why it works
Garage door openers typically operate in the 300 to 400 MHz range:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garage_door_opener
What this means is that the wavelength of the radio waves are on the order of
wave length = phase velocity / frequency
For radio, the phase velocity is the speed of light, or approximately 3 x 10^8 m/s.
At 350,000,000 Hz, wave length is thus approximately 80 centimeters.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wavelength
Without going into the Electrical Engineering, a typical low-cost antenna is called a quarter wave dipole, which is matched to wavelenth / 4 in length. This is a fairly cheap design (wire) that works well enough for the application (garage door opener).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dipole_...a#Short_dipole
For our notional 400 MHz system, a quarter wave is about 20 centimeters, or about a foot.
Since the antenna on your garage door opener is tuned to receive these signals, the closer you can get to match the transmitter in terms of signal (quarter wave dipole), the better. The antenna (wire) will work best if it's straight. The plastic straw helps to do that.
The following users liked this post:
S S (02-24-2020)
02-09-2020, 10:31 AM
#24
The steps are: 1) pair GDO opener to car (basically now the car acts like the GDO remote, but the GDO does not "know" the car 2) pair car to Actual GDO (the GDO "learns" about the car.)
Step 2 involves a ladder and moving fairly rapidly. I set up the car outside the garage so the door does not come down on the car (muy importante
). Then I climb up the ladder and hit the "learn" button. Then I scurry to the car and operate the homelink button I paired in step 1. The Garage lights usually blink a few times and the door operates (usually closes, hence make sure the car is out of the way.)
02-09-2020, 10:47 AM
#25
Rennlist Member
I use this, have asked Porsche and LiftMaster (ie sent emails and tweets to their tech department) to include in Apple Car play so I can operate from dash vs phone. Nothing yet.
02-23-2020, 04:52 PM
#26
Banned
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Chicagoland Area
Posts: 26,141
Likes: 0
Received 5,402 Likes
on
2,513 Posts
I extended the length of the garage door antenna by about 15 feet, with 2 lengths of small gauge bell wire. Still haven't tested with the Porsche yet, as it's in hibernation mode. But the LiftMaster fob worked from over a block away. Admittedly, the fobs always worked well. We'll see next month.
****QUICK UPDATE****
I was doing a project on the car today in the garage to take advantage of the 52 degree sunny weather here today. And it appears my antenna extender is working great. Much improved reception and range. I can be further away, and it works, and I only need to push the homelink button once to get the door to move. Happy so far. More testing in March.
02-23-2020, 06:10 PM
#28
Banned
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Chicagoland Area
Posts: 26,141
Likes: 0
Received 5,402 Likes
on
2,513 Posts
I added 2 very-very thin bell wires stripped out of an old length of phone cord. I attached them to the current antenna on the LifeMaster head unit and ran that length (about 10 feet) to the front of the garage door along the ceiling. Then I "T'ed-off" each wire 2.5" at the front garage wall on each side.
The following users liked this post:
sr5959 (02-23-2020)
02-23-2020, 07:03 PM
#30
Banned
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Chicagoland Area
Posts: 26,141
Likes: 0
Received 5,402 Likes
on
2,513 Posts