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Is your Gravity a Faraday cage for garage remotes?

electric

electric

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I have to get within a few feet of a gate or garage door to catch the signal from my opener clipped at my visor.
My wife's Chevy with same remote can open it from 100 ft away.
To be clear, I'm not using Homelink for those gate/doors, which is linked to my other home and works great.
I'm using regular Liftmaster remote with a fresh battery, which works from 100ft away if I hold it outside the car window, but is severely diminished when clipped to the visor.
Anyone has the same experience?
 
DeaneG said:
Could be the metallic coatings on the windshield and other glass.
Click to expand...
This would be my guess. Try pressing it through the etched spot to the right of the rear view mirror. If that works, it’s the tint.
 
Yes, the windows are too thick. You have to open the window a bit for the signal to travel farther.

Honestly, I gave up and I use Home Assistant on Android Auto to operate my garage door. It works from anywhere on the planet. :)

I can also say "hey google, open the garage door" and that works too.
 
borski said:
This would be my guess. Try pressing it through the etched spot to the right of the rear view mirror. If that works, it’s the tint.
Click to expand...
Much better if I hold the remote over the etched spot (had no idea it existed until you pointed it out, I can barely see it under certain light angles).
I guess adding more gates to the Homelink is my next option, but that kills the single press on the steering wheel button as I'd have to use the menu to select which door to open.
Geofencing via Home Assistant is another option, but with unknown reliability.
 
mfdutra said:
Yes, the windows are too thick. You have to open the window a bit for the signal to travel farther.

Honestly, I gave up and I use Home Assistant on Android Auto to operate my garage door. It works from anywhere on the planet. :)

I can also say "hey google, open the garage door" and that works too.
Click to expand...
I have a very robust HA instance and currently testing various means of automating gate and garage doors operations, but none are very reliable at the moment.
Do you rely on your car's network connection to register arrival to HA server? If so, my car often loses network connection at the most inconvenient moments.
I'm testing LoRa ESPHome modules to see if transmitter in the car will better penetrate the Faraday cage and ping the gate at a reasonable distance to open.
 
I don't do any automation. I open HA on the car screen and open the garage manually.

I hate unreliable automations.
 
electric said:
I have to get within a few feet of a gate or garage door to catch the signal from my opener clipped at my visor.
My wife's Chevy with same remote can open it from 100 ft away.
To be clear, I'm not using Homelink for those gate/doors, which is linked to my other home and works great.
I'm using regular Liftmaster remote with a fresh battery, which works from 100ft away if I hold it outside the car window, but is severely diminished when clipped to the visor.
Anyone has the same experience?
Click to expand...
Nope. Liftmaster works fine for me from 100 ft away easily within the vehicle.
 
electric said:
I have a very robust HA instance and currently testing various means of automating gate and garage doors operations, but none are very reliable at the moment.
Do you rely on your car's network connection to register arrival to HA server? If so, my car often loses network connection at the most inconvenient moments.
I'm testing LoRa ESPHome modules to see if transmitter in the car will better penetrate the Faraday cage and ping the gate at a reasonable distance to open.
Click to expand...
ratgdo has been unbreakable for me
 
borski said:
ratgdo has been unbreakable for me
Click to expand...
I have ratgdo on all doors and a gate, but it’s a control side, not the trigger side. Opening an app on the phone or CarPlay is too much IMO, I need either single button press or some kind of reliable geofencing. LoRa ESPhome module is promising, currently testing it.
 
electric said:
I have ratgdo on all doors and a gate, but it’s a control side, not the trigger side. Opening an app on the phone or CarPlay is too much IMO, I need either single button press or some kind of reliable geofencing. LoRa ESPhome module is promising, currently testing it.
Click to expand...
I have a LoRa sensor. They work well.
 
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