MYQ "features"
I feel like nobody gave a direct, detailed answer of your original question of why everyone is recommending ratgdo and those who are using ratgdo are pushing against OpenGarage or DIY or other relay based builds.
This is gonna be a long and detailed post, but the tl;dr of this is: every other solution is like a remote button, ratgdo is the only solution that is a true, integrated garage door controller… Read more to understand what that means…
The first thing is its important to understand before proceeding is that all of this is only true for MyQ/Security+ garage doors, which is sold under the brands Chamberlain/Liftmaster/Access Master/Craftsman/Merlin/Grifco (hereinafter Chamberlain). These brands have a marketshare in excess of 75% of all garage doors sold. The next most sold brand is about 10% marketshare, so they have a near monopoly on garage doors. If your garage door doesn't say Security+ or MyQ on it, you gain no benefit by using ratgdo (at least currently), but if its been made in probably the last 15 years, in all likelihood, you do.
Prior to Security+/MyQ being on garage doors, the way pretty much all garage doors worked was they had one button, and this button did everything…. it opened the door, closed the door, and stopped it from moving. Just one button. And every solution other then MyQ and ratgdo basically just simulates this button. But this makes things complicated, because this one button has logic to it:
- If the door is fully opened, then close the door
- If the door is fully closed, then open the door
- If the door is closing, reverse the door and start opening it
- If the door is opening, stop moving the door
- If the door is stopped, move in the opposite direction that it last moved (usually down, but not if the door was stopped by something leaning on it while it was going up!)
This obviously is a weakness. We can't tell the door to open, we can't tell it to close, all we can tell the door is “DO SOMETHING”. Chamberlain realized this, so they developed a proprietary solution called “Security+ 2.0”. When they developed it, they wanted to keep compatibility with the existing wiring to where the garage door button is inside of homes, which was always just a simple button before this., so they developed a proprietary solution where over 2 wires, power is delivered, and the same 2 wires also carry data with an entire interface so you can control every aspect of the garage door opener…. Instead of just having one button to control it like in the past, with this protocol, gave the ability to control every aspect of the garage door opener. Here are all things this protocol can do instead of just being a button:
- Open the door (do nothing if already opened) - Close the door (do nothing if already closed) - Stop moving the door (do nothing if already stopped) - Turn on/off the light (or multiple lights) - Get the current position of the door (including partial positions) - Get the status of the light - Get the status of any motion sensors installed, which the lights can then use to turn off if the area isn't occupied or turn on if it is occupied (optionally) - Get the status of the obstruction sensors to determine if the door can close - Close the door in X seconds if its still opened - Add a remote or external PIN keypad - Delete a remote or keypad - Let you know when each specific remote or keypad was used - Enable/disable the remotes for added security when they shouldn't be used - Show error message if a command has failed with an error code - Show the status of the battery, and if needs replacement for battery backup - Show diagnostic information such as number of cycles for when maintenance is due (you should be spraying the components with lubricant every X cycles) - Adjust settings on how the door operates, which varies per door, but at least including how far the door show open/close, and how much force the motor should use to do so, but also other operator specific features such as soft close.
As you can see, it adds a LOT of really useful stuff. But if your still thinking, why does this matter, this seems more complicated then a simple button and using these other solutions, its really not, because common use cases screw up the use of a button all the time. Thats why I switched from using a locally controlled relay with a tilt sensor and then a reed switch to MyQ, and now to ratgdo. Here's some examples of common things that cause every solution other then MyQ and ratgdo to fail leaving your home insecure:
- Door is stopped partially open, perhaps someone accidentally hit a button twice, or purposely operated the door in that manner
- Two users activate the button at once (which if you have multiple people using it, someone coming out may activate it, and someone coming home may do so accidentally)
- Either the obstruction sensors or an actual obstruction interrupt operation of the door, so when you try to close it, it reopens
- You either need extra wiring or battery powered device to try to figure out the status of the door. Batteries or extra wiring near the track of the door are prone to fail. MyQ and ratgdo use the internal sensors… if they fail, your garage door is not working anyways.
- Different solutions have different logic to try to figure out what the “DO SOMETHING” button will do. They very well could be wrong in their prediction since you have no OPEN or CLOSE command.
Also ratgdo is cheap. The board is $15, the full package with an esp chip, power supply, and wire is $42. These other solutions still need hardware such as a relay and sensors, are likely to cost just as much money, if not more money, but are going to inherently be much less reliable.