Mailbox Notification System for Apartment Complex

Hardware
1

Hello!

I’m facing a bit of a unique challenge and could use some advice. I live in an apartment complex and have a mailbox at the front door. I’m trying to figure out a way to detect when mail has been delivered to my box. Ideally, I’d like to use some sort of sensor (door sensor, light sensor, or anything else suitable) to notify me of new mail.

My initial attempt involved placing a Zigbee sensor inside the mailbox, which fit perfectly. However, I’ve run into an issue with the distance. My apartment is on the third floor, approximately 30 meters away from the mailbox. To complicate matters, it’s not feasible to place repeaters between my apartment and the mailbox, as the space in between consists of my neighbors’ apartments. (I jokingly considered asking the neighbors to host a repeater for me.)

Given the circumstances, I’m looking for a solution that can overcome the distance problem. I wouldn’t mind having to replace batteries every month or two, but I’m concerned that any device capable of maintaining a connection over such a distance would be too large to fit in a mailbox.

Has anyone here dealt with a similar situation or have any recommendations on how to tackle this problem? Any advice on specific devices or innovative solutions would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance for your help!

2

As much as I hate to recommend a cloud dependent device, I think the Yolink Door Sensor would be the ticket here. With 1/4 mile range, it should reach your apartment without a problem. The battery life is very good and the Yolink integration works well, as long as you have Internet. Since this is more of a convenience rather than a security solution, I can’t see a problem with it.

I’ve installed the Yolink Outdoor Contact Sensor on my mailbox at the street and it works great.

2 Likes
3

They use the Lora Radio. You can build your own with a ESP32 or Arduino controller with Lora.

1 Like
4

I was looking at Lora, so it sounds that that isnt a bad move. I have to look into battery ussage for lora. Thanks for brining me back on the right track!