I can replace this with a newer model that can work with HomeKit
My setup at the moment is ratgdo -> mqtt -> NodeRED -> homekit, but you can easily substitute NodeRED with Home Assistant. The HomeKit devices are all virtual and offer the UI, while HomeAssitant is the back end which controls the device(s) in question.
@PaulWieland - I was just wondering whether replacing the CIGBU with a newer model, it would make the GDO visible to HA via Homekit in order to make it local.
Anyhow, I have read that it should be possible to use ESPHome with the ratgdo either already or soon… which is what I plan to do. Then all automation will be in NodeRED (ratgdo -> espHome -> NodeRED).
You could, there are newer models. But please note:
… so in a way, newer but discontinued. You likely can still buy those MyQ+HomeKit boxes, but note that the news articles above were one year ago.
The community really needs like a retrofit board for a garage door opener. Yank the brains and make it smart and open.
Chamberlain has purposely made it difficult to use their products in third party platforms. This is by design. I am surprised they allowed the cloud integration to function as well as it has (until now). There are numerous (if not very satisfiying) workarounds most involving new hardware which means yet another point of failure and unnecessarily redundant devices hanging from your garage opener. If you want one go-to device that can do everything, the only option is the new Genie controller which just recently works with Amazon Key delivery. However, it’s 2x more expensive and doesn’t easily work with chamberlain openers. For me, I’ll limp along with some kludgy hack until I need a new opener. Then I’ll get a Genie with the built-in smart opener. That would include Amazon Key delivery, no hacked hardware wires, professional HA integration, and pretty cheap as long as you get already built-in to the new opener.
Do we have a link of what exactly this new controller is? Model #? Are we talking about the ALKT1-R, or Genie’s Aladdin Connect in general, or is there something else?
Also, which HA integration?
If we are talking about and the ALKT1-R, and the HA core Genie Aladdin Connect integration, then the integration is cloud-only also. So it would still subject to internet outage, and/or however Genie (the company) implements its protocol. And yes, Genie has already broken the integration by changing the API… (Yes that was 2 years ago and it has been fixed, but still.)
So, well, Genie’s Aladdin Connect might be better than MyQ, because it breaks less frequently than MyQ, but they are still fundamentally in the same category (i.e. similarly bad)… One can still find all the MyQ’s weaknesses in Aladdin Connect.
That said, if Genie is indeed rolling out something new with local API (and can be setup / can operate without internet) … that would indeed be a major advantage over MyQ, and I, for one, would love to know.
Bypassing the MyQ on a GDO is pretty straight forward. First thing you need is a smart relay. I used the zooz zen17. This allowed me to also use a reed switch so I can know when the door is open/closed. The last piece you need is a wall button or remote (I used the wall button). This is what the relay will use to open/close the door. More detailed info can be found here. Its been pretty rock solid so far.
When adding the HomeKit bridge, I see that there are two integrations for HomeKit - the HomeKit Bridge and HomeKit Device. The device pairs with the Hass integration and then exposes all HA devices. Do I need the HomeKit device integration?
Thanks,
John Vowell
Yes, despite the MyQ device being called a “bridge”, what you want is to add that as a device to home assistant. The “HomeKit Bridge” integration is a way to expose your HA devices to HomeKit, so you can control your HA devices via Apple’s interfaces.
Got shut down right out of the gate. I cannot delete my garage door from MyQ. I get a message saying that it is linked to the hub and WiFi must be reset in Device Management. This just gives me the same directions as your post. I have done this and the garage door shows as offline, but the app will not allow me to delete it. What now?
You probably are considering this also: An alternative is to cut the entire MyQ thing out of the equation, and be free from whatever headaches that Chamberlain would be imposing… like many of us in this thread did in the end.
This is probably the most frustrating thing I have ever attempted. Nothing worked as described. Lights don’t blink, they don’t turn on or off as described, yet here is no click or other noise. I could not even delete the garage door from MyQ. I even tried adding a new account which showed no devices. Still nothing. I got as far as “discover new devices,” but nothing ever showed up. Bummer!
I just reconfigured my 819LMB. I started by deleting the bridge from my MyQ using their iPhone App. The garage door(s) is automatically deleted along with the bridge. Next, I factory reset the bridge. Have you gotten this far?
I got to the point where I was supposed to delete the door from MyQ. Th app would not let me delete the garage door. It kept saying something like “The garage door is paired with WiFi. Delete is not allowed.” I then tried having my MyQ account deleted. Tha didn’t work either. I then tried setting up a new account with no doors assigned. I then went through the steps recommended by Otter(?) and nothing worked as described. Lights that were supposed to blink didn’t and lights that were supposed to turn blue didn’t. I gave up. That made three times I tried this and got nowhere.
I didn’t have to delete the doors. I just deleted the Bridge. I use the iOS App.
I recall reading a while ago, to get it added to home bridge you need delete the doors and reset the wifi on the GDO itself, basically factory reset the doors and do not add them to your wifi, after that you should be able to add them to home bridge.
Then setup Home Bridge via HomeKit, add the GDO to the Home Bridge from the app. Once the app is working remove from HomeKit and add it Home Assistant.
I didn’t have to do any of that shenanigans. In fact, the ONLY Homekit stuff I have here IS HomeAssistant, and it works just fine.
Not a single crapple product in my house.
I only had to do this to get it on my wifi the first time
I have been using the 828LM LiftMaster Internet Gateway with the HA MyQ integration. It worked quite well both with HA / Companion App and the MyQ App since November of 2018. Not the case now and there are threads across multiple home automation communities filled with angst about the situation.
This thread did give me a glimmer of hope and with the current (holiday season) generous lengthy Amazon return policy, I sprung for the LiftMaster MYQ 819LMB MyQ Home Bridge for ~$125 USD. I like having the redundant HA and MyQ controls as it made troublshooting easier and I want to incorporate a gate in the future.
All that said, our family is primarily Windows / Android / Amazon based from a portable device perspective. It took some messing around to pair the 819LMB so I wanted to share / document what I did.
My openers are “dumb” / purple learn button / no wifi, and I had purchased the LiftMaster 888LM Security+ 2.0 MyQ Wall Controls to be able to use the 828LM originally.
Again - this is using an Android phone for pairing…
I previously had my HA server on a separate VLAN and could not discover the 819 LMB. After reading all the hoops I may need to jump through to get the HomeKit to communicate, I moved my HA server to the same VLAN as the 819LMB. If you have a simple / flat network, ignore this.
If you don’t have a MyQ integration / 828LM, ignore the first few steps below.
Disable MyQ integration, reboot, remove MyQ integration from HA, reboot
Remove Door(s) from MyQ App
Remove MyQ Gateway from network
Connect 819LMB using the MyQ app (phone and 819LMB on same WiFi SSID)
HA should now discover the new HomeKit Device (bridge)
Use pairing code on 819LMB to configure the HomeKit Device integration
Use the MyQ app to pair the garage door opener(s)
If I run into issues or can add additional steps, I will try and edit this post moving forward.
Glad to hear not everyone fell victim to the doomsayer in this thread that got himself on my ignore list. LOL
Your steps are roughly the same as mine, from recollection. I set mine up a couple years ago now, so I didn’t want to post what I remembered doing, only to have missed some important step. But I definitely remember having to wrestle with it a bit because I had some other, much cheaper, MyQ integration thing in there first, and had difficulty getting the 819 to pair to the GDO. Once I did though, it’s been rock-solid ever since.
Glad to hear it’s working for you!!