Yeah, sorry I wasn’t clear – I don’t think this is a wireless connectivity issue. My mind would be swayed if they had a spotty connection (when they were connected). Though I suppose if you have one of those “fancy” beamforming APs, maybe it’s confusing stuff around these similar devices in the same “zone”.
The only thing I can think of comes back to your AP being “smart” – these are low-traffic devices. It is possible your AP disconnects it thinking that it is inactive, turned off, or otherwise unused.
Sounds reasonable – is it fair to assume that the interface would prevent you from assigning the same reserved IP to two separate devices? (I’ve seen both good and bad interfaces for this, hence the question).
Ahh, this might be something to look into. I may have a setting the router that addresses this… I wonder, would increasing IP lease time have any effect?
Yeah, the interface is decent. I’ve done this accidentally, since the list is long & I can’t see all of the assigned IPs on one screen. If I try to assign an already-assigned IP to another device–whether that IP is actively connected or not–it tells me so. So, I haven’t found a way to double-assign IPs yet.
Mission accomplished; in my helmet “Siri, Open Garage Door” opens the door with my phone safely in my pocket from around the block!
No more cloud, all locally controlled in Home(Kit) app on everyone’s iPhone all while still accessible away from home with the HomePod Mini (just like my setup before the rage began )
It works as promised only better and with some nicely gifted surprises.
I started my hunt for a better way when I could no longer ask Siri to open my garage door in my motorcycle helmet while rolling up about a block away. MyQ killed cloud api support! I bought an $800 Chamberlain jackshaft opener with a useless cloud connection!
RATgdo is very impressive, bulletproof and reaction time is incredibly fast to any command, including MQTT and Light/Open/Close dry contacts. The dry contacts are a nice surprise since I wanted to add addition control around my garage anyway.
Full disclosure, iPhone user for 12 years and I’ve NEVER run the Home app! So yeah I did a deep dive down that rabbit hole. Hoping to save anyone some time with the following.
Update: Home Assistant rabbit-hole has paid dividends! I’ve added an esp32CAM and an esp8266+BME280temp sensor to my HASS-espHome to monitor my toys in the garage! Also created automation to kill the gdo light asap on open or close.
HASS Creds(user and password) will also be used by MQTT setup on RATgdo MQTT fields.
Set router DHCP and reserve IP for server RPi: homeassistant.local:8123/
install the iOS app for Home Assistant
RATgdo setup
use a Chrome browser to flash fw
MQTT v2.5i select->Connect
Have your SSID and pass written down and ready to enter and connect RATgdo to your wifi
Set router DHCP and reserve IP for RATgdo
Open device and set OTA password
Change the device name to something meaningful (you can remember such as ‘RATgdo’ without the dash and numbers (you will use this and the OTA pass to log in to the device)
Use MQTT Explorer app to double check that RATgdo is broadcasting
HASS setup for RATgdo
to organize/communicate MQTT messages on HASS-MQTT we need mosquito as the MQTT broker
Check HASS Settings-Add-ons-Mosquito Broker:
check for ‘green dot’ running
check Logs for connection with your user HASS credentials
HASS Setup-Devices-MQTT
Should have “1 Device”, select it
add Controls and Sensors to dashboard
HASS setup to iOS Home app
Setup HomeKit bridge
There is now a persistent HASS notification with Home Accessory code generated. Copy it and continue setting up in Home
iOS Home App
Ensure your iDevice is on the same LAN wifi as HASS is wired to
select ‘+’ Add Accessory
select ‘more options’
HASS HomeKit bridge will be shown select it
Paste the Accessory code copied above
This Home app can be shared amongst family members if this instance is created by the iCloud family organizer
HomePod Mini (as HomeHub)
iCloud family organizer sets it up
Home app will recognize this immediately and will run as a HomeHub
HASS will cause notifications of an AppleTV
all iDevices part of iCloud family organizers group will now see the same Home instance, if they are invited in the “home settings”. Nice surprise with added benefit of sharing this feature!
HomeHub allows all iDevices to see Home instance from the World Wide Web
If you increase it and the issue gets worse, then it’s possible it’s an issue of the DHCP server not wanting to hand out that IP again (for some reason – we’ve already eliminated pool exhaustion).
If you increase it and it resolves it, it could be as simple as the time was so short, the DHCP server just couldn’t keep up with the requests.
Generally, you shouldn’t need it any shorter than 7200 seconds (2 hours), and I wouldn’t set it any longer than 86400 (1 day), in part because of how mobile devices are now doing random MAC addresses.
I’d double check the roaming settings – some IoT stacks don’t take kindly to things like Fast Roaming features.
Also, check your band steering settings… sometimes those can start disconnecting devices that they think should be on 5Ghz, even if they are only capable of 2.4.
I do - I might try binding the two gdos to the closest access point (though that has proven troublesome in the past). Asus handles band steering with their “Smart Connect” feature that has some customizable settings. Mine are all set to default (three bands, one 2.4GHz and two 5:
Setting up ratgdo for a LiftMaster 8500 jackshaft. Have flashed and reflashed the ratgdo looking for a security option to set. All wiring and remote/garage door switch work. Seems I need to select a security configuration. But darn if I can figure out where. I reflashed the ratgdo, but a security option never shows. any idea where this security option is to set?
Do you know what RSSI you’re seeing on the ratgdo’s when they’re connected? Is it possible they’re not meeting the minimum?
I realize you said they’re physically close to that AP, but garages can have some funky construction around them that makes them not as “close” when radio waves are involved.
Funny that you respond now because I happen to be digging into this again.
Here’s my connectivity over the last few days. GDO 2 is suffering from poor connectivity, and it seems to have gotten worse since the changes I made yesterday:
I do not have any insight into the RSSI on the ratgdos. I’ll have to see if I can see that. Both devices are currently online with RSSI of -65 and -58 dBm. When #2 was offline, I was seeing -82 dBm.
I can tell you that I found one gdo connected to one AP, and the other connected to the other! One AP is one floor above, and the other is one floor below in the basement. I thought that both would be happier bound to the above-ground AP, but it appears that’s not the case. I’ve just unbound gdo 2 from any AP and I’m leaving it to float to see how that goes.
EDIT: Instead of binding to an access point, I’ve added the ratgdos to a roaming block list; once they connect, they shouldn’t be permitted to change APs.
EDIT 2: about 12 hours later, this appears to be a better solution so far:
Hey. I have a similar unit being a 655 and has the same setup. Did you end up getting it working? I;ve just receive my ratgdo and am having a crack tonight. I’m assuming terminal 1 is where the magic happens and receives the open/close signal from ratgdo. Just not sure about the White Ground, whether that would be 2 or not…
I haven’t been successful with that. Also, I am currently using a self-made Ratgdo device with the Ratgdo ESPHome software. The IR sensor was detected fine, but when connecting the “red” wire to pin 1, I did not get a sync. There is of course a chance that my device is simply not working, hence I was looking for someone who has successfully connected a Ratgdo device to a Merlin opener.
I could not find any hints about how pin 1 is supposed to work or wired, nor could I find any official accessories that are supposed to be wired to pin 1.
My understanding is that pin 2 and 3 are both connected to GND.
In the meantime I experimented with a Shelly UNI and connected its output to pin 1, assuming that this would indeed work as a dry input, but that is not working reliably to open/close the door.
I have to say, I love the concept and expect that hopefully some day I will love the execution. What Paul has done here is a truly remarkable project and he’s clearly put a lot of work into it to benefit a great many people.
Unfortunately, it fails utterly in the support realm. I received a DOA (doesn’t even power up the on-board ESP) unit and have not been able to get any response or assistance in replacing the hardware so far. Lots of attempts from others to be helpful with suggestions for troubleshooting, but at the end of the day, the unit is still dead and the manufacturer does not respond or really provide a reliable channel for communication or assistance.
I understand Paul is a one man operation with overwhelming demand. However, a solid week without so much as an acknowledgement that my message(s) have been received is disconcerting.
Any joy? I have a CR855MYQ - which I assume is pretty much the same unit rebranded and I’m not having any luck - can see the obstruction sensor but no garage controls are working using pins 1,3 & 4. Tried both ESPHome and MQTT. Beginning to wonder if it does support Security+ 2.0.
Hello, I’m running this in MQTT. I recently changed my MQTT server and need to update my device. I’m having trouble connecting via the web interface. I type in the ip address and it doesn’t connect. Is there a special url I need to go to to access the settings or do I need to disconnect from garage and connect to computer to update. I can ping the address from terminal.
No, couldn’t get this to work.
When you scroll up 2-3 posts from yours, there is someone who wanted to test this with a 655 opener yesterday, so hopefully we get some more data soon.
At least this does not seem to be exposed through the pins. All accessories for these Merlin openers that I found are wireless, so there is a good chance that Merlin decided not to support wired Security+ 2.0 based accessories.
)
