Yikes! Garage door opened on its own - why? (MyQ)

Third party integrations
1

I just set up MyQ for the first time, registering at their site, setting up the MyQ cover in HA, and sync’d to goggle. Found I needed to change from “garage” to ‘cover’ to get google to process it, no problem, it opened and closed and reported status correctly. I should note I have two doors, did both the same. I am sync’d to google through HA only not the MyQ subscription.

I went out to dinner, and closed the door manually (with auto remote) as I left; I came back 2 hours later, and that door was open (the other closed). Turns out it opened about an hour after I left. Here is what I know from logs, and a separate video surveillance system.

When it opened, the google home activity shows nothing, so google does not think it invoked it. The HA log shows “changed to opening” and then “changed to open” at that time. There was no one near the house at the time (I reviewed all security cameras). There was no power outage. The video shows the door did completely close when I left, and opened normally about an hour later. Nothing unusual in the video (lightning, wind, etc.) though there was a thunderstorm while I was gone. There was no power outage (I get alerts from a UPS).

The only vehicles with an opener was the one I was driving and the other was in the garage; I live alone and no one else was home.

I do not have HA connected externally, so I could not have used HA remotely if I wanted to, and as mentioned google did not record any activity at that time. I have no automations programmed for the door in HA or node-red, there is nothing scheduled in the MyQ application.

The MyQ web site’s history is no additional help, it just shows open and close, not why. I have been in this (new) house for 5 months and not one problem with the doors spontaneously opening, so the idea it is a coincidence that it occurred the day I set up MyQ is pushing credibility.

Is there a way to tell more about what happened? is there a log somewhere that would record whether HA somehow requested it to open or just recorded it? (Experiments show the logbook entry is the same whether I use a clicker, or open it from HA).

Any ideas?

Anyone else have such random issues with MyQ and/or HA Garage door “covers”?

Anyone have any ideas how to retroactively debug this, to tell where the culprit lies?

Thanks, Linwood

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The only thing I can think of is upping the logging in HA in case it happens again. But I can see the concern around just waiting to see if your garage becomes randomly insecure!

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Maybe not HA, but MyQ is connected externally because it’s cloud-based.

However, I’m not pointing an accusing finger at the MyQ cloud (not just yet) because this may be due to a storm-induced voltage glitch that caused the device to reset itself ( … and open the door). I realize that sounds simultaneously far-fetched and alarming but the alternative is even less comforting (unauthorized cloud access). Or there’s something else in play that you may have overlooked to mention (any automations acting on the cover?).

At a bare minimum, I’d add an automation to notify you whenever the door opens (and you are away) so at least you’re aware of unrequested openings.

FWIW, my garage door has been “automated” for 15 years and there has never been a single unrequested opening. However, I fished a wire (~ 12 meters) from the controller-relay all the way to the door’s wall-mounted switch. For reliability and zero-maintenance, it’s hard to beat hard-wired devices (it’s just the initial installation that’s often a bear).

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@nickrout, can you help with where and how logging is increased and where to look?

This happened again today, and I think I know the proximate cause, if not the mechanism. I noticed today that my neighbor activated their garage door at the same time mine decided to open (they closed theirs). Because these were all built about the same time by the same builder I suspect they are using the same type system. I went back in the security video from the prior time and indeed they arrived home and opened their door just as mine opened.

Today’s was the reverse, they shut their door and mine opened.

I doubt it is wifi related, and doubt it is HA/Google related, I am guessing that somehow their opener is activating my door.

They are gone now but I plan to get with them later and see if it does it again. In fact they should come home soon and I’ll see what happens.

That’s a bit scary if there is not adequate isolation in brand new liftmaster doors that random chance hit the same encoding? Is that even possible?

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Except, in afterthought… I’ve been here 5 months and so have they, that this happened twice now only after setting up MyQ and never before…?

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That’s my paranoia about smart garage door opener/lock, sorry it happened to you.

Just some ideas to troubleshoot, try block your MyQ wifi access at your router so it can be activated except by physical openers to see if unrequested opening still happens. Also, do you have a wall switch for the garage? If so, make sure wiring is correct and secured.

Hope you figure that out, good luck.

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The logbook in HA should be able to help you. Check the entry right before it records the door opening/open. (In the case of a runaway automation)

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@JTPublic, I can’t tell anything from the logbook. All that is shown there is “changted to opening” and “changed to open”. It does that whether I open it with the clicker, car, wall switch and also the mystery opens.

Is there a way to get more data?

It just did it a third time when the neighbors pulled up, so I think the chances of this being coincidence is virtually zero.

But… I still can’t account for how this started only when I set up MyQ. unless… hmmm… let me look at the security cameras again. I wonder if it is possible that it was in learn mode when the neighbors were pulling out or some such? Is that possible? It has to be in learn mode to set up MyQ. More in a bit.

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Well, I think I know the how of it…

When I was setting up the MyQ the first time for that door, my neighbors arrived home and opened their door.

Apparently them doing this while it was in learn mode allowed the door to enroll their vehicle.

So now their vehicle is in my door. This also makes a bit of sense as I recall it not working my first attempt to doing the wifi enroll, and having to do it a second time. I had the door shut and did not know anyone was out in the street.

So this only indirectly has anything to do with me enrolling in MyQ.

Now I have to figure out how to clear all the codes and start over on that door.

At least it’s not a Home Assistant thing.

It is a bit of a concern how easily this can happen (not all that likely, but easily if you have coincidental timing like that).

Nice to have security cameras, I would never have figured this out without being able to notice the coincidence.

3 Likes
10

Good detective work! It would’ve been a reach for us to claim your neighbor’s code got enrolled at the very moment you put the unit in learning mode! Talk about a narrow window of opportunity!

What I find interesting is the fact it enrolled the neighbor’s code despite the distance between the device and the neighbor at the time of pairing. Anyway, for your next registration attempt, you may want to pick a quiet time of the day or evening when no one in your neighborhood is arriving/departing. :slight_smile:

1 Like
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OK this got solved while I was asleep. However for future reference, logging levels are described here: https://www.home-assistant.io/components/logger/

Well done sorting it out.

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@nickrout, thanks for the pointer.

Interestingly, this got me invited to 4th of July dinner. :grinning:

I went over and mentioned it to them, they were skeptical and went inside and got their clicker, and clicked it, and both doors opened - theirs and mine. They tried a few more times, and found it highly amusing, especially when I explained that it did not work the other way, I could not open theirs.

So they distracted me with a nice cookout dinner, and I’ll clear the devices from it tomorrow, and trust they won’t sneak in over night.

What’s that saying – when you hear hoofbeats, assume it’s horses not zebras (it’s a US saying we don’t have zebras here wild)? Well, sometimes it really is zebras. I was convinced this was the fault of MyQ or HA.

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Had this same thing happen to me. Sadly, I didn’t get invited for the holidays like you did:)

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Hey Guys,
Just had my MyQ Liftmaster 8355W installed and noticed my garage door randomly opening. I discovered that it only happens when my neighbor uses their garage door. How do I fix this on my end. I assume I need to reset the code on the unit?

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Should be a learn function, check your manual.

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Look for the option to clear all codes. You probably do something like hold the learn button a long time but it may vary with model. After clearing all codes (which will include your neighbor) then reprogram your cars/clickers.

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I’m really glad to find this thread. We have been living here for more than 20 years with no unexpected garage door openings, but as soon as we installed MyQ we’d get a random opening every few days. It’s quite unnerving when you’re traveling across the country.

My neighbors come and go a lot every day, so I dunno why this happens less frequently. Maybe they sometimes use their wall buttons?

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Such a scary thing!
Same thing happened to us the minute we got MyQ. Never had a problem with unexpected garage door openings before installing MyQ. After installing, so we could get Amazon packages delivered in our garage during the holidays, the garage door would open on its own at random times. We would review surveillance cameras to see if we could figure out what was going on and the only thing that we would see is a neighbor would come or go about the same time. We reset the codes and still had the issue. To me this is SUCH a BIG deal. This should not be sold until all the bugs have been worked out. I was so nervous at night that I unplugged the garage door so it wouldn’t open in my sleep and me not hear the notification. On top of that, Amazon still did not deliver in the garage even after signing up and paying the fee. Worthless!!! We returned it. Hope this helps someone.
Forgot to mention, we even exchanged the first unit, thinking it may have been defective. Nope! Second unit did the same thing.

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After setting up MyQ, my gate opens and closes at 10:42 am everyday. Trying to figure out why! Nothing in schedules.

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Resync your remotes, likely a neighbor has synced up with your device.