OmGate Garage Door Opener.

Forums › Gadgets, robotics, home automation, electronics (including wearables) › OmGate Garage Door Opener.

Paul1977

5039 posts

Uber Geek

#210370 24-Mar-2017 16:51

We've been quoted for a new garage door. It is a standalone garage so we requested the quote included a keypad to go on the outside of the garage so we can open it from the outside without a remote.

As an alternative they suggested considering something called OmGate which enables toy to use your smartphone as a remote, so then I requested that they quote us both options.

The OmGate is considerably cheaper ($87 +GST) than the keypad ($210 +GST).

Has anyone got this OmGate thing that they can let me know if it is any good?

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6470 posts

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#1747880 26-Mar-2017 09:04

What brand garage door? I recently put in a new garage door opener and chose to remain with my Merlin brand opener. It has remote openers for the cars and the garage opener is also a remote but since I had a door before they also connected up the wired opener (just a momentary switch). I asked about smartphone access and that would cost an additional $200 so I decided not to do that.

Looking at remote door options, most of them say they will (should) not work with tilt door because

1. no guarantee the tilt sensor would work (they are designed for doors that fold up into segments not roller doors) which tells the app the door is open

2. safety issue (this is a US thing) since you can activate the door without seeing it and the tilt could unwilling hit somebody (not an issue with segmented doors)

If I were putting in a remote I would probably go for a Zwave controlled relay controlled by Amazon Echo but it's hard to find a use case for that when you to the (attached) garage and just press a button. The only "cool" thing would be integration with IFTTT and GPS so the door would open when you got near to your house and close when you were leaving. Or you could close the door remotely if you had forgotten to close it upon leaving the house (possibly less of an issue for a non-detached garage).

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Paul1977

5039 posts

Uber Geek

#1748708 27-Mar-2017 14:13

lchiu7:

What brand garage door? I recently put in a new garage door opener and chose to remain with my Merlin brand opener. It has remote openers for the cars and the garage opener is also a remote but since I had a door before they also connected up the wired opener (just a momentary switch). I asked about smartphone access and that would cost an additional $200 so I decided not to do that.

Looking at remote door options, most of them say they will (should) not work with tilt door because

1. no guarantee the tilt sensor would work (they are designed for doors that fold up into segments not roller doors) which tells the app the door is open

2. safety issue (this is a US thing) since you can activate the door without seeing it and the tilt could unwilling hit somebody (not an issue with segmented doors)

If I were putting in a remote I would probably go for a Zwave controlled relay controlled by Amazon Echo but it's hard to find a use case for that when you to the (attached) garage and just press a button. The only "cool" thing would be integration with IFTTT and GPS so the door would open when you got near to your house and close when you were leaving. Or you could close the door remotely if you had forgotten to close it upon leaving the house (possibly less of an issue for a non-detached garage).

Looking at Dominator. This OmGate thing is a 3rd party device that can work with pretty much any autodoor or gate, but I've read very mixed reviews. It uses bluetooth , so can't open the door from your phone unless you are in bluetooth range.

I've asked them if they'll do the Dominator brand outdoor keypad for the same price as the OmGate and they are happy to do that.

The keypad suits us better anyway as we just want to be able to open the door from the outside without a remote (so requiring a phone wouldn't have been ideal for us).

fearandloathing

503 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#1752626 1-Apr-2017 13:19

I used the wemo maker to open my garage door for a period, in combination wirh a reed switch to track if the door is open or closed.

Works well.

mattwnz

20141 posts

Uber Geek

#1752670 1-Apr-2017 14:00

Go for the keypad as it will be future proof. Otherwise you are relying on a company continuing to be around to support app updates, and apps can have a short life. You also don't want to be stuck with the TiVo problem, when a provider disappears, and the service is needed to use the product.

rogercruse

644 posts

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#1769483 24-Apr-2017 08:10

fearandloathing:

I used the wemo maker to open my garage door for a period, in combination wirh a reed switch to track if the door is open or closed.

Works well.

I also used a Wemo Maker for my garage door with a reed switch so that I knew when the door was open or closed.

I then noticed that the Wemo Maker was causing problems for my remote control device - its range had halved and was taking too long to connect. As soon as I unplugged it, the remote returned to its full service. Currently have a Wemo Maker on my garage ceiling as a reminder that not all new technology is an improvement.

fearandloathing

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#1770249 25-Apr-2017 16:46

Failed to mention, I now have the garage door connected to a relay on the alarm panel. So it can now be opened by the alarm key panel.

Paul1977

5039 posts

Uber Geek

#1770479 26-Apr-2017 09:29

Dominator are now offering there own proper wifi smartphone kit, so they must have been trying to get rid of their old OmGate stock for cheap. Makes me glad I went for the keypad instead.

Their new kit looks a lot better than the OmGate, but they indicated price at about $500 - so not cheap.

My door is currently being made and I'll be sticking with the keypad, but I have verified that the opener I'm getting is compatible with their new smartphone kit if I want to get it down the track.

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plas

453 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1770529 26-Apr-2017 10:41

A much cheaper option for wifi control is.

https://opengarage.io/

mattrix

193 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#1770530 26-Apr-2017 10:51

I use a Wemos D1 Mini + Relay Shield (total cost $5 USD) + Bit of code - (I think the Wemo Maker is probably just this in a case).
It sits on my home network and runs a small API.
A simple Android App calls the API and it triggers the relay which simulates pressing the internal switch.

Mattmannz

471 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1770623 26-Apr-2017 12:59

plas:

A much cheaper option for wifi control is.

https://opengarage.io/

Looks good - does the basic functions but not much more. Anyone running one of these?

plas

453 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1770635 26-Apr-2017 13:24

Mattmannz:

plas:

A much cheaper option for wifi control is.

https://opengarage.io/

Looks good - does the basic functions but not much more. Anyone running one of these?

Yeah I have one. Not had any issues with it, although I don't use the smartphone app.

mdf

3512 posts

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Trusted

#1770649 26-Apr-2017 14:11

mattrix:

I use a Wemos D1 Mini + Relay Shield (total cost $5 USD) + Bit of code - (I think the Wemo Maker is probably just this in a case).
It sits on my home network and runs a small API.
A simple Android App calls the API and it triggers the relay which simulates pressing the internal switch.

@mattrix Do you mind sharing your code? I bought the same Wemos and relay shield about 6 months ago for the exact same purpose but still haven't managed to get around to installing it. Something else I should really do now that I've spent the money on the components.

mattrix

193 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#1770710 26-Apr-2017 14:50

@mdf

Here is the .ino file:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0_VIhF6xzjpYmJsN21Nbmd5dFE

Android App APK:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0_VIhF6xzjpdDhISXRUQ1pDcGM

Android App Source Code:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0_VIhF6xzjpdVA4X1plNnhnU2s

1) Edit the ino with your WiFi details (ssid & password)
2) Optionally un-comment the areas for a static IP address (makes using the app easier)
2) Upload to the WeMos D1
3) Install the APK on your Phone
4) Click the cog and change the URL to the correct one the WeMos is using (http://[WEMOS IP]:50102/activate)
5) Click the power button to open / close garage

You don't actually need to use the app, you can use any browser to call that URL.

You can also visit http://[WEMOS IP]:50102/ and it will show you some stats (WiFi disconnects, activations & heap)

It's a little bit smart.
It won't allow double pressing (const int interval=15000; //delay between allowed activations in milliseconds)
I set this to the amount of time the door takes to open / close (15 seconds for mine)

If your a bit security paranoid, maybe change the /activate in the ino code to something random eg. /re335dccesr3.
And also you can change the port to something random (default is 50102).

Just remember to also change the URL the app uses.

I eventually want to get around to doing a new blog post on it.

Hope that helps :)

nickrout

219 posts

Master Geek

#1778660 9-May-2017 18:34

I have three garage doors with separate controllers, but all in the same garage. They can all be activated by a momentary shorting of two pins on the controller box.

I have a raspberry pi and a 4 port relay, which I will mount in the ceiling and run wires to each controller.

I recently found the garagedoor.io page and the idea to put a distance finder on the ceiling is inspired, so I will be wiring three of those back to the rpi.

The whole thing will be linked to my home assistant hub via mqtt, and be available to the outside world via a secure connection.

My garage has no doors other than the vehicle doors, ie no entry if the doors are shut and if the power goes off you are f***ed. [1] So I also want to implement a type of UPS so that in the event of power failure you can open the garage door. I have a feeling the fourth relay port will come in handy for that.

[1] actually there is a key to release one of the doors, but that is hardly geeky enough.

Hopefully one day it will be ready enough to post about it properly.

bernny

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1854724 29-Aug-2017 12:30

Hi, I am also interested in the Omgate products wondering where u get them from? Regards

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