CHAMBERLAIN Smart Garage Door Video Keypad

Here’s an HONEST review of this product comparing it to what’s been out there in this area for decades – dumb keypads that take 4-digit codes and will open the door anytime 24/7/365. This fantastic device allows you to assign unique PINs, discard them, or restrict them. You can also issue temporary ones that are only good for a certain amount of time. This is game-changing if you have people you need to give access to (cleaners, pet sitters, family vagabonds, etc.). Add in a great camera and the ability to interact with someone and give them access (before you’d just have to pony up the code)? Fantastic. All for something that costs less than $100? This product is a winner. Yes, it’s the first version of this product and there are some things that can be improved, hopefully, Chamberlain is listening.

INSTALLATION

Total breeze, two screw holes, they give you a base that can be reversed depending on which side of the door you mount it so the camera is angled for the best coverage. Charged it up, already had the myQ app for an opener module and a camera, I had it mounted with the impact in a few minutes. It easily covered the area the previous keypad occupied.

One reviewer noted something about matching screw holes from the keypads Chamberlain has been using for, what, 40 years? Can’t see how it could be done as the old keypads used a keyhole in the middle and one screw at the bottom, I would guess that’s less than half the gap needed for adequate coverage of a device clearly larger. Impact + wood frame (which 99% of garage door frames have) = mounted in a minute without drilling.

Yes, the “security screw” is a standard Phillips but, let’s be honest, any thief after these is going to have what they need to rip one of these off. Ring has been using standard Torx screws forever, it’s not rocket science if someone wants one of these, they can nab it. I also know if they did implement one of these security screws the complaints would be about how hard it is to change the battery.

INTERFACE

This is definitely an area of improvement, especially if you’re on myQ already. No, this keypad will not just hook up to myQ and operate your door if you’re using a wireless hub, which I’m sure a ton of people are. This is a definite disappointment.

However, don’t get why anyone would return this or have a fit because this keypad will still work with any modern garage door, it will just do so directly just like a remote, the keypad it replaces, your car, etc. You have to program it and that’s a bit of a hassle but, again, took me a minute. I’m assuming Chamberlain made the decision to do this so they could cover the largest number of existing openers possible. Still, a bit disappointing the keypad doesn’t just connect to myQ in the cloud to operate my door that was already set up. THE ONLY doors it will do this with are ones that have wi-fi built into the opener.

Hopefully, Chamberlain looks into doing this as it was a disappointment, but, doesn’t affect the use of the keypad, just setting it up.

A WORD ABOUT WI-FI

It’s odd, I’ve never heard anyone complain about their computer needing a “better antenna” or a phone or what have you when dealing with bad wi-fi. This is on you to get figured out with your wi-fi network! No device, especially one operating on a battery, is going to have unlimited reception capability. Just like a video doorbell, you’re going to need good wi-fi coverage to the outside for this to work. Keep this in mind and consider if your network can handle it. I have a dedicated 2.4 GHz network set up just for these devices, all my IoT things (video doorbell, cameras, garage door opener, etc) use this network as 2.4 GHz is plenty fast enough for what they need and has better range. Put all this stuff on its own 2.4 GHz network and they all will work better for you.

ABOUT BATTERIES & HARD WIRING

Unlike doorbells, garage door keypads have been wireless forever. There’s no existing wiring there for Chamberlain to use for a product like this. I think hard-wiring these is a no-go for almost everyone, it would be a PITA. I think Chamberlain has taken the right route (that many wireless camera solutions have used) in the form of a high-capacity rechargeable battery. I have no idea how long it will last (will update when I do) but the myQ app gives you the details on the charge state. Obviously, the weather is going to affect it (Lithium Ion batteries don’t like extreme cold).

Changing the battery requires removing the simple Phillips and pulling the unit to charge the battery. The battery charges via mini-USB and it took a couple of hours to charge out of the box.

It’s a garage door keypad, I think having it down for an hour or two to charge is no big deal. It appears Chamberlain will make spare batteries available, they just aren’t yet. Once they do you can keep a spare on hand so you have virtually no downtime. As it is, this isn’t a mission-critical device like a doorbell which I think downtime would be onerous.

USE WITH MYQ

It’s pretty easy to add the device in myQ. Once you do that is where you can set everyone up with their PIN and configure the device as well as review the videos. Chamberlain recently added a plan that will cover all the devices in your home so that’s great to see with this rather than a separate one for each device.

I promptly set up my wife (who uses the myQ app for the garage door already) and my son with their all-access PINs. I also set one up for the cleaners which is fantastic because they always come on the same day I can restrict their pin to that time as well as a time period. This is great and was a huge relief to the wife who has always been paranoid about it. No longer is our house accessible 24/7/365 by anyone who has the same 4-digit PIN. You can assign unique ones very simply. Switching cleaners? No problem, disable the old one and set your new service up with a new restricted PIN. Chamberlain even has a share button for it that has a pre-built mesage to text or email to the user.

This is fantastic and way more secure. PINs can be 4-8 digits and you can make as many as you’d like, including ones that expire (like if you had a contractor working on a project you want to give access to for a few days, the code will work until a future date and time and then deactivate, it can also be limited to certain hours of the day).

VIDEO PERFORMANCE

I haven’t had a chance to thoroughly evaluate this yet but, if it’s anything like the existing myQ camera, it should be great. The quality out of that camera I have set up in the garage is phenomenal. I’m glad to have a camera closer to the door now and on the outside to get better coverage.

IN SUMMARY

I think this is a great initial effort for this product, I love the improvement in security this device provides and the price is right. I’ll update after I’ve used it more but it’s a definite buy for me. Hopefully, Chamberlain will review user feedback and introduce regular improvements, they have done so with existing myQ products so I would expect they will.

My garage door opener is a 20+ year old Chamberlain. I needed a new Chamberlain Key Pad to replace the original key pad that died from old age. I did not want to buy a a cheap knock-off just to save $20. I wanted name brand OEM that would last through another 20 years of Canadian winters. When the new key pad arrived, I was pleased with its solid, weighty feel. I could tell this was no cheap knock off. The installation was easy. One screw in the door frame to hang the key pad. And a second screw to secure it in place. Easy peasy. Here is a Pro Tip for you. My garage door opener has a rolling code “learning button” on the motor housing. I had to get up on a ladder to push the learning button to pair the new key pad remote. Here is the tip: Take the new remote up the ladder with you and pair it first before you install it on the wall. That will save you an extra trip up and down the ladder.

Recomendado 100%

So far so good. I will say that for the first day or two the wifi connection was iffy. It seemed to drop the connection at times. However since then, and to date, the connection has been great.

I purchased this because I needed a garage door opener that could handle more than one temporary code and mine didn’t. When I searched for that this came up and despite seeing some negative reviews I decided to try it.

Well, I’m pleasantly surprised by how well it works and how easy the set-up was. This has been so easy to use. Adding codes to the opener for temporary access is a breaze and gives the ability to be specific as to the days and times that this access is granted.

Hope it will continue to work well.