MyQ Universal Smartphone Garage Door Controller

No compensation was received for this post. Complimentary product was provided for this review. All opinions expressed are my own or that of my family.
It seems that every time we leave home, we get a block down the road and my husband asks if we remembered to put down the garage door. Most of the time, we are close enough that we take a trip around the block in order to drive by the house to make sure it is down and other times, we text or call our neighbor to ask them to check. So, when I learned about the MyQ Smartphone Garage Door Controllers from Chamberlain, I knew it was a product that would be perfect for our house.

The MyQ Smartphone Garage Door Controller works with a number of garage door openers and allows you to both check the status of your garage door from anywhere on your Smartphone and to operate it remotely too. So, with the MyQ we can now log in to the app on our phone and see whether the door is up or down. It also tells you how long it has been open or closed, a great feature that lets you confirm that your child has arrived home. Having a repairman coming to the house? You can easily use the app to open the door for them when they arrive - no need to give them a garage door code or a key to your house.

The set up of the MyQ is fairly straight-forward. There is a bracket that mounts to your ceiling, next to your garage door operator that is used to attach the WiFi hub. A door sensor is installed next to your garage door. The third step is to connect the WiFi Hub to the home network - with an iPhone or iPod, you use the BlueTooth feature and then launch the app to complete the set up and with other devices you use the web browser to set up the MyQ.

There are several models of garage door openers that the MyQ works with and you can find a list of them here. Turns out (after a good amount of effort and reading the help on the website) that although our manufacturer was listed, we had an opener that the MyQ couldn't learn to operate. We could still use the monitoring aspect of the device/app and were able to see if the door was open or closed and how long it had been there, but if we were away and the garage door was open, we wouldn't have been able to close it. In order to allow us to experience the MyQ Smartphone Garage Door Controller, the group at Chamberlain offered us a new garage door opener - all we had to do was install it.

Once the new garage door opener was installed (more about that here - Chamberlain HD930EV Garage Door Opener), we were able to start testing out the MyQ Garage. We learned a few things early (that we wish we had learned earlier) and put it through the paces.

You can install the app on multiple devices and can put a security code on the app, so that others can't operate your garage door. I like this added level of security. What we didn't know right away is that there can only be one account per device. My husband had initially set it up with his e-mail, but once we found out that we could only have one account, we decided to change it to our joint e-mail account. Unfortunately, we were not able to find a way to do this on the website and had to delete his account. This meant having to reset up the device with the new log in - not a big deal, but it did take some time. A nice benefit of this feature is that in order to add the app to their device and use it, someone would need to know your username and password.

We tested the app near and far. When my husband was away from home and on another WiFi network, he sent me a message and then tested that he could operate the door from there. When I was further from home at work, and on a WiFi network, I tested that I could operate the door from there. We also tested it on 3G, near and far. We had some challenges with the 3G operation being consistent. If the 3G signal was not strong, I wasn't always able to connect to the opener to operate it but once my signal strength returned it worked. We also had an issue when I tried to open it and immediately close it. Normal operation wouldn't typically find you opening and closing within a few seconds and I didn't have the same problem when I allowed time between operation, so I wasn't too worried. I don't really know what didn't work, but my guess is that once operated, the system needed a minute to return to 'steady' state.

A good thing to note is that when you operate the opener to close it from the app, it sounds a beep and flashes a blue light before it begins to operate. I like this safety feature, in case someone would be in the garage when you close it they would have a warning.

Overall, we are very pleased with the MyQ Smartphone Garage Door Controller. We like the added security of being able to check that our garage door is closed. It is nice to know that if we need to let someone in to the house, that we can operate the door from elsewhere rather than giving out our security code for the external keypad. I also like that if I am out with friends, I don't have to worry about taking keys or fumbling in the rain or cold with the external keypad...I can use my phone to open my door when I arrive home.

If you are looking for a home automation product to allow you to monitor and operate your garage door, then I would recommend checking out the MyQ Smartphone Garage Door Controller.

No compensation was received for this post. Chamberlain provided the MyQ Universal Smartphone Garage Door Controller, so that we could share our experience with the product. All opinions expressed are my own or that of my family.

DiGiorno Deal

A week or so ago, there was a coupon on Coupons.com for Buy 2 Get 1 Free DiGiorno Pizza deal (it was still available the other day). I printed it off, knowing that I was in the midst of defrosting my freezer and soon would be ready to stock up.

I went to Walmart and combined it with the iBotta coupon and got a great deal on pizzas.

6 - DiGiorno pizzas @ $4.98

-$4.98 DiGiorno B2G1 IP
-$4.98 DiGiorno B2G1 IP

Total $19.92 OOP

-$1 iBotta coupon

= $3.15 each net cost for the pizza.

Now, I purchased in two separate transactions, because I noticed that iBotta tends to bring back variations on the same offers. Unfortunately, their variation on this one was for a traditional crust, which I didn't buy or I could have gotten an additional $1 back.

Earn Money When You Shop - Smart Phone Apps that pay you back

There are two apps that I have been using lately to earn money back on the stuff that I already buy.

Endorse is the first one. I started using Endorse last year when they were still in their early stages. It was a great way to earn money back, you simply liked a brand or store through their Facebook application and mailed in your receipts. I am happy to say that they have revamped their model and it is much easier and more flexible.

Now, when you purchase the items that are part of this week's offer, you simply use your camera's phone to scan the receipt and submit. You can use one receipt for multiple offers, but you can not use multiple receipts for the same offer.

Most of their offers are a % of your purchase up to a certain total $. As an example, just this week there is an offer for 50% back on the purchase of beer or champagne. You buy what ever amount and what ever variety you prefer and you can redeem that receipt for up to $10 back.

I tend to review the offers before I head to the store. That way, if they have a yogurt offer, as example, I can see if it is on any yogurt or is for a specific brand. I can also see what the limit is. If it makes sense, I like to make my purchase to maximize the earnings. Coupons are deducted, so sometimes to maximize the offer I have to buy a little more.

In addition to giving you cash back on the products that you buy everyday, you can also benefit a local school with every receipt that you upload to fund local school projects in partnership with DonorsChoose.org - even if you don't buy one of the offers, you can still earn points to support a local school.

You can cash out to either your PayPal account or have a check sent. When I have cashed out with PayPal, the funds arrived almost immediately.

You can sign up for Endorse here.

Have you checked out Ibotta yet?

I am newer to Ibotta, but so far I like it. There seem to be more offers, but they are more item specific. Plus, you need to answer survey questions, watch videos, read recipes, etc. to redeem the full value on the offers. Not a big deal, but a little more effort to get the offers.

Ibotta pays you up to $40 every time you shop and now works at Harris Teeter, Quality Food Centers, and Giant Eagle too; among many other retailers including Target, Walmart, Kroger, Safeway, CVS, Rite Aid and more. Each offer is a specific amount back on a specific purchase. Most of the offers seem to range from $.50 to $1.75 each.

The application is very straight forward to use. I scanned through it before heading to the store. That way, I can make sure what specific items are on my list and on the app. Sometimes, there might be an offer, that combined with a sale, makes me add something to my list, but usually, I stick to my list. Then, when you come home, use your phones camera to capture your receipt and submit.

When you sign up now, you can earn a bonus of $5 after redeeming your first offer. You can choose to have the funds sent to your PayPal account or have it benefit the school of your choice.

This post contains referral links. If you sign up, won't you please consider using these links.