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.

National Night Out

Tonight (unless you live in Texas who celebrates in October) is National Night Out - ‘America’s Night Out Against Crime'.

According to the website, this is the 29th Annual National Night Out, "a unique crime/drug prevention event sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch". Each participating community may hold a variety of events. Some events are neighborhood or block-wide, others are full community events.

Locally, our community brings out the public safety vehicles for exploration and holds a hot dog cook-out. The kids have a blast climbing aboard the big fire trucks and checking them out. We have been able to watch them take apart a demo car to see how they would rescue a trapped accident victim. We have had the chance to see the inside of a police car and an ambulance. We have had the chance to check out SWAT vehicles and more. Last year, we got to watch a medical helicopter land, explore it and then watch it take off again - I know that my daughter found that experience to be pretty neat. It was the first time we had seen a helicopter anywhere other than in the sky.

As a mom, I like the opportunity to capture their pictures next to the large tire of the big fire trucks. It is fun to look back over past years and see how they have grown (or is that tire shrinking?).

You can see a list of registered communities on the National Night Out website or search National Night Out and your community name.

National Night Out

Every year, since 1984, on the first Tuesday of August, communities nationwide celebrate National Night Out (learn more here and here).

From the website:

NATIONAL NIGHT OUT is designed to:

Heighten crime and drug prevention awareness;
Generate support for, and participation in, local anticrime programs;
Strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships; and
Send a message to criminals letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back.

Locally, our National Night Out event is sponsored by Target (they are a primary sponsor - just not sure that sponsor it everywhere). They provide food and drinks, as well as goodie bags for the kids. The local police, fire, emergency response, and swat teams bring out their vehicles for the kids to explore. They even offer tours of the holding cells at the jail (assuming that they are empty!).

My kids always get such a thrill out of seeing all of the trucks and checking out the equipment in the police car. We take an annual picture of them next to the big tires on the ladder truck - a sort of bench mark of their growth.

Look for events near your community here.

SafetyTat Review

A few years ago when we took our son to Cedar Point for the first time, we learned about a program that they offered where you could stop by customer service and get a wrist band for your child that you could write your cell phone number on. The thought was if your child got separated from you, a representative from the park could contact you. As a parent, this seemed like a great idea to me. If he did get separated from us, that would be horrifying - knowing that a park employee could locate us quickly, made me feel better. There were drawbacks to the wristband, but for the benefit, it was well worth it. The wristband was one of those that once it was on, you had to cut it off and as the day got warmer, the wristband did stick to him.

When you are out at the zoo, the mall, the amusement park, or elsewhere, your young children are not likely to know your cell phone number - my daughter who is 3 is just learning her address and phone number. Now clearly, no parent intends to let their child out of sight, but it only takes one moment for a young child to wander off while your distracted. If you could improve the ability for your young child to tell others how to reach you, that would be a great help. That is why, when I was contacted about checking out SafetyTat, I was eager to check out their product.

SafetyTat offers a full line up of products. Their SafetyTat original line is a temporary tattoo that is easily applied with a wet paper towel and will last for one to five days. The SafetyTat can be removed at the end of the day using baby oil or rubbing alcohol. By ordering them preprinted with your contact number, their is no need to worry about the number smudging or getting wet and smearing. If your kids are like mine, they love temporary tattoos, so there is no problem getting them to allow you to apply the tattoo. The tattoos feature a cute little picture - cats, butterflies, robots, along with the message "If LOST, please call:" and then below that are preprinted with your cell number. Another nice feature of these preprinted tattoos that I liked is that they also have version that communicate medical information - Allergic to Peanuts or Bee stings, Child has autism or non-verbal autism, and child is a diabetic. So, in addition to providing your contact information, you can get medical information to someone who doesn't know your child quickly. Have an older child? They also have a Tween series that uses the acronym ICE and has "cooler" pictures.

SafetyTats are also available in a 2-line version, if you want to include more information or a second phone number. They also offer a line that is called TatBuilder - that allows you and your child to customize the temporary tattoo, choosing colors, pictures, and message.

Traveling with a group? Bring along a pack of Quick Stick Write-On Safety Tattoos. These require no water to apply, and include a skin prep wipe and a SafetyTat pen so you can write your own message on the tattoo sticker. These are made of a special material that is durable and water proof.

Another cute product that they have is Tat Kisses. These circle tattoos have a special message and feature either lips or a thumbs up - "Daddy Loves You", "You are So Special", "Kisses from Mommy". These are cute little reminder that they are loved - something to apply on that first day of school, or when you are out of town, or anytime they need a little extra TLC.

Want to learn more about SafetyTat:
The idea for SafetyTat was born on a trip to the amusement park, when a mom found herself writing her phone number on her kids arms (you can read the full story here). SafetyTat.com also offers some wonderful safety tips here.

No compensation was received for this post. Through my participation in MamaBzz, I received a set of Original SafetyTat and one set of Quick Stick Write-On so that I could check them out and share my experiences.