When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
So, theres one thing I'm not liking about my new S4... The Homelink range on it is terrible.. We've had Homelink on all our previous vehicles from GM, Ford, and Nissan - and all of them had no issues opening the garage doors just as we start to turn in the driveway, and often from about 50' before the driveway.. The S4, however requires me to pull in the driveway and pull up nearly to the door itself before the door will open.. If I parked the S4 in the garage, this probably would be a minor inconvenience -- but I park the S4 on the side of the driveway - so that means I have to pull up to the door, hit the Homelink, back up and then park the car on the side of the driveway. (Yes, our garage door is our means of entry into the house all the time)
Anyone have any hints for improving performance? For what its worth, we're using two Craftsman door openers with purple learn buttons..They are not Security+ 2.0 openers.. I've tried reprogramming with brand new batteries in the source transmitter - but that didnt seem to help either. I know someone may suggest this -- the lightbulbs in the openers are Genie garage door opener LED bulbs that are filtered for interference -- plus the other vehicles have no issues.
I do not have this problem with my S4. The HomeLink opens the garage door more than 50' away, even before I turn up the driveway. One of two things--issue with your garage door receiver or antenna, or something wrong with the Audi HomeLink in your vehicle. My bet is the former.
I do not have this problem with my S4. The HomeLink opens the garage door more than 50' away, even before I turn up the driveway. One of two things--issue with your garage door receiver or antenna, or something wrong with the Audi HomeLink in your vehicle. My bet is the former.
As mentioned -- the other Homelink-equipped vehicles in the household - 3 of them (Chevy Malibu, Chevy Impala, Nissan Frontier) -- will open the door well before the driveway - 50-75' before the driveway -- so, no - there is nothing wrong with the receiver or antenna. However - two other things I discovered yesterday -- first, the manual indicates that you need to press the Homelink button twice - "Press the button to open the garage door. The LED blinks or turns on. Press the button again to open the garage door." - Ive been expecting response with one press. Second, I discovered the S4 has about a 20% success rate when the car is pointed straight at the garage door opening, unless the car is pulled up right to the door.. Some background on the driveway -- it is two cars wide, but then there is also a section angled off to the right where we can park up to 3 more cars at a 45 degree angle to the garage so they dont interfere with the two cars parked in the garage. Every vehicle I have had has been unable to hit the garage door from those locations, I'm assuming because of the location of their transmitters in the car. Strangely, in that position -- the S4 has an almost 100% success rate with Homelink. Thats fine with me - as thats where I typically park. Does anyone know where the transmitter antenna actually is located on the car?
For what its worth -- I found this huge thread over at Homelink receiver -- I do have a purple learn button on both of my openers, and many in that thread indicate difficulties with their Audis pairing/working reliably with them.
One of the good takeaways from that thread was this - "At this point they're assuming there is some kind of interference with the 315MHz frequency due to where the transmitter and antenna are placed in the S5 (it's actually in the rear bumper, and the antenna is located near the floor of the rear driver side according to the engineer)." -- which, if located in a similar location on the S4 -- would explain the better performance when the car is parked off at the angle.
Edit -- more info gleaned from that thread.. Even though my opener is a Craftsman, its a rebranded Chamberlain/Liftmaster.. That thread has a response from Liftmaster on the issue:
Case Number: 20171025-422305
Issue: Programming to a GDO - LiftMaster
Dear
Thank you for contacting Chamberlain Technical Support. We genuinely apologize for the delay in response. Due to the unexpected overflow of emails we are currently unable to reach our response time but are working as quickly as possible to catch up. Below is a response to the inquiry you recently submitted on our website.
The compatibility bridge will not help in this instance. I am not sure if HomeLink or Audi has explained the situation to you, but with many of the new 2018 Audi vehicles you will receive a key fob that will automatically unlock your vehicle doors when in a close proximity. This keyfob is constantly sending out a 315MHz frequency. Unfortunately, the 3255M (as well as the compatibility bridge) also operate off of this frequency, and this causes crosstalk and interference.
If you have not already tried, you can attempt programming with the keyfob away from the vehicle (at least 15 feet). If you would like me or another agent to walk you through the steps, please let me know the best date and time to contact you.
The only solution I have seen thus far has been to add a 390MHz receiver to the garage door motor, or to replace it all together with a unit that does not use 315MHz.
If you need further assistance or have questions, please feel free to email me back. If you would prefer that I call you back, please email me the best phone number and time to reach you. Please use case number 20171025-422305.
If I have resolved your issue, I would greatly appreciate it if you could respond to a follow up email that will contain a short survey, which is a direct review of my performance on our call today. I would be very grateful for your input.
Best Regards,
Katie
Chamberlain Technical Support
So it appears according to Chamberlain that the Audi fob may be interfering with the learn process, and subsequent use of the buttons.. I'm going to try re-paring the two openers using the method a subsequent poster mentioned:
1) open the door with the key, press the start button (accessory only, do not start the car)
2) leave the car door open and walk away with the key until you hear several dings - signifies the key is out of range, leave the key there
3) return to your car and go through the programming steps, worked immediately for me
Someone else also reported that their Audi dealership received some technical guidance from Audi suggesting that the radar sensors in the car are interfering during the learn process, and the work-around is to temporarily pull the fuse for that system during programming. I'll give that a shot and see if it helps.
1. Make sure the car is off
2. Pull the fuse for the lane change / blind spot assist (it's already out in the pic, but the spot is circled). It is the 4th fuse from the bottom in the rear driver-side fuse panel in the trunk. It's an orange 5 amp fuse, located directly above a 7.5 amp fuse.
3. Go through the programming process and sync the opener (we initially had to back the car into the driveway so it would be closer to the opener since the transmitter is near the rear bumper)
4. Test it out a few times
5. Turn off the car
6. Put the fuse back in.
As mentioned -- the other Homelink-equipped vehicles in the household - 3 of them (Chevy Malibu, Chevy Impala, Nissan Frontier) -- will open the door well before the driveway - 50-75' before the driveway -- so, no - there is nothing wrong with the receiver or antenna. However - two other things I discovered yesterday -- first, the manual indicates that you need to press the Homelink button twice - "Press the button to open the garage door. The LED blinks or turns on. Press the button again to open the garage door." - Ive been expecting response with one press. Second, I discovered the S4 has about a 20% success rate when the car is pointed straight at the garage door opening, unless the car is pulled up right to the door.. Some background on the driveway -- it is two cars wide, but then there is also a section angled off to the right where we can park up to 3 more cars at a 45 degree angle to the garage so they dont interfere with the two cars parked in the garage. Every vehicle I have had has been unable to hit the garage door from those locations, I'm assuming because of the location of their transmitters in the car. Strangely, in that position -- the S4 has an almost 100% success rate with Homelink. Thats fine with me - as thats where I typically park. Does anyone know where the transmitter antenna actually is located on the car?
Sorry, I misunderstood. I thought you said you "had" these other vehicles. I only push the button once--for about three seconds--and the door opens up no problem. I hope you get it fixed....good luck!
Yeah, I just tried some of the other workarounds in the previous thread.. Its still flaky as hell.. And yes, despite what the book says -- pressing it once will open and close -- when it is working.
I'm just going to order two of the Genie frequency conversion kits to get on 390 Mhz with Security+ 2.0 instead of 315 and call it a day.
TLDR: Installed external receiver, now the S4 hits the garage door all the way down the block.
So I figured I would follow-up with this and post what I ended up doing in case it helps anyone else.. So, while the other vehicles in the house would activate the opener from 50-75' away, I should note that over the past several years, this range has decreased quite a bit from what it used to be.. I chalk that up to an increase in interference from our house (and surrounding houses) due to a big uptick in the use of LED lighting -- which is known to cause interference issues with garage door openers. Our doors are aluminum -- which also compounds the issue by reducing the effective signal range.. The openers we are using are rebranded Chamberlain/Liftmaster openers sold by Sears/Craftsman.. Our openers also utilize 315 Mhz Security+ technology, which utilizes a purple learn button. One final issue we've been having is bumping in to the limit of learned devices on these openers.. We have four vehicles, 3 of which have Homelink (all post-2007), 1 has a standalone remote.. We also have a standalone remote for programming, and have a close relative that also has a remote programmed if they need to get in the house.
What I ended up doing was picking up a Liftmaster 850LM Universal Receiver.. This receiver utilizes Security+ 2.0 (yellow learn button), and utilizes frequency hopping between 310, 315, and 390 Mhz.. The receiver runs about $40, and can connect to up to 3 openers.. It wires up to the existing openers the same way a door switch wires. I should note that you cannot use this device with any opener that itself is utilizing Security+ 2.0, as those openers require an encrypted connection for wired door switches. The receiver itself requires the use of all Security+ 2.0 remotes.. This receiver will work with any opener that utilizes a normally open door switch contact. I also picked up a few Chamberlain 953EV remotes fairly cheap on eBay ($15 ea), as well as two new Chamberlain Security+ 2.0 keypads.. I should also note -- you can continue to use the receiver in your existing openers if you don't feel like replacing all your remotes and keypads.. I opted to do that, but it wasn't necessary.. If you have any Homelink vehicles that are pre-2007, you'll need to use the openers receiver for Homelink anyway, since Homelink didn't start supporting Security+ 2.0 until 2007 - and even then, not all vehicles started implementing it that year.
The 850LM has an antenna on it that connects via a regular CATV F-connector.. Even though Liftmaster sells an antenna extension kit for $30, I just made my own using a 4" corner brace from Home Depot, and some RG6 coax cable.. I ran the antenna to the inside center wall between our two doors where there is only some sheetrock and vinyl siding in its way to the outside.. I didn't test without using the antenna extension, but I would guess just connecting the antenna to the 850LM itself would have still provided much improved performance. The 850LM allows learning up to 50 remotes on the 1st opener, and 20 on the 2nd and 3rd.. Each channel also supports up to 2 wireless keypads.
Anyway -- now that I switched, the S4 easily opens/closes the garage door from down the block, at least 500' away.. I didn't try any further, since I lose sight of the garage doors around a bend in the road anyway.
TLDR: Installed external receiver, now the S4 hits the garage door all the way down the block.
So I figured I would follow-up with this and post what I ended up doing in case it helps anyone else.. So, while the other vehicles in the house would activate the opener from 50-75' away, I should note that over the past several years, this range has decreased quite a bit from what it used to be.. I chalk that up to an increase in interference from our house (and surrounding houses) due to a big uptick in the use of LED lighting -- which is known to cause interference issues with garage door openers. Our doors are aluminum -- which also compounds the issue by reducing the effective signal range.. The openers we are using are rebranded Chamberlain/Liftmaster openers sold by Sears/Craftsman.. Our openers also utilize 315 Mhz Security+ technology, which utilizes a purple learn button. One final issue we've been having is bumping in to the limit of learned devices on these openers.. We have four vehicles, 3 of which have Homelink (all post-2007), 1 has a standalone remote.. We also have a standalone remote for programming, and have a close relative that also has a remote programmed if they need to get in the house.
What I ended up doing was picking up a Liftmaster 850LM Universal Receiver.. This receiver utilizes Security+ 2.0 (yellow learn button), and utilizes frequency hopping between 310, 315, and 390 Mhz.. The receiver runs about $40, and can connect to up to 3 openers.. It wires up to the existing openers the same way a door switch wires. I should note that you cannot use this device with any opener that itself is utilizing Security+ 2.0, as those openers require an encrypted connection for wired door switches. The receiver itself requires the use of all Security+ 2.0 remotes.. This receiver will work with any opener that utilizes a normally open door switch contact. I also picked up a few Chamberlain 953EV remotes fairly cheap on eBay ($15 ea), as well as two new Chamberlain Security+ 2.0 keypads.. I should also note -- you can continue to use the receiver in your existing openers if you don't feel like replacing all your remotes and keypads.. I opted to do that, but it wasn't necessary.. If you have any Homelink vehicles that are pre-2007, you'll need to use the openers receiver for Homelink anyway, since Homelink didn't start supporting Security+ 2.0 until 2007 - and even then, not all vehicles started implementing it that year.
The 850LM has an antenna on it that connects via a regular CATV F-connector.. Even though Liftmaster sells an antenna extension kit for $30, I just made my own using a 4" corner brace from Home Depot, and some RG6 coax cable.. I ran the antenna to the inside center wall between our two doors where there is only some sheetrock and vinyl siding in its way to the outside.. I didn't test without using the antenna extension, but I would guess just connecting the antenna to the 850LM itself would have still provided much improved performance. The 850LM allows learning up to 50 remotes on the 1st opener, and 20 on the 2nd and 3rd.. Each channel also supports up to 2 wireless keypads.
Anyway -- now that I switched, the S4 easily opens/closes the garage door from down the block, at least 500' away.. I didn't try any further, since I lose sight of the garage doors around a bend in the road anyway.
How did you get the 850LM + 953EV to work at something other than 315Mhz? My opener actually came with 953EV (branded 893MAX) remotes and I can't figure out the steps to get it to work like you have. I have confirmed with Liftmaster I have the 850LM plugged into the correct ports on a supported opener (an 8500 series). Any guidance you have would be appreciated. Thanks!!
Did you reset your 953EV to use Security 2.0?
See attached. For steps 4,5, etc — you’ll use the 850LM, not the opener. And you won’t get the flashes on the opener, the LED on the 850LM will flash.
02-17-2018, 05:38 AM
Homelink range?
