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How I reproduce the Model X Homelink failure and my analysis

Were you able to reproduce the same problem?

  • No I tried but couldn't reproduce it

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    5

MXFan

Member
Mar 1, 2017
218
297
Northern Virginia
You are the first satisfied customer I have ever seen lol, there may be more out there but you are the first one...

Most happy people don't bother posting. I suspect they are in the majority.

Now if you want to talk wifi, Tesla is less than optimal. Fortunately, my recent $20 wifi extender fixed that problem.
 
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ToddS

Member
Jan 13, 2017
300
173
Jupiter, FL
I considered this, but I read or saw something about the current length of a garage door antenna already being optimized for the unit. Being that it's only a few inches long, I wonder if I would negatively affect the function of the unit, let alone void the 5-yr warranty.

I am leaning toward the splicing option since the auto-open is pretty useless right now.

My garage door is like 20 or more years old. LOL

I can't see how it voids to just add length. If you take it apart, maybe.
 

Sawyer8888

Member
Mar 16, 2017
422
420
South Florida
My garage door is like 20 or more years old. LOL

I can't see how it voids to just add length. If you take it apart, maybe.

I am starting the believe the old garage door opener models are much more capable with Homelink.

My house is all cinder block and concrete, so maybe that affects the signal as well since the antenna is right behind the front-right wall to the side of the garage door. Most antennas hang from a unit that is situated in the middle of the garage. The design of my garage opener and its position in the garage may play a role in its inability to pick up the Homelink signal.

It may be time to get creative with my antenna.
 

xspace

Member
Apr 25, 2017
77
31
Ontario
Is there an option for the garage door operation to utilize the WiFi or LTE to open the garage doors, rather than the Homelink RF signal? For cell phone garage door control, I use the LiftMaster MyQ app, or my Wink hub app (MyQ is faster). It provides perfect control. My 2012 Audi S5 Cabriolet's homelink button works from down the street, so also excellent. I am currently awaiting receipt of our Model X, so don't yet know if this will be a problem for us.
 

MXFan

Member
Mar 1, 2017
218
297
Northern Virginia
Is there an option for the garage door operation to utilize the WiFi or LTE to open the garage doors, rather than the Homelink RF signal?

Not at this time. I use both the Tesla homelink and the LiftMaster MyQ app. 99% of the time the Tesla homelink auto-open/auto-close feature meets my needs. Only occasionally do I use the MyQ app to open/close. I use the MyQ app more for looking at the open/close history.
 
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woof

Fluffy Member
Apr 30, 2009
1,575
1,755
Agreed it's super frustrating, auto-open when arriving also doesn't work for me because at the distance the Homelink was triggered, it's too far to actually trigger opening the garage door...
This distance can easily be tweeked. I can't post exact details (as I forget!) but I do recall it was pretty simple to modify the distance at which it triggers.
 

n731xb

New Member
May 21, 2017
4
7
Dallas
After 2 months of working perfectly Homelink became very intermittent and it would take several presses to open the garage door. Called Tesla who said to reprogram Homelink with a fresh battery in the remote, as the Tesla duplicates a weak signal if the remote is weak. Did that, and it has worked perfectly, even from more than 100 feet away for the 2 months subsequently.
Said they would send out a ranger to test it, if that did not fix the problem.
 

cwerdna

Active Member
Jul 11, 2012
3,349
2,195
SF Bay Area, CA
One thing I did see recently, though, was that LED and compact flourescent bulbs can apparently cause interference with garage door openers. I guess they can generate noise on the same frequency as the remote. The article I read suggested only using conventional light bulbs in garage door openers because of this issue. I have LED bulbs in my garage door opener and I read this after I replaced my Prius with my model S, so I never tried replacing the LED bulb since it's working for me now, but if you have an energy saving bulb in your garage door opener it might be interesting to replace it with a conventional bulb (or even just remove it temporarily to test) and see if that makes things more reliable.
I've run CFLs w/a rolling code garage door opener for over a decade w/o any issues.

But, yes, I did learn recently of folks having interference from LED bulbs and there are apparently LED bulbs that are supposed to be compatible like LED Light Bulb for Garage Door Openers | Exclusively from Genie.

I've also heard (not sure if it's true) of some folks w/solar having garage door opener range reduction when it's sunny due to interference from inverters.
 
Last edited:

SoCal Tsla

Member
Apr 27, 2017
257
53
Irvine, California
I've run CFLs w/a rolling code garage door opener for over a decade w/o any issues.

But, yes, I did learn recently of folks having interference from LED bulbs and there are apparently LED bulbs that are supposed to be compatible like LED Light Bulb for Garage Door Openers | Exclusively from Genie.

I've also heard (not sure if it's true) of some folks w/solar having garage door opener range reduction when it's sunny due to interference from inverters.
I do have solar.... not sure if that's why
 

DDotJ

Member
Feb 28, 2013
741
1,126
California
I have a Model S and Model X, and the Model S Homelink has been absolutely amazing, best in any car I've owned in fact. I have a fairly long driveway, and I can be at the end of the driveway while facing the other way and Homelink will work 100% of the time. But the Model X seems to have difficulty at half the distance.

About 3 weeks into Model X ownership, I was parked right in front and facing the garage (5 feet away from the receiver) and Homelink wouldn't work at all. It opened my gate, but not my garage. It worked with the Model S and all my remotes, so it was a Model X problem. Homelink had been working (not terribly well, but functional) until that point.

I deleted the garage door homelink from the car and re-programmed it and that seemed to get it to work again. And by working, I have to press the homelink button 4 times at the end of the driveway for the garage door to open. It just seems very weak, I don't know why my older 2014 Model S does a better job than the X.
 

SoCal Tsla

Member
Apr 27, 2017
257
53
Irvine, California
I have a Model S and Model X, and the Model S Homelink has been absolutely amazing, best in any car I've owned in fact. I have a fairly long driveway, and I can be at the end of the driveway while facing the other way and Homelink will work 100% of the time. But the Model X seems to have difficulty at half the distance.

About 3 weeks into Model X ownership, I was parked right in front and facing the garage (5 feet away from the receiver) and Homelink wouldn't work at all. It opened my gate, but not my garage. It worked with the Model S and all my remotes, so it was a Model X problem. Homelink had been working (not terribly well, but functional) until that point.

I deleted the garage door homelink from the car and re-programmed it and that seemed to get it to work again. And by working, I have to press the homelink button 4 times at the end of the driveway for the garage door to open. It just seems very weak, I don't know why my older 2014 Model S does a better job than the X.
yes my MX seems to only work 50% of the time now... was going to ask them to send a ranger...
 

xspace

Member
Apr 25, 2017
77
31
Ontario
Another data point for you:

LiftMaster Garage Door Openers (2)
Model X 2017 (delivered 22-Jun-17)

I believe that the HomeLink button on the Centre Console has worked 100% of the time.

I just went out to do some tests, and here are the results:

In the garage: The door opens and closes with each press.

Facing the garage doors: tested at 100 feet, and the door opens and closes every time.

Backing in to garage: tested at decreasing distances, converged on the door opening and closing with 100% success (8 tries) at 43' away.

I access my garage door by driving slightly past my garage to the start of the driveway, turning left, then driving up the driveway to the door. Once I get to about even with the garage, about 30' away, it triggers the door opening (I have never had it not properly trigger).

I hope that information is of use to somebody trying to troubleshoot their problem.
 

carteriii

Member
Dec 10, 2016
103
89
San Juan Capistrano, CA
After re-training from my remotes, everything was rock solid and both opened & closed 100% of the time for the past 1-2 months *UNTIL* the most recent firmware update (17.26.76). Now it is flaky again, failing to open or close 30-50% of the time. I need to try re-training and see if it goes back to being rock solid.
 

Sawyer8888

Member
Mar 16, 2017
422
420
South Florida
Liftmaster Jackshaft 8500

My car still rarely opens the door automatically as I approach the garage. What usually works is pulling into my driveway (auto-open has already failed) then while allowing the car to roll backwards away from the garage, I select the button to open the door and it opens, nearly every time (within 10 feet of the door). Sitting inches from the door while pushing the button does nothing. I don't get it.

Auto-close always works because the door is open, so there's no interference. The car also opens and closes the door without issue from inside the garage.

I have accepted that my car is just not compatible with my garage door opener or my garage door is too thick or the signal is too weak. Whatever it may be, it just doesn't work well.
 

Sandiegodoug

Member
Apr 25, 2017
870
580
SAN Diego
Opening is flawless
Closing rarely works, have to do it manually by pressing button over and over
Have A 1994 genie opener
What's funny is at first, closing was flawless too, door closed as we drove away
I think I read car has to be 10 feet away
 

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