What are some alternatives to buying homelink?

[heavyD]

We had two basically unused, small garage door openers, I took one, just some 3M tape, and put in the driver-side door pocket, super easy to reach without looking, totally out of way and it's no less convenient vs. HomeLink, i.e., it's one button.

At some point I'll adda HomeKit compatible controller since we're already all in on that tech (probably the Meross since I already have a few of their other products).

FYI there is still a well known bug with HomeKit when it comes to multiple garage door openers. For whatever reason it will always defer to the first garage door you added to HomeKit. For example my wife parks in the double door side and I park on the single door side. For when either of us drive up to the house the double door opener button pops up on our carplay screens but never the single door even though that's the one I open and close daily. I just use the Siri voice command for the single door opener but still it's annoying that Apple hasn't figured out that fix yet as I would think the software should be smart enough to learn which one you are using daily and default to that.

 

[samori01]

Another vote for Tailwind. Auto open/close function and isn’t tied to your Model 3 so it can be used with your next vehicle(s) too. $60-$80 depending on your smartphone so a fraction of the price of HomeLink too.

One more vote for Tailwind; not only can it move from car to car, its one purchase for two or three cars if you have androids, and $10 per other vehicle if you have an iphone.

 

[TBrownTX]

We had two basically unused, small garage door openers, I took one, just some 3M tape, and put in the driver-side door pocket, super easy to reach without looking, totally out of way and it's no less convenient vs. HomeLink, i.e., it's one button.

At some point I'll adda HomeKit compatible controller since we're already all in on that tech (probably the Meross since I already have a few of their other products).

I did this too, but then the buttons started to rattle and drive me nuts! Now I just keep it in the forward center console (in a small tray).

Tim

 

[mr2turbo004]

Buy it use and open a ticket with Tesla and tell you already installed it and you just need them to send it OTA. It's Free

 

[roblab]

Our cars came with Homelink. Simple program, and they work perfectly. Sorry to hear they are now an option, but many folks don't have a garage door, so I understand the thinking.

 

[MaskedRacerX]

Sorry to hear they are now an option, but many folks don't have a garage door, so I understand the thinking.

I have the opposite problem, I've got just the door, but no garage ...

 

[heavyD]

Buy it use and open a ticket with Tesla and tell you already installed it and you just need them to send it OTA. It's Free

I was under the assumption Tesla had to install them. I have looked at install videos and it looks pretty straightforward to install yourself.

 

[mr2turbo004]

I was under the assumption Tesla had to install them. I have looked at install videos and it looks pretty straightforward to install yourself.

It is very easy to install but the issue now is the price for used cost as much as new.

 

[Mutant]

One more vote for Tailwind; not only can it move from car to car, its one purchase for two or three cars if you have androids, and $10 per other vehicle if you have an iphone.

And you can also control/monitor up to three garage doors from one Tailwing controller by addiing additional door kits (additional door sensor and cabling) for $20 each additional kit. Also love the ability to grant additional user account access to the kids so they can open door to enter the house using app on their phones. Used to have a Z-Wave based garage door controller that failed after just over a year which required more complex setup through my home automation system. Tailwind is much simpler to setup and so far has lasted longer.

 

[robl45]

Good feedback for $60 Tailwind (Android price, pay $20 more for iPhone):

SR+ homelink

I’m very curious to know if it will require a software update once it’s installed though, and how long it will take to get refreshed. I was wondering this, as well. If I were to buy a module off eBay, would it run (ala plug n play), and it just show up in your screen?

teslamotorsclub.com

This is what I have, used it with android and now with iphone with the sensor disk, think it works slightly better with the sensor disc. auto open close works pretty much all the time. Sometimes auto open gets stuck and I go to open manually and it starts working, I think something with the phone and the app sometimes, its relatively rare. Biggest issue I have with Tailwind is that if you live backed up to a road like I do, the thing opens the garage when I leave and drive down the road in the back. Not a huge huge deal, but its annoying, they been trying to fix the software to stop that for a year.

 

[Mutant]

This is what I have, used it with android and now with iphone with the sensor disk, think it works slightly better with the sensor disc. auto open close works pretty much all the time. Sometimes auto open gets stuck and I go to open manually and it starts working, I think something with the phone and the app sometimes, its relatively rare. Biggest issue I have with Tailwind is that if you live backed up to a road like I do, the thing opens the garage when I leave and drive down the road in the back. Not a huge huge deal, but its annoying, they been trying to fix the software to stop that for a year.

I would try resetting your garage door location in the Tailwind app to make it further from the back road. Maybe make it your neighbour across the street in front to give you an extra 100 m from the back road. Also try setting your automatic door open distance to a shorter distance to avoid trigering while travelling on road behind house.

 

[dmurphy]

The big "miss" on this, is the fact that its not a "clickable option" on the order form for "+325 homelink module" install. There is some reason they are not simply allowing people to order it with the car, and I dont know what that is. I suspect its simply a "its would be bad PR" thing, but dont know.

Simply, I think it’s because it would double the # of possible car configurations. The batch system they use for building depends on keeping the number of variations to an absolute minimum. This way is “cleaner” as far as order entry and matching.

Curious what the take rate is for Homelink. I suspect it’s not high.

 

[jjrandorin]

Simply, I think it’s because it would double the # of possible car configurations. The batch system they use for building depends on keeping the number of variations to an absolute minimum. This way is “cleaner” as far as order entry and matching.

Curious what the take rate is for Homelink. I suspect it’s not high.

I have a homelink module sitting here in my dining room, waiting for the incoming model Y Performance we ordered for my wife. For me, it was a no brainer (to not have to tell my wife she has to go back to "the clicker" after having it in every BMW for more than a decade, and my model 3 having it).

 

[Dalmatic]

For those who have opted to just continue using an old-fashioned garage door clicker, I discovered that the standard clip that comes with the typical clicker fits perfectly on the front edge of the driver's seat. This places the clicker right next to my knee for easy access without getting in the way; keeps the device out of sight (even from inside the car); effectively reduces the occasional rattle or vibration noise that used to annoy me when it was attached to my visor; and eliminates the need to stick double-sided tape or velcro anywhere inside the car (I'm a bit OCD about things like that). I also have not experienced any range issues, despite the clicker being mounted so close to the floor.

Okay, so it's not a ground-breaking idea, and may not even be original (though I have not seen it mentioned anywhere). Just throwing it out there as another option to consider. It's definitely working well for me...

(Sorry about the double-posting. I mistakenly posted this in the Model Y forum, but intended for this to go the Model 3 folks. Oh, well... now I'll just have twice as many people telling me how useless this idea really is...

 

[SourJellybeans]

Sorry

I attached a sonoff mini do my garage doors, and coded a simple html page. So when I open a browser, this is my homepage.
As you can see I have 4 garage doors and one electric gate at work. I controll them all.
A 5x 5 EUR solution

It looks like maybe you took down your site since this post but a few suggestions:

1) You should redact the URL before posting a public screenshot
2) If you don't already, you should require authentication to login
3) You should implement HTTPS to protect the credentials used to login

Theoretically, if none of those had been done and your site was still up, any random person coming across that could open your garage doors from the other side of the globe. In fact, if you also don't implement robots.txt, you could have automated crawlers triggering the doors as they try to index your page.

Of course, the challenge you'll have with #2 is not requiring you to login each time you want to open your garage door. I don't know to what extent the Tesla browser caches cookies or authentication data, maybe that's an option.

 

[OliverM3]

Thanks all. Just so weird that my Nissan and Honda have it integrated and the car of the future doesn't. Pretty lame but they get the other 900 things right! #firstworldproblems

I actually haven't had homelink on any of my BMW, Audi or Mercedes so it was nice that I could add the option to the Tesla.
I was using the clipon garage door opener and that worked fine. But it's nice that as I get 200ft from my garage the buttons come up for my side and my wife's side. Also any gate or parents garage can be added and their name/icon will appear when I get close to those houses.

You could set it for auto but I don't like a device trying to guess what I want on a daily basis so hitting a button on my screen is fine with me.

The process was super simple they came to my work and installed the module I didn't even see them. He called said he was starting and called when he was done. Also gave me his number and told me if I have any issues when I get home to give him a call.

The Module may not be worth the price but the convenience of the install that's built in to the price definitely helps justify the cost.

 

[Gibb]

I have a homelink module sitting here in my dining room, waiting for the incoming model Y Performance we ordered for my wife. For me, it was a no brainer (to not have to tell my wife she has to go back to "the clicker" after having it in every BMW for more than a decade, and my model 3 having it).

We had homelink in our last 2 BMW’s but it required us to either add the ‘preminum’ or ‘convenience’ package. So not necessarily ’included’. With our Tesla we just used our smart garage door and added automation to open the door when we were in the drive way.

 

[LostLuggage]

I'm using a new "clicker" that we bought to keep in my 2022 Model YP.... does anyone else find that there is some sort of interference caused by the car that renders the clicker inoperable? We can open the garage on foot..but for some reason, not from inside the running vehicle.

 

[BigNick]

I'm using a new "clicker" that we bought to keep in my 2022 Model YP.... does anyone else find that there is some sort of interference caused by the car that renders the clicker inoperable? We can open the garage on foot..but for some reason, not from inside the running vehicle.

My "clicker" always worked perfectly in my M3P until the mobile tech installed my Homelink. It's an older (late 90s, maybe) Chamberlain unit. Maybe the new openers work on a different frequency that is more subject to interference?

 

[GtiMart]

I put my "clicker" on the sunvisor, but I have to lower the sunvisor for it to work properly. It gives a direct line of sight from the clicker to the door... If I just leave the sunvisor up it's hit and miss... I had tried sticking the clicker behind the car's screen (bottom left) to hide it but it was not working reliably from there either.