With Eachen’s WiFi Garage Remote and HOOBS, You Can Have a HomeKit and Siri compatible Garage!
Apple’s HomeKit and Siri make it easy and fun to control and automate accessories in and around your home. Yet, it can also be more expensive to obtain lights, switches and other items that work specifically under the “HomeKit” branding. Many desiring to get their homes automated will start with their garage doors. If you have a garage, it just makes sense.
One of the most advertised brands for garage door automation that I’ve ever seen has been the Chamberlain MyQ Smart Garage Door Opener. Its the first thing that pops up on Amazon in a search for “WiFi garage opener“. I myself purchased one, and couldn’t wait to get it home from the store to hook it up! But, what a disappointment!😮 Sure, it worked. It opened and closed the door with their App. But I was quickly disheartened upon realizing that this devise was only the lure baiting me into spending significantly more money if I wanted other abilities. For example: I would also be needing their expensive bridge, never ending battery replacements for the door sensor, and even a subscription service if I want to use it with Google’s voice assistant (something that other devices do for free!). Unbelievable! I knew there had to be a better way! So, I packed the thing up and sent it back, in hopes of a better solution. And, now I’m going to share my happy findings with you!
More Device Choises
My first finding was that there is a great way to get many non-HomeKit branded devices to work under HomeKit. This can be done easily with a system called HOOBS, which stands for Homebridge Out Of the Box System.
HOOBS is actually a combination of community-based open source software written in JavaScript running under the Linux operating system on an inexpensive dedicated computer hardware, in this case the small Raspberry Pi computer. HOOBS bridges the gap of incapability between HomeKit and accessories that are not normally compatible. To get different brand name devices to work under HomeKit, HOOBS uses free easy to install downloadable plugins.
Want to use the popular Ring devices under HomeKit? No problem! HOOBS maintains a “Certified” plugin to allow you to access them in HomeKit. Be cautious though, as not all plugins are HOOBS Certified. Many are simply a work in progress by individuals. Those my not work as good as hoped. Still, the maker of HOOBS claims support for over 2000 different devices!
I also already had my own Raspberry PI 3 Model B+. So, I only needed to download the required software from HOOBS to get up and running.
Excellent! So, now I would be able to use all kinds of device alternatives. I was determined to find something that was inexpensive, worked with my old Allister garage door opener from the early 1980’s, and would make the door’s open/closed state available without replacing batteries.
Enter eWeLink Compatible Devices
Among the many plugins available for HOOBS was a Certified version of the eWeLink plugin. This was great news! If your not familiar with eWeLink, it is an iPhone App available on Apple’s App store. There are many reasonably priced devices from different brands that are compatible with the eWeLink App. Among them are the Sonoff and Eachen products (popular in China). Eachen makes the Eachen GD-DC5 – WiFi Garage Door Opener. It was exactly what I was looking for. If you order one though, make sure to get the one that supports the eWeLink App. The HOOBS plugin makes use of the same API as the App, with only a few as-of-yet unsupported devices.
When you first install the Eachen GD-DC5, it will appear in the HOOBS panel and in HomeKit as a normal On/Off switch. It took me some time before I realized how to make it appear as a Garage Door with Open/Closed status. It must be configured in the plugin configuration to do this. The cool thing is that by configuring the plugin, you can use different switches and sensors to Open/Close the door and properly detect the state, but the Eachen opener is already equipped with an accurate magnetic door sensor. So the configuration would look like this:
You can find settings for other possible configurations and uses here.
You can download HOOBS for any donation amount, or simply enter $0.00 if you don’t wish to donate.