Genie Aladdin Connect Smartphone Garage Door Opener – Monitor, Open & Close Your Garage Door from Anywhere Using Your iPhone or Android Device

TLDR; Works well and much happier with this solution over the originally installed Q competitor. The scenario functions (both schedule and timer) are much more advanced in the Aladdin product, in addition to the Alexa integration not available in the other.Bought the competing Q product first, as it was $20 cheaper (and then realized it was only $5 difference after I bought the mount for it). While that product was a simpler install (pair it as if another remote), it did not connect to Alexa - only controlled via app. I don’t always have my phone in hand so voice control via Alexa is where I see the largest benefits of a “smart” home. After realizing the price was $5 difference I unplugged the other and bought the Aladdin. My door opener is a newer Genie installed last year.The initial setup for both products is very similar. I recommend that you setup the app and complete the linking prior to hardware install. Once the two devices are synced, you can unplug and then mount. The pairing was stored even though it was almost 2 weeks in between the pairing and final install. For install, I’d recommend watching a few of the videos here on Amazon. The written instructions aren’t bad but there are options in install that while noted in the setup sheet, aren’t detailed enough to help differentiate A from B. I had already watched the videos prior to purchase to confirm functionality so I was aware of the options and how I wanted to set mine up. However, if you’re relying just on the simple setup doc, it may be a little too simplified.For the door mount, I used a drywall anchor and one of the existing holes in the garage door frame. Living in the South, I don’t trust sticker mounts. I mounted the sensor lower on the door since I have windows in the top panels. This will also make any future battery replacement easier (no need for a step ladder to reach). Works well.The ceiling mount is what gave me the most pause in thinking where to mount. Be aware of the connecting wires between your main opener and the Aladdin controller - you’ll want to keep those free from any moving parts. I ended up mounting on the same side as the wire inputs to avoid running the wire across the opener itself which avoids any potential snags or pulls. Luckily for me, the ceiling plug was also on that same side. With the controller facing the garage door.I can now feel confident that the garage door is not inadvertently left open overnight. While it is part of our evening routine to check the doors, I no longer have to open door between the house and the garage to check and I’m looking forward to removing it from my mind entirely. Using the saved schedule, have it set to auto close if the door is opened at any point after our normal dinner hour and before we leave for work in the AM. Door will operate normally and auto-close 5 minutes later.You can set the auto close to a timer, rather than a schedule. Meaning, close door after being open for X minutes. However, that doesn’t work for us since my husband likes to putter in the yard and leave the garage open while he does so. As much as I prefer the door closed, the Aladdin gives us both a solution that works for us. We’ve got it set so that if it’s dark outside, door will auto close. Otherwise, he can leave it open while he’s in the yard during the day.The controller gives you the option of setting behavior based on day of the week as well. So you could timer close during the weekdays and schedule close on weekends. We may eventually do that but for now, we are both happy with the setup.Overall much better solution than the competitor. Happy with the control and flexibility it provides.

This is the best retrofit kit out there in my opinion. I tried the MyQ kit, and just couldn't make it work. It would open one door, but not the other. Somehow, it couldn't correctly send a signal to the identical garage door opener just 10 feet away. Anyway, this one is MUCH better because it does hard wire into either your garage door opener OR (the choice I took) into your existing opener buttons. So my existing opener buttons are where they've always been, right next to the door. This new door control module is farther away from the door because it needs to be close to an outlet. So it's just on the wall about 8 feet away from the entry door to the garage (6 feet from the original openers). All I had to do was run 2 6-foot (approx) lengths of supplied wire and hook them up to the existing buttons, then program the unit and the app for the 2 doors. The programming is the easiest part, since they walk you through it. Hanging the stuff up is only difficult because you have to screw stuff in and route wires. But it's not bad. And again, once you get it installed, IT WORKS. I highly reccomend this. I do have Genie garage door openers, but that doesn't matter. Since this hard wires in, it will work with just about any garage door opener made in the last 30 years.

I have a lot of smart devices and supposedly "simple" integration devices, none, none have been as easy to install and set up as this one.I have an older Genie opener, and started to have reception issues, tried all the tricks to no avail. I also don’t have an outside entry door to my garage, also I use the garage as the main way in and out of the house; because dogs. When carpooling or working on the yard using the external key pad was getting old. I was looking into replacing the entire unit with something better, better range or smart, I found this option on the Genie website. I can see some criticism about the printed instructions, however after watching the video and having some knowledge of how these openers work, I was able to intuit my installation method. I chose to maintain my old button, and add this unit as an add on, this isn’t as clear in the instructions as it could be, but you just tie it into the existing wires on the back of your wall button, in “parallel”. The amount of cable provided, is sufficient you can mount this where you have access to an outlet. WiFi set up was perfect, shockingly fast, as was the connection to the door position sensor, like I said in the beginning, I have never had a smart device connect and set up so fast and trouble free. I spent far more time attaching the wall bracket. Once set up, I added the app to my Google Home, and now I can operate the door hands free, by telling my car “open garage door” the car does ask for my PIN, a slight annoyance. Like most all smart devices it runs on 2.4GHz, this is fine, I try to reserve 2.4 for this and leave 5.0 open for data devices. Great thing about this kit is it will work with any brand opener of any age as long as you just need two wires and a button.

The device comes with excellent instructions. I got the control module connected to the wifi and confirmed connection to tge door sensor before installing. All the hardware required comes with the unit. I mounted the control unit and door sensor. I connected the control unit to my door opener. I plugged it in and tested. No issues. I also added it to Google home. The whole process took 30 minutes. Unfortunately the device stopped working on the first night. It would not connect to the cloud. After spending an hour troubleshooting, I found that the firmware was outdated and I had to call customer support to resolve the issue. It does work well now.