johnl@iecc.com
Date: 21 Dec 2017 12:51:20 -0500
Their former arch rival SPG (now part of their other arch-rival Marriott) has a small version of this that lets you use your phone as your door key.
Old manual method: walk up to door, take key card out of your pocket, tap lock, door unlocks, open door.
New high tech method: walk up to door, take phone out of your pocket.
Unlock phone, start up SPG app. Tap to tell it you want to open your door.
Phone tells you this uses bluetooth, do you want to turn on bluetooth?
Switch to other app, turn on bluetooth, switch back to SPG app. App says
aha, there is a door nearby. App icon makes blobby motion pattern while it
talks to the door. Door unlocks, open door. Probably forget to turn off
bluetooth, thereby running down phone battery faster. Try to remember to
take phone out of your pocket and start up the app and turn on bluetooth
while you're in the elevator, next time.
gabe@gabegold.com
Date: Thu, 21 Dec 2017 13:28:23 -0500
Sounds like my experience today trying to introduce my 2007 car to a newly
installed garage-door opener. Car of course worked fine having been
programmed in 2007 for replaced opener. Car and new opener manuals both have
instructions for connecting, each to the other. While not quite
contradictory, the instructions don't quite mesh. And the car's instruction
steps loop (Step 4 stating "If this fails, repeat Steps 2-4"). Of course,
there's a separate remote opener but it's annoying the built-in button
apparently can't be programmed to the new/fancy opener. I'll call
LiftMaster for advice, not being optimistic.
How fancy? It's WiFi capable. I just need to connect opener to my home network, install the app, establish an account, and I can use my phone to open/close/monitor the door. Aside from (as you note happening in elevator) fumbling with phone while driving, running app, finding open/close option, what could go wrong with THAT, having my garage door online?