For years, I dealt with the same garage access headaches everyone faces. Lost remotes wedged between car seats and broken visor clips. Then there's that awkward moment when the dog walker texts asking how to get in, and I'm stuck explaining where we hide the spare remote. I'd been looking at cheap gadgets to turn my home smart, but nothing addressed this specific frustration. Then I stumbled on the myQ Smart Garage Video Keypad. I spent less than fifty bucks and got custom PIN codes for different people, a built-in camera for monitoring who's coming and going, plus it works with my existing myQ setup. I recently installed it, and I can't believe I waited this long to do it.
My garage access situation needed a serious upgrade Too many remotes and not enough control
I had four garage door remotes floating around our house. One lived in my car's center console. Another was clipped to my wife's visor -- until it broke and ended up in her purse. The third was supposed to stay by the kitchen door as a backup, but it ended up in different drawers. The fourth got lost in the folds of our double stroller.
Traditional remotes create a security problem. Anyone who finds one has complete access to your garage with no way to track who opened the door or when. When our house cleaner needed access, I had to physically hand off a remote and hope it made its way back. I was constantly coordinating who had the remote and whether they'd returned it.
The myQ keypad solved multiple problems at once A camera, keypad, and smart hub in one device
The myQ Smart Garage Video Keypad packs a lot into a compact unit. The 1080p HD camera has a 160-degree field of view, capturing the entire area in front of my garage door plus a good chunk of the driveway. The night vision works better than expected -- I can clearly see faces and license plates even at 2 AM.
The keypad lets me create unique PIN codes for different people. Our neighbors have a custom one, and our dog walker got her own code, too. I can also make temporary codes that expire after a few hours or only work during certain times of day for contractors and repair people.
The two-way audio has been handy -- I can talk to whoever shows up at the garage through my phone. And the motion detection actually knows the difference between a person and a passing car, which means my phone isn't blowing up with alerts all day.
It works with Chamberlain, LiftMaster, and Craftsman openers from 1993 or newer. The myQ app comes with a free month of their premium tier, which gets you video history and better notifications.
What's great is that the keypad works with radio signals, just like a traditional opener (the camera needs Wi-Fi, though). That means, when my Internet is down, I can still use the keypad to open the garage. I've been locked out before when my smart garage door became "dumb" without Wi-Fi and thus no myQ app control.
Installation took under 15 minutes Mounting and pairing were surprisingly simple
Everything I needed came in the box -- mounting bracket, hardware, etc. It took me longer to figure out where to put it than to actually install it. I ended up mounting it about five feet up on the right side of the large garage door. The camera angle looked good, and it's tucked under the overhang enough to stay out of heavy rain.
The Bluetooth pairing was dead simple. I downloaded the myQ app, turned on the keypad, and followed the instructions it gave me. I had it on my Wi-Fi in under two minutes. When I first connected it, it needed to download a large update. It took a while, but it's been working great since. At night, the keypad lights up just enough to read the numbers without being obnoxious.
I went the extra mile with permanent power Why I chose wired over battery operation
Out of the box, this thing runs on a rechargeable battery. It supposedly lasts months between charges, but I didn't want to add another gadget to my mental charging rotation. So I grabbed the myQ Smart Garage Door Video Keypad Wired Power Adapter Kit for another $40 and wired it up permanently.
I had to drill through my garage door frame to snake the power cable inside -- make sure to choose a drill bit wider than the wire nuts so they fit through. I angled the drill bit slightly (from the outside in) so rain wouldn't get in. Next, I threaded the cable through, then hit the hole with some exterior caulk on both sides.
On the inside, I ran the cable to the ceiling outlet (for the garage opener) using one of those D-Line Half Round Cord Hiders. I broke out my laser level to keep the run straight along the wall and ceiling -- it looks cleaner that way.
The power adapter kit was worth it. The keypad stays charged, stays on, and I never think about it. The whole installation took maybe 30 minutes from start to finish -- hanging the D-Line cord hiders on the ceiling took up most of the time.
Custom PIN codes changed how my family uses the garage Individual access codes for everyone
Each person getting their own code completely changed how this works. The activity log shows me who opened the door and exactly when. If my neighbors drop off a misdelivered package? I get a ping. My wife goes for a run in the morning. I know the garage closed after her.
I even gave our HVAC company a code that only works weekdays between 8 AM and 6 PM. They can get in for maintenance calls without me being there or playing phone tag about access. My phone tells me when they show up and when they leave.
The activity log has ended more than a few "Did you close the garage?" conversations. I just pull it up and see who was last in. Plus, I've got it hooked into my myQ automation that closes everything automatically each night, so those arguments are pretty much extinct now.
The video camera adds an extra layer of security Seeing who's at your garage door before they get in
It turns out the camera is one of the best parts. My phone buzzes when someone walks up to the garage, and the person detection means I'm not getting false alerts from every car that drives by. The notification shows a thumbnail, so I can see who it is without even opening the app.
That 30-day video history has already paid for itself. I lost a package a few weeks back, so I pulled up the footage, and there it was -- the delivery driver put it just inside the garage instead of at the front door. I'd walked past it three times without noticing.
Worth the investment
I spent $80 total between the keypad and power adapter and haven't regretted it once. No more hunting for lost remotes and no more wondering who opened the garage. The PIN codes give me control without making things complicated, and the video feed adds security. The permanent power means I set it and forget it. If your garage door opener is compatible, and you're sick of the remote shuffle, this upgrade pays for itself in convenience alone.