1 Year Review of Liftmaster 8500 with MyQ Internet Gateway
One year ago, I installed this Liftmaster 8500 garage door opener. Bought it online and installed it myself within a weekend. The kit that I purchased came with the MyQ Internet gateway.
You can watch my video review about the opener on YouTube.
The Pros
It is very quiet. If I open the door while standing on the other side of the house, I barely hear it running. The deadbolt on the door is louder than the door moving.
The opener was very easy to install. If you already have a garage door installed, adding this opener can be done as a DIY task on a Saturday. I already had most of necessary tools to complete the job, including a drill, sockets, and wire strippers. I did have to use some two by fours to mount some of the hardware to as my garage door is mounted to the two by fours and not flush with the wall.
The opener kit that i purchased came with the Internet gateway. This is great as it allows you to open the door when you are not at home to let the repairman or kids in when you are not there.
This model supports the battery backup so that you can get in the garage while the power is out. I do not have the battery backup, but it can be purchased as an add on if I chose to change my mind in the future.
It doesn't take up as much space as convention chain garage door openers.
In my garage, I have a ceiling fan that the previous home owners had installed. Installing a conventional garage opener would have meant that the ceiling fan would have to be removed. Let's just say working in a garage during an Alabama summer when the humidity can be 90% and the temp 95 degrees, the fan is clutch.
The Cons
Sometimes when you go to open the door, the door opens as it should, but the light doesn't always turn on. However when the door reaches the top, the light will turn on.
I believe that part of the reason that the light doesn't turn on is because the light is radio controlled. In other words, when you press the button on the remote or door control, the opener sends a radio signal to the light to switch on. As you may know, radio signals are always subject to interference with other radio signals and electrical wiring. This is a minor problem.
If you partially open the door, the MyQ app will not alert you that the door is partially open. This is clearly a security risk to your home.
For instance, if someone opens the door and stops it part of the way, you will not receive a notification on your phone or email regarding this. I did check the MyQ message board and saw that others have complained about this and a Liftmaster representative responded. However Liftmaster hasn't provide an update to this defect.
The MyQ app doesn't always close the door back immediately after it has opened.
With my android phone, if I press the button on my phone to close the door within 20 seconds of it being opened, the door doesn't close.
However if I force close the app, reopen it, and then press the button to close the door, the door proceeds to close. This is another complaint that i have seen on the MyQ message board.
Video
Conclusion
Overall it is a great garage door opener in my opinion. However it does have room for improvement, especially in regards to the app.
You can purchase your LiftMaster 8500 today.