While smart garage door openers have mobile apps that tell you whether your garage door is locked or not, you would still have more peace of mind if you can actually see it closed. And this is where the Asante Smart Garage Door Opener stands out.
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Features of the Asante Smart Garage Door Opener with Camera
Open, close or see your garage door no matter where you are in the world. Asante Smart Garage Door Opener works like every other smart garage door opener that you can open and close using the mobile app on your smartphone.
With the included camera, you can also see your garage on the same mobile app. No need to buy a separate camera that you can view using another mobile app. You can view and operate your garage door all from one place.
Night vision camera. The included camera has LED lamps that can give you bright images even when the garage door is closed and the place is dark, or even at night.
Use it with your current garage door opener. If you have an existing garage door opener, you can just retrofit the Asante Smart Garage Door Opener easily.
Share access easily. Using the mobile app, you can give family members and friends access to your garage door. That means more people can open or close your garage door without needing to bother you.
This is a good way to ensure that your kids, your other family members, or your cleaning lady can get into your house even when you are not home. You can also revoke this access at any time.
Control two garage doors. If you have two garages, all you need is one Asante Smart Garage Door Opener.
No monthly fees. Unlike some garage door systems, the Asante Smart Garage Door Opener will work on its own, without you paying any recurring fees.
Get e-mail and SMS notifications aside from the push notifications you get on your smartphone. The Asante mobile app allows you to specify what types of alert notifications you want to get for different events.
You can ask for an e-mail notification, a text alert, or a push notification for every time that the garage door is opened and closed, and when there is a failure in the software upgrade.
You can turn off all notifications if you want. The mobile app also allows you to easily test each setting.
What you would love about the Asante Smart Garage Door Opener with Camera
The Asante Smart Garage Door Opener with Camera is very affordable, costing only $200 (For the latest prices and discounts, check here). Each Asante Smart Garage Door Opener can operate two garage doors.
It is also very easy to set up. You can install everything in as little as 15 to 20 minutes. In addition, it connects to your Wi-Fi network automatically.
Furthermore, you would appreciate the night vision that helps you see things even in the dark. Also, the no-monthly-fee is a great help because not only do you not pay any recurring fees, but you also get unlimited cloud access.
What could be better
The camera has a VGA resolution of 640 x 480 pixels, a resolution that is not too shabby but will definitely be lacking in detail. However, if you only need to check if your garage door is open or not, then this would be enough.
Just do not expect the video streaming quality to be at par with the videos and photos you get with your smartphone.
Asante has a full range of products that connect to the Asante Home Extender. The Home Extender acts as a hub as well as a Wi-Fi repeater that gives you Wi-Fi connectivity that covers an area of up to 5,000 square feet.
It also allows you to automatically pair all Asante devices, which include the Garage Door Opener with camera, the Asante Irrigation Controller, and the Smoke Detector.
However, there is no way for you to make these devices work together.
For instance, you can’t automatically open the garage doors when the Asante Smoke Detector sounds an alarm, or have the Irrigation Controller stop watering when you open your garage door.
In fact, for a smart home device, it does not have any integration with home automation platforms and communication protocols such as Wink, Zigbee, or Z-Wave.
It also does not have native integration with Samsung SmartThings or Amazon Alexa. It does not currently work with IFTTT recipes, but the company says that it will open its own IFTTT channel in the future.
Additionally, the Asante Smart Garage Door Opener with Camera suffers from a poorly designed app. The company has opted to make one app for its products, so if you plan to only buy the garage door opener, you would be stuck with a lot of other stuff that you cannot use.
That would also mean that it would take you a few taps and clicks to see what you want, rather than instantly see or operate your garage door on the home screen when you launch the app. Several users on Amazon also complained of glitches with the mobile app, as well as of connectivity issues.
Furthermore, it should be clear that you need to buy the optional Garage Door Sensor for the system to detect whether the garage door is open or not. That will cause you an additional $23 (For the latest prices and discounts, check here).
Alternatives to the Asante Smart Garage Door Opener with Camera
MyQ Garage Door Opener gives you all the functionalities that you would expect from a smart garage door opener, including the ability to remotely control your doors. It also has a mobile app with a wide variety of features.
It works with Nest products, as well as with Apple Homekit, giving you the ability to use voice control to operate the garage door via Siri.
The mobile app not only allows you to operate your garage door, but will also alert you if it is left open for a certain amount of time or tell you if it has been closed or opened. It is also very affordable, selling for only $130 (For the latest prices and discounts, check here).
Looking for a way to add a network camera? You can link MyQ Garage to a Nest cam, which is available for $199. Garageio is another smart garage door worth considering because of it works with Amazon Alexa and IFTTT recipes.
Its mobile app gives you the ability to remotely open or close your garage door, to give access to other people, and to see records of who opened or closed your garage doors and at what times.
Garageio is available in three versions: $200 for the one-door controller, $210 for the two-door controller, and $220 for the three-door controller. Using IFTTT recipes, you can connect different network cameras to your Garageio.
Some cameras you can use include the D-Link DCS-936L HD Wi-Fi Camera, which costs $70; the Oco Camera ($79), and Myfox Security Camera ($179).
When it comes to video capabilities, Gogogate 2 comes to mind. The brand highlights its video capability, as well as its user-friendly mobile app.
It works just like all the other smart garage door openers, but when you pay for its optional video feature for $30 every three years, you can view photos of the times when your garage door is opened or closed.
The mobile app keeps a lot of graphs, information, and temperature readings, and offers an easy way for you to share or revoke access. It works with Amazon Echo and IFTTT.
You can get Gogogate 2 for only $119, but you can add $20 to get the kit, which includes the controller and wireless sensor. Only one garage door can be controlled for every controller.
Gogogate works with a wide range of compatible security cameras, including cameras from D-Link, Dropcam, Foscam, Insteon and TP-Link .
Final recommendation
For less than $200, you are not only getting a smart garage door opener with the Asante, but also a surveillance system that can help you see what’s happening inside your garage even in low light conditions.
The Asante Smart Garage Door Opener also gives you the convenience of having both a garage door opener and a cloud camera in one kit. It also offers you very simple installation and setup.
The Asante Smart Garage Door Opener is the only one that includes a camera, making it easier for you to combine the two devices together. If you look at other smart garage openers, you will find that Asante provides the most cost-effective option.
Estimated cost of other smart garage openers and compatible IP cameras
| Controller | Cost of Controller | Cost of IP camera | Total cost |
| MyQ | $130 | $199 | $329 |
| Garageio | $210 | $70 | $280 |
| Gogogate 2 | $258 | $70 | $328 |
| Asante | $200(For the latest prices and discounts, check here) |
You will see that Asante can really save you money. However, other IP cameras might have better specifications, especially a higher resolution, others even offer HD images and videos.
Further, the Asante Garage Door Opener is mired by the lack of integrations with home automation platforms, a poorly designed all in one mobile app with glitches and reliability issues.
If you want a garage door opener that you can operate from your smartphone and see things remotely, then this one is definitely worth the consideration.
It is also a good choice if you are not really too keen about owning a smart home where different unrelated devices can work together, extending their capabilities and giving you some degree of automation.
However, for a little more, you can get a better smart garage door opener and a compatible camera that has more integrations than what Asante Smart Garage Door Opener can offer.
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