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Shorter Distance Auto-closing for Departure

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James Lee
Would it be possible to allow for a shorter distance (150 ft. Instead of 250 ft. for auto-closing when leaving my garage? Even with the current minimum setting of 250 ft. selected, it will actually take over 500 ft. for that to happen. My Wi-Fi from my garage actually extended pretty far already but not to the extent of 250 ft. outside of my garage door. Hope you can activate in the next update. Thank you!
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  • Official comment
    Scott Riesebosch

    Hi James. We are working on a solution to this but it will take time. We actually did allow shorter distances in earlier versions, but the problem is that the GPS on phones is not accurate enough. So if you set the close distance to something like 100 feet or even 150 feet it would still, on some occasions, result in an auto-close signal being sent while still inside the garage. We even put a huge, red disclaimer in the app stating that setting such short auto-close distances could result in unexpected auto-close signals. People ignored the warning, set it short anyways, and then were upset when it happened.

    The solution we are working on will allow very short auto-close distances, and when it is ready, we will be sure to announce it. I don't have a delivery timeline on it at this time, but we are well aware that our customers want this.

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  • Demetrios Christopher

    Scott Riesebosch Any update on that feature? The Android app still requires 250+. I feel like I am a few blocks away before the garage door finally closes and that feels a tad unsafe, especially if I hit a red light or two and my garage door has been open for quite some time. What about using the proximity/signal strength of the home WiFi network (user would have to pick it from a list much like picking paired vehicle Bluetooth devices)?

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  • Scott Riesebosch

    Hi Demetrios,

    Yes that was our first approach but it didn't work out. We are talking about closing a garage door. Doing that at the wrong moment is obviously not good. When we tried using the proximity to WiFi and even bluetooth we were finding that signal dropouts would close the door because it thought the person was further away.

    We are working on a different approach that should produce better results.

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  • Demetrios Christopher
    • Edited

    Understood! Looking forward to any alternative approach, or even a "developer mode" to allow more pessimistic "your mileage may vary" options. I promise not to complain if they don't work 100% of the time. 😅

    EDIT: How about a BLE beacon? They're good for around 80 meters! They could work similarly to the vehicle BT pucks except this one would be mounted on the inside the garage (could be 5V-powered, too). I'd be down for that!

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  • Scott Riesebosch

    Hopefully what we're working on will produce very reliable results. We will definitely be looking for beta testers. Please send an email to support@gotailwind.com and ask to be added to the list for beta-testing the new auto-close feature.

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