Breakin attempt? Rude awakening

booster · 10-19-2013, 04:12 PM

Our security system went off at about 6:20 this morning. Odd time, but still very dark out here. Definitely more effective than the alarm clock. A quick check out the window showed one of the detached garage doors open, so it was pretty obvious what triggered the alarm. One motion light on the garage by the door was also on. Went out, nothing missing, alarm disarmed on the garage system fine. Alarm company called to check, etc.

Sue walked out to the street to see if there were any vehicles around and noticed the neighbor across the street (400-500 feet away) also had a garage door up, motion lights on and the inside house lights on, with no one outside. 10 minutes later they were all dark and door closed. Still need to talk to them to see what was going on.

I did some reading on door opener hacking, and learned stuff I didn't know. I thought all the digital ones were secure, but it turns out none are secure, but the rolling codes ones are much better than others. The detached garage has 15 year old non rolling code technology. Not the dip switch type, but not rolling either. From what I read, that type is relatively easy to hack or poach the code. The attached garage has a newer, rolling code opener.

Luckily, it appears we didn't lose anything, and the alarm did what it should, but it is a bit frightening.

The openers all have the "deluxe" wall controls on them, which have a light switch and lock button. From what I have read, it appears the lock button totally disables any and all remote operation, but the wall control can still open and close the door.

I think the deal for us will be to push the lock button whenever we come home, or are going to be gone a while. Unfortunately, that doesn't protect anything if you leave and close the door with the remote, but I can still get out and do it if I care to. At least the attached one where DW parks is the rolling code, so she won't have do anything different, but I will in the detached. The Buick is too long for the attached garage!

markopolo · 10-20-2013, 01:45 AM

That's good info. Mine have the lock buttons but I've never used them. I should get in the habit of using them.

mlts22 · 10-20-2013, 08:13 AM

Breakin attempts through garages is very common in my neck of the woods. A friend of mine who teaches second/fifth grade was broken in several times, and the garage door smashed in once she put a good deadbolt on it.

I helped a relative put an alarm on the garage door with the alarm panel on the inside. Coupled with a CCTV system and some serious reinforcing of the door that goes from the garage to the house, it has helped mitigate burglaries. Although, when the family is home, the switch is flipped to put the garage door into "lock" mode.

Sad thing, there is no real excuse for that anymore, especially with Bluetooth, or even Wi-Fi. Pair up an iPhone or a remote, the job should be done. Nobody is going to crack a 128 bit AES key, and if they are, they won't be going after houses, they would be breaking into banks.

Mike · 10-21-2013, 12:04 AM

I wonder if it's as easy as buying a universal replacement remote keypad or visor transmitter, and rotating through the "learning my codes" process until you hit the one that works. Many import "universal remotes" have a code search function to make it easier for you to replace your lost/missing remote.
You can get them at Walmart, btw....
http://www.walmart.com/cp/Doors/1044059

mlts22 · 10-21-2013, 04:21 AM

If one wants something custom, one can get a "Lazy Bone" switch and put it inline with the garage door opener plug. This allows one to turn on and off the garage door by an app on their smartphone. That way, one can turn on the opener, then hit the remote to get in, while someone guessing codes would be SOL because the opener would not even have power.

Rok · 10-28-2013, 02:34 AM

We try to always press the door lock button for our garage whenever we are out RVing around.

We had a bunch of phantom openings right after getting a new garage door installed. It turns out the installer company had installed it incorrectly AND the button on the controller was broken (sticking) as well. The installation company wouldn't warantee it, so I called the manufacturer and they sent me a new button unit for the garage that I installed (correctly) myself. Now everything works perfectly. Installation company got an "F" on Angie's list.

..................Rocky

booster · 10-28-2013, 03:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rok

We try to always press the door lock button for our garage whenever we are out RVing around.

We had a bunch of phantom openings right after getting a new garage door installed. It turns out the installer company had installed it incorrectly AND the button on the controller was broken (sticking) as well. The installation company wouldn't warantee it, so I called the manufacturer and they sent me a new button unit for the garage that I installed (correctly) myself. Now everything works perfectly. Installation company got an "F" on Angie's list.

..................Rocky

We may have a similar thing going. Still haven't caught the neighbor to see if his went up by itself. But, the opener got really hard to open with the remote, usually a sign of a weak battery. I opened up the transmitter to see which size battery was in it, took out the battery, and the door went up! Starting to think maybe stuck button on the remote, as when I searched about phantom openings that had come up a few places. Apparently, if the button sticks it can randomly activate as the battery goes dead, cuts out and recovers a bit and then comes back on for a time. The battery that was in it was not very old, so I am suspicious. I used a bunch of silicone dry lube on the buttons, and put in a new battery. It is now working better than it has in a long time, never needing a second push of the button, so maybe that was it. We still have been leaving it locked out most of time, though. Probably time for a new clicker.

Mike · 10-28-2013, 04:26 AM

My van's alarm system has similar problems when the battery gets weak, either the vehicle battery which powers the brain, or the one that powers the remote fob. Unexpected tripping of the alarm, settings change without human intervention, and difficulty operating it from the 2 way fob/remote. I don't think the buttons stick, but it does get flaky when the power gets low on either end.

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