You want to close the garage from the office parking lot, or check from bed that you didn't leave it open. On many newer Chamberlain and LiftMaster openers, a small add-on hub does that without replacing anything.
Look at the back of the motor housing first. The brand and model are on a label there, along with a colored Learn button. Our LiftMaster, Chamberlain, and Genie comparison shows where to find it.
A Chamberlain or LiftMaster with a yellow Learn button can often pair with the maker's own hub. The hub plugs into an outlet near the opener and talks to it by radio, and setup takes one app and your Wi-Fi password.
For other brands, people usually use a third-party controller. It's a small relay wired to the same two screws as your wall button, with a tilt sensor on the door so the app knows whether it's open. If you've swapped a light switch before, you can install one.
If the opener is already giving you trouble, find out first whether it needs opener repair or a new unit. If it is worn out, skip the add-on and buy a Wi-Fi model. A connected opener costs only a little more than a plain one, and the opener replacement cost guide has local prices.
MyQ is the app Chamberlain and LiftMaster use for their connected openers. Chamberlain has cut some outside apps and smart home systems off from MyQ in the past, so a setup that worked for a neighbor a few years ago may not work now. Look up your exact model on the maker's compatibility page before you order anything.
Usually it's the Wi-Fi signal. The garage tends to be the farthest room from the router, and a steel door blocks a lot of signal. Hold your phone next to the opener. If it shows one or two bars there, put a mesh node or extender closer to the garage. A detached garage usually needs an outdoor-rated one.
Many hubs and openers connect only on the 2.4 GHz band. If your router runs 2.4 and 5 GHz under a single network name, setup can fail without a useful error. Most routers let you split the two bands or add a separate 2.4 GHz network for the garage.
An opener with a battery backup keeps working through a power outage for a limited number of cycles, which depends on the model. If the garage is how your family comes and goes, it's worth paying for. Without one, you'll be opening the door by hand with the red release cord.
Some newer openers have a camera pointed at the garage floor. It's handy for checking on a package or confirming the door really closed. We wouldn't replace a working opener just to get the camera.
When you close the door from your phone, nobody is in the garage to watch it come down. For that reason, connected openers flash a light and beep for a few seconds before the door moves. Leave that warning on, especially with kids or pets in the house.
The app doesn't change how the safety reverse or the photo eyes near the floor work. If the door stops and goes back up before it closes, the eyes are probably out of line, and lining them back up takes a few minutes.
Many newer Chamberlain and LiftMaster openers can pair with the maker's hub, which usually runs $30 to $80. Other brands can use a third-party controller wired to the wall-button terminals. An opener old enough to have no photo eyes should be replaced instead.
It keeps working only if it has a battery backup. Otherwise the opener and the hub both lose power, and you open the door by hand with the red release cord.
A weak Wi-Fi signal in the garage is the usual cause, or a router that changed its name or password. Move a mesh node closer to the garage and run the app setup again.
You need a new one only if your opener can't take a hub or controller, or if it's wearing out anyway. Many openers can have phone control added for much less than a replacement.
Text us a photo of the label on the back of your opener, and we'll tell you whether a hub will work on it or whether the opener is due for replacing.
Last updated: September 21, 2026.
