Would it be a possibility for the N900 to be programmed as a garage opener for my house? I would appreciate any insight on this.

Even if you can.. the IR transmitter is weak... :/ I can't even turn on/off my tv (using irreco) from the other room (not behind a wall)..

This is going to be taken teh wrong way, but eh.

Sometimes, I wonder if some people's brains know what their fingers are typing on the keyboard... I mean, seriously! If I see someone ask if an N900 can be used to steer a Sears Lawn mower, I'm gonna lose it.

Now, on to the answer:


I can't think of any residential garage door openers that work via IR. That, of course, doesn't mean there may not be some cheesy off brand that works via IR.

If you want to open a garage door with an N900, then you'll need more than just software on the N900.

Now, sure, there are GSM garage door / gate openers that you can set up. But with such a unit, you can open it from any cell phone.


Edit: Oh, and don't bother at trying t be funny by asking if you can steer a Sears lawnmower with an N900. You'll fail at tEh funny.

IR being line of sight dependent and pretty short range I dont think a garage door uses it. I would imagine it uses RF

Who knows using the FM transmitter in the N900 it maybe could even open a RF triggered door, but I doubt it and the power of the transmitter is not very high.

Hmm, you could connced the door to a computer with WLAN, connect you your home network when you are close, and open it via a web interface or something.
Pretty wild idea, but indeed possible.

You can buy relays with built in bluetooth controllers, you could pair one with your phone and use it to trigger the door opener. You would have to have a decent knowledge of electronics though.

A bit dismissive don't you think? If you don't ask a question you can never find the solution.

Garage door controllers uses RF for sure, and only the very old models used a fixed frequency to open and/or close the doors. The usual controller uses a variable frequency that must "negotiated" between the remote and the receiver in order to avoid hijacking your code.

Anyway, N900 has various RF transmitters like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and even FM Transmitter, but they must use a defined frequency range, thus I guess it is impossible to make it open a garage door since the hardware can not transmit in the needed frequency. I think garage doors remote controllers here at Brazil operate at aprox. 400MHz

Didn't know GSM garage controllers tough...

433Mhz russo... just like everything else.. car alarms and so on

Long before the N900 came out, I suggested that a built-in garage door opener would be a good idea. Maybe Apple will be the first with that app.