For anyone who wants an out of the box, and open source, solution.
"Fuck that," I said to myself, as any self-respecting hacker would. "I'll just hook a $20 remote key fob switch from Home Depot up to the button on the garage wall."
That's when I found that they actually DRM'ed the button. The usual pair of wires was there, but I couldn't open the door by simply shorting them together. There were several ICs on a PC board inside the button housing doing Woz knows what. So, back to lifting the door manually.
This is only going to get worse. It will get worse because we let them go this far.
Manual operation seems perfectly understandable in this context. Odds of some AirBnB driving off accidentally with the remote approach 100%.
Re-keying the front door is arguably a bigger pain in the ass, and many Airbnbs just lend you the front door keys.
I can see why an AirBnB host wouldn't bother after 1st or 2nd time, is all I'm saying.
Agree the front door key is a bigger pain, but less likely to accidentally happen.
I mean, I would have a slight preference to have a functioning remote but it's not going to ruin a stay. In the same way that if I went to a place that didn't have an automatic opener at all I wouldn't find it odd.
However, one thing that is interesting is when you get a loaner car from the dealership, and not only is there a valid Homelink recording, but the nav system still shows the start and end points for the last trip(s) the previous person took. Bonus if their phone's contact list is still there.
Always use the vehicle handover function whenever turning in a rental or loaner car, folks.
The garage door remote I modified with the Zigbee relay is a remote I purchased and paired with my rental unit's garage door opener, and then took apart for modification. I don't own the property or the garage door opener, I just looked up which model of remote it used, bought one, and paired it. I also have the landlord-provided remote as a backup.
I don't think HomeLink is particularly dangerous in this regard; anyone can purchase additional remotes and pair them, they don't need a car with HomeLink.
If you're really worried as a landlord, reset your garage door openers for every new tenant re-pair the remotes they presumably returned to you, and re-key your front door locks while you're at it. Microscopic cost compared to what the tenant probably paid you.
Add to that the fact that garages tend to be less covered from a camera perspective (usually there’s a doorbell camera at the door) and it’s a bit of a blind spot for homeowners I’d think.
Oof. That's awful, but put a servo above the button that physically hits the button. Analog loopholes are immune to DRM.
The arms race continues I guess.
I agree that it is annoying in a "It's just a momentary switch! How hard can it be!" sort of way, but it be that way anyhow.