Review on Refoss Smart Wi-Fi Garage Door Opener with APP Control, Alexa and Google Assistant Compatibility, No Hub Required by Paul Walton

I was a little skeptical when I bought and initially set up this Wi-Fi garage door opener because I read that similar devices sometimes worked/didn't work intermittently and even lost the Wi-Fi connection. I've been using this device daily for a week and haven't had any problems! Below is some information about my experience setting up, installing and using the Refoss Smart Wifi garage door opener. Initial Setup: I liked the ability to set up and set up a Wi-Fi connection before even placing the device in its final destination in the garage. The instructions were easy to follow and showed you the steps to download the app for your phone, set up an account, plug the device into a power outlet, connect to the device's WiFi SSID and finally connect to your home WiFi . The instructions ensure the Wi-Fi settings are saved so your device will automatically reconnect when you plug it into the last spot in your garage - this worked great. Installation: The full installation probably took me about an hour. No drills, screws or tools were used in my setup. I used the materials that came with it + some tape (to attach the sensor wire along the wall and to some metal supports). It took me most of my time to figure out exactly where I want to run the wire that connects the main unit to the sensor you'll find on the door. I've attached some photos of my setup. The wires that control the opening and closing function were easy to find. The instructions say to turn off the garage door opener before doing this part of the install, but I'll admit I didn't turn off the power. I simply placed each of the two control wires from the device in the same locations as the existing garage door opener wires. No problem and once I connected the device to the ceiling the smartphone app worked instantly to open and close the garage door. Then I laid the sensor cable. In one of the photos you can see that I placed one of the two sensors (the one not connected to the wire) on the metal side of the garage door. I didn't even have to use duct tape as there is a magnet on the bottom of this sensor which worked great. Then I placed another sensor (with a wire attached to it) on the wall directly opposite the sensor on the side of the door. I used the two pieces of double sided tape that came with it to attach this sensor to the wall. This completes the installation. I just used tape to secure the position of the sensor cable and keep it looking nice. Using Smart Opener: Now that the installation is complete, using the application was easy. There are a few settings to play with if you want (mainly for notifications), and as soon as I opened the door, a push notification was sent straight away to my phone that the garage door was open. After closing the gate, I immediately received another push notification letting me know the garage door was closed. I love it! I ended up setting up the Alexa integration by following the in-app instructions and everything worked exactly as advertised. If there's one thing I'm not 100% happy with, it's the Alexa integration. However, it is important to note that this has nothing to do with the capabilities of this device. The limitation/issue I have is actually an intentional limitation of how 'locks' work with Alexa, and a garage door opener is considered a type of lock as it opens and closes a locked front door. The limitation is that it's not possible to use your voice to "unlock" or open the garage door without including a separate response for the PIN. It's not bad, but it makes it impossible to add an Alexa procedure with a voice phrase of your choice to open the garage door. However, you *can* create a procedure that makes it fairly easy to close the garage door. Overall this is a great product at a very reasonable price. I had no problems and now have a reliable way to open and/or close my garage door from anywhere. In my opinion a great product!