A garage door controller may seem like a simple, standard piece of technology. To an ill-intentioned thief, though, your garage door’s control panel and remote controller are full of potential – potential access points into your home, that is. Below are little-known garage door controller facts that might make you reconsider leaving your home and possessions vulnerable to a burglary.
Parking Your Car in the Driveway Leaves the Remote Accessible
If you keep a remote for your garage door in your car, parking in the driveway leaves that remote control easily accessible. All someone needs to do is break into your car, and they’ll have access to your entire house. Instead of keeping a remote control door opener on the visor of a car that is regularly parked in the driveway, look for one that clips to your keychain.
Code Grabbers Aren’t Illegal to Own
Code grabbers let criminals retrieve your garage door’s code. These devices capture the signal your remote sends to your garage door from several hundred feet away – and without you ever knowing.
While some states, such as California, have laws against using code grabbers illegally, they’re not illegal to own. They have legitimate uses in manufacturing and retail settings, which makes governments hesitant to outlaw them entirely. Thus far, the federal government has not passed any laws regarding code grabbers, leaving their governance up to individual states.
The only way to protect yourself from code grabbers is to install an advanced garage door controller that operates on multiple frequencies. Multi-frequency controllers have modulated operating frequencies, which prevents grabbers from capturing all of their code.
One of Six Replacement Garage Door Openers Will Open Your Garage Door
Even without a code grabber, gaining access through your garage door is easy. An intruder just needs to purchase a half-dozen replacement openers, and they’ll likely have one that will work with your garage door’s system.
A modulating frequency opener will protect you against this threat, just as it guards against code grabbers. Because these are the latest and most complex garage door openers available, standard replacement remotes won’t work with them. Your garage door opener will only work with replacements that have been programmed to its specific frequencies, which intruders don’t have access to.
Most Home Alarms Don’t Have a Garage Door Sensor
Most home security systems aren’t set up to monitor your residential garage, even though it’s the second-most-common point of entry into your house for thieves. Not only are there thousands of dollars worth of tools, toys and electronics, not to mention your car, in your garage, but it provides easy, concealed access into the rest of your home. Once in your garage, a thief just needs to get through the door to your house, which is likely inexpensive and has a basic lock.
With wireless home monitoring systems, monitoring your garage door is easy. All you need is a tilt sensor that sticks to your garage door and sends a signal via Wi-Fi to your home security system whenever the garage door opens while your alarm’s activated.
Protecting your home includes protecting your garage. With all of the devices that thieves have, you should have a state-of-the-art garage door opener that integrates with your home security system. If you don’t already have this, talk with us at Vivint to find out how we can help you secure your garage.
