A garage door keypad can be a great way to conveniently open your door from the outside when you’re not in your car. Or if your family is like a lot of families, you can’t always be home when the kids get back from school, but you don’t want to leave your home locked all day. Garage door keypads are a perfect solution for this, because a kid of any age can remember a simple code so they can get in the house themselves after school. And, since the keypad is permanently affixed near the garage door, it can never get lost like a garage door opener remote might. It is also nice for granting a house sitter or guest a temporary code, which is usually quite simple to set up. However, if your numeric keypad is over ten years old, it might not be as secure as you think.
Security Risks with Old Keypad Technology
Older garage door keypads may have universal open codes that can be found online. Think about it – when a new keypad is installed, there has to be a sort of “backdoor” code that allows you to set up your own personal code. So these older, standard keypads can actually be really easy for thieves to inspect and come back later with a manufacturer reset code that’ll let them in.
Your Garage Door Keypad Can Also Get Hacked!
Older keypads can also easily be hacked by external devices, making it simple for thieves to gain access to your garage. This is also true with wireless garage door remotes. When garage remotes were first invented, they could open anyone’s garage. It wasn’t uncommon to accidentally open your neighbor’s garage while closing your own!
New Keypad Technology is Worth the Upgrade
If your keypad or wireless garage door opener system is more than 10 years old, it may be a good idea to replace it. Newer technologies have been developed in recent years that make it much more difficult for thieves to hack garage door openers. Some are even triggered by fingerprint instead of a numeric code. This biometric-based keyless technology can be programmed to learn up to 10 individual fingerprints, so your kids can still get in the house themselves, but now they don’t even need a code to remember – they just need a fingerprint!
What if I Don’t Want to Replace My Garage Door Keypad?
If you’ve yet to upgrade your keypad, whether you don’t have the funds or you just don’t feel the need, there are a few things you can do to increase security on your current keypad:
- Change the code often, so that it’s not evident which buttons are regularly pressed.
- Clean the keypad regularly so that all the numbers look the same. If it’s worn out, it’s pretty simple to change out the skin and revitalize the keypad’s appearance.
- Keep your code private.
- Lock the door between your house and garage
No security system is 100 percent foolproof. New garage door keypad technology is definitely better than the old stuff, but it doesn’t mean the older technology is worthless. Really, just being aware of the security of your garage and taking the same precautions you take with your home’s other entries is a great start.
If you’re interested in improving your garage’s security system, call us at Sacs any time. We provide and install all the new types of garage door security systems, so we can give you the professional advice you want and the new security system you need.