Poor garage door opener range

I have two Overhead Door garage door openers that use the CodeDodger/Genie Intellicode remotes. Both doors and all four remotes have atrocious range. As in, 5 feet or less, bumper-almost-touching-the-door-and-even-then-sometimes-I-still-have-to-get-out-of-the-car range. They've been this way since new, which is now something like 10 years.

I've always managed to live with it but this morning I resolved to do something about it. But what? Do I take a chance on buying a new model of remote in the unlikely hopes that it's somehow more powerful? Is there any kind of range extender available? The openers themselves are in perfect working order so I'd prefer not to replace them if possible.

Normally if the range diminishes, it is a sign of a weak battery in the remote. But if it has always been that way, I would look for the antenna wire on the opener and see if maybe it is missing or not properly extended.

First, make sure the antenna wire is hanging straight down and not grounding to anything.

Do they work ok,out of the car? If you have IR glass it can impede the signal. Coax cable works as a good antenna if it is a mirror mounted one at least I recall that being in a tecnical bulletin

Thanks guys.

I have changed the batteries frequently. Doesn't seem to make a difference in range.

The antenna is hanging straight down into empty space, not touching anything.

Sometimes I've had better luck sticking the remote out the window, but that still won't let me activate the opener from more than a couple feet away. Even when the garage door is open, sometimes I can't close it with the front bumper barely clearing the door.

I can't help but wonder if there's some interference. I haven't heard any of my neighbors having this issue though.

Just built a garage this summer(liftmaster). Oddly, the factory remote has a range of maybe 100 feet. My wifes new car came with a homelink mirror, and that thing has incredible range, no idea on the actual distance, but must be more than 300 ft, likely more. If your antenna in the garage is good, maybe a different remote is the ticket.

Do you have LED bulbs anywhere in your garage? If so - that's your problem. The pulse frequency of the bulbs confuse the remote.

I found this out the hard way a few years ago, but newer openers mention it as a caution in the operator instructions.

Try holding it up to your chin, like you do with the key fob for the car alarm. Should boost your range a little.

My problem with the garage door is my wife backing into it too many times

FWIW I just got a new unit, and the installer actually formed the antenna wire into a curve. He seemed to think that was better than straight. I don't know, but it is easy to experiment with.

If you know the wavelength of the signal, you can figure out the right size and shape for your antenna.

Zombie thread, canoe deleted