This might seem strange, but I wanted to see if anyone else had this issue. I have an older 390 MHz Chamberlain garage door opener and accompanying remote. Outside of the Prius (and from inside my Accord) I can open the garage door from several houses down the block (150+ feet), but from inside the Prius I have to be less than 15 feet from the garage door before it will open, and even then sometimes I have to put my hand out the window with the remote before it will work. Is there something weird about the Prius that would attenuate the signal from the remote?
Where do you keep it in the car? I noticed that when it's clipped to the sun visor is when I have the most trouble. It seems to work better if I take it off the visor and try again.
I clip mine to the lower part of the "flying bridge" and it works fine, but I have to be within two houses of my house.
I am not familiar with the 2012 models, but if you have a tint on the windows that blocks UV and IR, that will do it. This blocks many sources of heat and keeps the cabin cooler. It is pre-installed on many vehicles and is metallic. Essentially it is a Faraday cage for those parts of the spectrum, which includes 390MHz. It also effects GPS receivers (1.2Ghz & 1.5GHz) and cell phones (700Mhz/800Mhz/850MHz/900MHz/1.2GHz/1.6GHz/1.8GHz/1.9GHz) and so on. Signal strength is lower, that's why the antenna is outside the vehicle when it can be.
mine is on the visor. also was the same on my 08 and my 04 had homelink, so, same general area. i wonder if cal cars get more tint?
It's not darker by much, but noticeable. It's just so strange that I can walk down the street hundreds of feet, hide the remote behind a parked car and trigger the door, but I can't do it from inside the Prius in my own driveway.
The Advanced model has it built into the mirror. It works at a good long distance (at least 150 ft.). Better than the remote that came with the opener. My door is always all the way up when the PIP gets to the garage.
I think he means the car's remote opener circuitry which "learns" your remote and then retransmits using an external antenna just for this reason. It sounds like you are using an actual physical device that clips on to a visor or that can be removed. This would mean the transmission antenna is inside the cage versus outside.
On the Advanced PiP, the Homelink is part of the rear-view mirror, and I don't think there is any repeater in the car (you can buy the visor as a stand-alone accessory from a third party). I also have no trouble opening the garage door from a few houses away. Maybe the transmitter in the Homelink is more powerful. After all, it is powered by the car electrical system, so they don't have to worry about draining a small built-in battery.
I have two hand held remotes. In one I have to be 20 feet away or so, put in a new battery, same thing. With the other remote I can be 100 ft away. This is in my 2012 PIP. In my 2010 Prius, with Homelink (and previous 2004 with Homelink) I could be 150 ft away. Mike
