LiftMaster - 974LM 374LM Replacement Remote 894LT

Very good instructions. All my openers are liftmaster. Took less than 10 minutes to set up all.

This is the ultimate remote if you have various age Liftmaster and/or Chamberlain openers.This remote seems to have a stronger signal and longer range than the previous Liftmaster remotes it replaced. I was using a 61LM and a 973LM for my house and shop respectively. The 973LM would only open the shop door when I was parked directly in front of the door. The shop building is an all metal building, so I suppose the metal siding and metal door shield the remote signal. But with this remote I can open the door from at least 50 feet away. It opens my house garage door from the street, which is about 100' from the door.Another advantage to this remote is the type of battery it uses, and how easy it is to open the battery compartment. This uses an easy to find AAA battery, instead of the CR2032 button cell of my previous remotes. Many of the LiftMaster/Chamberlain remotes require a screwdriver to open the case to replace the batteries, but this one has a battery cover that is easy to open with your fingers. The battery cover also provides access to the programing button.Some helpful info on Liftmaster/Chamberlain openers, that is on the web, but can be hard to find, at least all in one place.The oldest openers have a green learn button. These are called Billion Code. Liftmaster dealers have told me that this remote will not work with Billion Code openers, but I have a green learn button opener, and I got it to work with it. I think the key is to have a working remote for the opener that uses DIP switches inside the remote. Then just follow the directions (Option B) for programing to an existing DIP switch remote.The next generation of openers use a red or orange learn button. These operate at 390Mhz, and are called Security+. I have two of these openers, I can confirm this remote works with 390Mhz (red learn button) openers.Next are the openers with a purple learn button, operating at 315Mhz, and also called Security+. The remotes that came with these openers have a symbol that sorta looks like six parenthesis, like so: ((())). I do not have one of these openers, but according to Liftmaster, this remote works with these openers.Next is openers with a yellow learn button, called Security+ 2.0. This system uses 310Mhz, 315Mhz and 390Mhz in a random order. I don't have one of these openers, but the instructions clearly state the 894LT works with Security+ 2.0.Something not mentioned in the instructions, is that this remote will work with the Chamberlin  955D Universal Remote Control Replacement Kit (Blue)  which is a 315Mhz device that can operate any door or gate opener (or anything else that uses a momentary switch (like the button inside your garage) for activation. I have a 955D, and can confirm the 894LT works with it. 955D Universal Remote Control Replacement Kit (Blue)

Note that the first sentence in this product's description - "works with all Liftmaster garage door openers manufactured after 1996" - is misleading. It appears to work fine with many older models, as well.We just bought a house with two old, 1992-era LiftMaster garage door openers (remote model 61LM). We had just one opener for each garage door and both were 20-years-old and on the verge of death. The manufacturer's site claimed that the doors were no longer serviced. Checking the online owner's manual for this model, though, it seemed like it would work for the older doors, so I ordered it. It arrived, I installed the standard AAA battery, pressed the "Learn" button inside the battery cover, pressed the button on the old garage door opener (causing the door to go down), pressed the button on the new opener I wanted to use for that door, and the garage door immediately started coming back up. Done in seconds. It took me two tries for the second opener, but altogether the process for both openers took about 2 minutes. The opener is about the same size as the old 1-door opener and sturdier, as well. We only have two garage doors, but the extra two buttons come in handy if, like me, you have elderly parents for whom you have to do housesitting or yard work.

Instructions were clear with two different methods of storing signals in the remote. If you have trouble getting one programming method to work, try the other. I tried the method of copying signals from an existing remote - and couldn't get garage door to program (my programmed just fine this way). I resorted to using the programming method that requires you to use the learn button on the actual garage opener for my garage and it worked fine. Now the remote has both signals programmed.

I will give the product three stars, even though it didn't work with my garage door. I wasn't able to make it work, even though I followed the instructions to a T more than once. It was mainly my fault for not making sure this replacement worked with my garage door - check your remote control number/make to see if it will work for you, or contact them before you buy. Customer service was very responsive and I was able to return it without any problems. The product itself is well made.