YOLINK LoRa Smart Outdoor Contact Sensor, Gate & Shed Door Sensor, Universal Contact-Closure Sensor, Email/SMS/Push Alerts, 1/4 Mile Range, Alexa, IFTTT, Home Assistant (Hub Required)

I am extremely impressed with YoLink. I have purchased the Hub, several Contact Sensors that I use on gates and our mailbox, and an Outdoor Motion Sensor for our driveway. Setup was extremely easy—just scan the barcode on each device using the YoLink app. What has impressed me most is the range. Our Hub is located near the center of the house, yet it communicates reliably with sensors located hundreds of feet away outside. The connection has been very stable, and the system has worked exactly as I had hoped. I also appreciated receiving an email from YoLink after setting up my account that included information on their 24/7 support, which was a nice touch. Overall, I am very pleased with the system and highly recommend YoLink.

This YoLink LoRa Smart Outdoor Contact Sensor has been a simple but incredibly useful addition to our home. We use it on an outdoor gate, and it gives us instant peace of mind knowing when the gate is opened—or worse, left open. We have a big boy who loves exploring, so an open gate can quickly become a stressful situation. With this sensor and a YoLink Hub, we get app notifications when the gate opens, closes, and can even review the event history. A few things to know: • Setup was quick and straightforward through the YoLink app. • Notifications are reliable and arrive promptly. • Event history makes it easy to check whether the gate was opened or closed. • The system is surprisingly affordable compared to other smart home brands. • The sensor has been dependable with no false alerts. The only challenge was mounting. Due to the way our gate is configured, we couldn't install the sensor on the latch side. Instead, we had to mount it near where the gate attaches to the fence. It took a little trial and error to find the right placement so the sensor would consistently recognize when the gate was opened, but once we dialed it in, it worked reliably. For anyone wanting an easy, inexpensive way to monitor gates, doors, sheds, or other outdoor access points, this system delivers excellent value. Reliable alerts, simple setup, and a much friendlier price than many competing brands make this a solid buy.

This sensor is part of a number of Yolink smart appliances I use. It performs perfectly, reliably, and installed relatively easily. The electronic part of installation is easy, as part of the Yolink suite of sensors. The mechanical part was relatively easy. I'm using it as a steel gate monitor, and it apparently is intended for wood gates and doors, so the included wood screws weren't used. In my case, to mount the unit I super-glued the magnet portion to the swinging gate and zip-tied the Hall-sensor portion to the static frame of the gate. It is AA battery operated, and batteries were provided. It has been in place for nearly a year and it has worked without missing an opening of the gate or alarming for a false opening the entire time. it maintains a history of openings and closings. An Open reminder can be set, so the user is notified if the gate remains open for a settable period of time. This feature is the primary reason I purchased the unit. After nine months the battery level shows as full. The signal intensity also is shown by the app, and it shows Strong (-59 dBm) in my case where the receiver is 25-30 ft away and inside the house. The receiver (hub) connects wirelessly to my AP. As with all the Yolink sensors, I have no complaints. The cost was reasonable for the quality, reliability, and satisfaction it provides.

The gate sensors are pretty straightforward to install, and the connectivity is really good. The expandability to use other Lora devices with the hub is a nice bonus.

I installed the hub and Contact Sensor. Both installed easily the first attempt. The minus one star came about for two reasons. It wasn't quite clear how to setup notifications for SMS (texts) and, if you want a text sent to you, like I needed for my mailbox alarm, you need to PAY if you want to receive more than 15 text alert each month. My mail box will be accessed twice each day except for Sundays. That 32 texts for the mailbox alone. I was planning on monitoring two gates also. That would be another twenty or so SMS's per month. Email messages are limited also, but allow 250/mo free. I believe the subscription plans start some where around two dollars a month for 200 SMS's and 5000 emails. This information is difficult to find, by the way. My Smartthings hub SMS's are free, just saying. I can afford $2.00 per month, but I just wasn't expecting this bump in the road. The signal range is amazing, as others have stated, My mailbox to hub distance is about 200 yards, my Contact Sensor is mounted inside of my metal mailbox, I drilled a tiny hole in the side of it to externalize the antenna. It worked beautifully instantly. It is 110F here in the summer, let's see if this device can take it. Both my wive and I need to receive these notifications, the app allows you to share an account. It had me send her a link, with turned out to be a QR code. Now it was quit awkward for her to receieve this code which she was to scan, also on her phone , with the Yolink app...how is she supposed to do that? So I took a photo of it on my phone and she scanned it in on her Yoling phone app and it set up almost everything for her. If she wants to receive SMS, she had to find where in the app to enter her phone number, it wasn't obvious, I don't know why the app didn't just ask her for it when she indicated she wanted SMS notifications. So functionality is great, the app is pretty good, but not always intuitive. Everything was received today and installed today. We'll see how it works over the next few months.

Bought several of these and mounted on gates on both sides of my home. They pair great with Alexa and she now tells me when one of the gates are opened. The app also tells me if one of the gates is not closed all the way. One of these came with one of the two clips that hold the battery holder lid broken. Didn't notice that until after it rained and some rain got inside. Wrote YoLink with the picture of the broken clip and a picture of the rain inside and they sent me a replacement right away. YoLink is a great company with great customer service. So impressed with the range that I bought one, installed it INSIDE a metal mailbox mounted in a cement block housing with stone around it and it still reaches the hub so Alexa tells me "Your mail is here!"

My mailbox is about 154 feet away from my house. My mail delivery times vary, it can be anywhere from 3 pm -10 pm. I used to check it when I got home from work and found nothing, but I know I have mail due to the USPS Informed Delivery I signed up for. So I would need to keep checking the mailbox until either I got the mail or just went to bed and I would get the mail the following day. So I wanted something that would alert us when the mail was delivered. I did an internet search and I found this YoLink LoRa Smart Outdoor Contact Sensor. I read reviews and watched YouTube video reviews of it. As I was reading a review and saw that someone decided to go a slightly different route and went with the YoLink LoRa 1/4 Mile Wireless Range Smart Motion Detector. They placed the motion detector inside and on the back of the mailbox. I was going to follow because I liked the idea of the lack of any wires but then discovered the motion sensor does not work in cold weather (32 degrees is the lowest operating temperature and I live where it is colder during the winter months). So I went back to the idea of this, YoLink LoRa Smart Outdoor Contact Sensor. I bought the YoLink LoRa Smart Outdoor Contact Sensor with Hub. It was easy to set up. I downloaded the app first and created an account. Then I plugged in the hub and connected it to my router (via ethernet cable, it can be connected wirelessly but I like the wired connection, less chance of any issues), and then I added the contact sensor to the app. I tested the sensor first before installing it on the mailbox. When I was planning my installation on the mailbox, I saw that some installed the sensor inside the mailbox, but I did not want the sensor to get bumped by any mail or packages, so I decided to place the sensor on the outside. I also wanted to have easy access to the battery box. I wanted to easily remove the battery box from the mailbox, so I did not want to tape the box to the mailbox (underneath the mailbox). So I used the double-sided tape that came with the sensor and taped the battery box to an 11 lb round magnet (it takes 11 lbs of force to remove the magnet, the magnet does not weigh 11 lbs). With the magnet on the battery box, I can place the battery box anywhere on my metal mailbox and it is secure enough that it will not fall or detach itself. It is a solid connection. I placed the battery box underneath the mailbox where it is not too noticeable. I installed the sensors in the door area of the mailbox with double-sided tape after I wiped the area with rubbing alcohol for a clean surface. Once the sensor and box were installed, I then went into the app setting and set up the alerts. I wanted app alerts when the mailbox sensor was opened. At first, I did not get alerts, but then I realized I had to go into my phone app settings and give permission for the YoLink app to give me alerts. Once I did that, it was working great. I work in a different city and I will get notified via app alert that my mailbox has been opened. This system was easy to install and use. It is easy to add more sensors and devices. A hub can have more than 200+ devices connected to it, plenty if you want to add more devices for home security. The only critical thing I can say about this is this has an option to get text alerts if the the sensor is opened, but you only get so many texts a month and you will need to pay to subscribe to get more text alerts. But with the app alerts, it is limitless and it alerts me. What else can you ask for? You can get email alerts as well, but the app alerts work great for my needs.

Needed a solution to add outdoor sensors for some farm gates that are not visible. Added these to the YoLink app, then presented to home assistant, then via that presented that to Apple HomeKit. I get notifications on my iPhone , and set up automation to pop up camera feed when the gate opens. The range is great, one gate is 300 feet from the hub and still works like it's 1 foot away. Surprised to find that the Hub connects to wifi or wired which is a great plus, as I prefer wired for backend infrastructure. Sensor uses the basic aa battery box with cookie jar like plastic latches. Think battery operated fairy lights or Christmas lights. I am concerned about its durability in the summer, we will see as it gets very hot where I live and these are black plastic. So far the product does exactly what it's supposed to. A simple contact closure that is weather proof that uses regular ol batteries. Also discovered you can use a larger stronger magnet for a bigger gap.

J’ai installé ce capteur sur une porte de jardin en bois. Au départ, je trouvais l’installation un peu plus compliquée que celle de mon capteur YoLink pour porte de garage, qui est très simple à poser, mais finalement ce n’était vraiment pas difficile. Le point important est surtout de prendre le temps de bien aligner les deux parties du capteur. Ma porte de jardin n’est pas une porte de maison ou de garage qui se verrouille toujours exactement dans la même position. Comme elle est en bois, elle peut parfois se retrouver légèrement décalée lorsqu’on la ferme. Je pensais donc que je risquais d’obtenir occasionnellement un mauvais état ouvert/fermé, mais jusqu’à maintenant le capteur est demeuré fiable. Je l’ai installé à l’extérieur peu après l’avoir reçu en avril. Il est un peu protégé par du cèdre au-dessus, mais demeure essentiellement à l’extérieur. J’avais certaines réserves sur sa résistance aux intempéries et, après environ quatre mois, il est toujours fidèle au poste. Il n’a toutefois pas encore vécu un hiver québécois, alors je ne peux pas encore me prononcer sur sa durabilité à très long terme dans ces conditions. Comme avec mes autres appareils YoLink, je peux vérifier l’état de la porte et être avertie si elle reste ouverte. Je n’ai pas encore eu à changer la pile. Je l’ai également intégré à Home Assistant et à l’application Domicile, ce qui me permet de recevoir les changements d’état sur ma montre ou dans mes écouteurs. Cette intégration demande évidemment une configuration domotique supplémentaire et n’est pas nécessaire au fonctionnement du capteur lui-même. Jusqu’à maintenant, c’est exactement ce que je voulais : un capteur extérieur simple et fiable qui me permet de savoir si ma porte de jardin est bien fermée.

Parfait

Good simple tech and easy to setup. When the outdoor contact sensor contacts are broken the alert to the app is immediate. If buying the sensor for security reasons a limitation worth noting is if the sensor goes offline (e.g. batteries are removed or other tampering) it takes over 12 hours for the hub to notify you that the device is offline due to polling intervals). A model with tamper alerting has been suggested.

Easy to setup

I use the YoLink SpeakerHub with two outdoor gate sensors, one on each gate, and it has been fantastic. I always worried about a gate being left open where I couldn’t see it, especially with my dogs. Now I get notified right away when a gate is opened, closed, or left open too long, and I can even ask Alexa the status before letting the dogs out. Setup was straightforward, notifications are reliable, and the system has given me real peace of mind. Highly recommend for anyone with pets or property to keep secure.