Gate automation looks simple from the driveway: press a button, gate moves. Underneath, there are two systems worth understanding properly if you want to make informed decisions about your installation, how the motor stays powered when the grid fails, and how the signal that tells it to open is actually secured.
Power: Mains, Battery, and the Changeover
Every gate motor we install runs from mains power under normal conditions, charging an onboard or external backup battery continuously while it does. The control board monitors mains voltage, and if it drops out, the system switches to battery automatically, with no user action required and, in a properly wired install, no interruption to normal remote or keypad operation.
The battery itself is typically a sealed lead-acid unit, for example the Centurion 12V 7.2Ah pack compatible with the D3, D5-Evo, D5 SMART, and D10 SMART range. Runtime depends on usage: a battery in good condition will comfortably deliver several hours of intermittent operation (a handful of open and close cycles) during an outage, though a motor left cycling continuously will drain faster than one used a normal handful of times per day.
Two things degrade this system quietly over time. First, sealed lead-acid batteries lose capacity with age even if never deeply discharged, so a battery that provided six hours of backup when new might provide ninety minutes after three years, with no visible warning until an outage actually tests it. Second, if mains power is out for long enough that the battery is fully depleted (multi-day outages, uncommon but not unheard of), the motor stops responding to remote or keypad entirely, at which point the mechanical manual release is the only remaining option: a key disengages the drive gear so the gate can be pushed by hand.
Access Control: Three Methods, Three Different Trust Models
Keypad, remote, and app-based access solve the same problem (telling the motor to open) through different mechanisms, and each has a different failure mode worth understanding.
Keypad (PIN code)
A weatherproof unit like the Centurion SMARTGUARD Air accepts a PIN and triggers the gate directly, with no dependency on a battery-powered fob. Its weakness is shared-secret exposure: a PIN known to household members, staff, and sometimes former staff cannot be revoked selectively without changing the code for everyone who uses it, unless the keypad supports multiple distinct user codes.
Remote control (rolling code RF)
This is the default method on almost every residential installation. It depends entirely on a battery inside the handset and a receiver programmed into the motor's control board, but its security model is materially stronger than it looks, which is the subject of the next section.
App-based / GSM dialler
A GSM dialler lets a gate be triggered by a phone call from an authorised number, useful for visitors and deliveries who do not have a remote, and for opening the gate remotely without being on-site. It depends on cellular network coverage and, unlike a keypad or remote, on a live subscription or SIM being active, which is a different reliability profile from the other two methods and worth factoring in if cellular coverage at the property is weak.
Rolling Code: Why It Replaced Fixed Code Remotes
Older, fixed-code remotes transmit the same digital code every time the button is pressed. That code can, in principle, be captured with inexpensive radio equipment and replayed later to open the gate without the owner's knowledge, a real vulnerability class known as a replay attack.
Rolling code systems, standard on modern FAAC, CAME, and Centurion remotes operating at 433.92 MHz, solve this by having the remote and the receiver share a synchronised algorithm that generates a new, effectively unpredictable code on every single press. Even if a transmission were intercepted, that specific code becomes invalid the moment it is used (or the moment the legitimate remote is pressed again), because the receiver has already moved on to expect the next code in the sequence. The remote and receiver stay in sync through a counter, with most systems tolerating a reasonable number of missed presses (if a button is pressed out of range, for instance) before requiring re-synchronisation.
Practically, this means the security of a modern gate remote has very little to do with keeping the remote itself secret and everything to do with the rolling code protocol working correctly, which it does by default on any current FAAC, CAME, or Centurion transmitter. The remaining vulnerability is physical: a lost or stolen remote can still open the gate until it is deprogrammed from the receiver, which is why replacing a lost remote should always include removing its code from the motor's memory, not just adding a new one.
Automated Gates service page See supply items including backup batteries, keypads, and GSM diallers.
Backup batteries and rolling code remotes in stock Centurion 12V 7.2Ah batteries, CAME and FAAC rolling code transmitters, and SMARTGUARD keypads.