Smart Locks šŸ”‘

Does anyone here have any experience with them?

Iā€™m looking into one for my house. I want to be able to unlock the front door just with an app/keycode, and generate temporary codes for guests.

I was looking into the Nest x Yale lock, but unfortunately it hasnā€™t been released in the UK yet. You can import them, but itā€™s not clear whether they are compatible with UK style locks :pensive:

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Interested in this :nerd_face:

When I looked ages ago they were really expensive and there wasnā€™t any fail-safes for power outages and such that I felt comfortable with.

Thatā€™s one of the reasons I like the Nest one (aside from the fact that my house already has a Nest setup with the thermostat) - If the battery runs out with this one, you can hold a 9V battery to the bottom of this lock for a few seconds to give it enough juice to unlock. And it doesnā€™t matter if the wifi is down, as I understand it stores the codes locally as a backup.

Who has a battery handy at all times though in the event that theyā€™re locked out :confused: Iā€™ve not heard of the Nest one before so Iā€™ll take a look as I too have the thermostat and protect.

Slightly off topic but Iā€™ve recently found out that since Google acquired Nest theyā€™ve removed it from IFTTT. I had so many things planned for when my thermostat detects that nobody is home :sob:

How about the Yale Conexis L1?

It doesnā€™t have the Google ecosystem tie-in but it has the keycodes. You can also connect it to Smarthings/Alexa with the Z-Wave module. Iā€™ve been :pinching_hand:this close to buying the L1 and have only been holding back for a Nest/Google integration product. Which probably wonā€™t show anytime soon. A lot of the smart-locks (with US focus) work only with deadbolts, fewer work with proper locks and multiple locing points like most of the double-glazing/composite doors fitted in the UK
Thereā€™s also a couple of types of these too - and theyā€™re not the sameā€¦ the L1 wonā€™t work with ā€˜Avantisā€™ mechanisms.

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Iā€™ve been interested in them - but broadly have been put off due to fears of general design flaws.

The youtube channel ā€œLockpicking Lawyerā€ has some videos on vulnerabilities on specific locks, and may give you an idea of what to look at.

Some exist that can be seemingly accessed from outside with just a screwdriver - so itā€™s worth having a proper look at what you are getting.

(Obviously with the caveat that itā€™s paired with a much weaker link of a window or whatever elseā€¦)

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I have been interested in the past but Iā€™m not convinced that they would provide any noticable benefit for my circumstances. Plus seeing this video put me off; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozIKwGt38LQ

Iā€™m more interested in door cameras. I had a few raspberry piā€™s running as security cameras last year using motioneyeos, and automatically dumping clips that contained motion into a google drive folder. But I moved house and havenā€™t gone through the process of remembering how on earth I set them up (wifi protocols etc).

Also, I fear that you could have the most secure front door in the world but a determined thief would just break your window and get in that way :pensive:

I think itā€™d be easier/cheaper to hide one of these on the exterior of your property, particularly if the main reason is to let guests enter the home.

This is super neat! https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/5/21050765/netatmo-homekit-smart-door-lock-nfc-keys-price-ces-2020

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A cool mesh between old and new

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I have a Yale Conexis L1 on my back door (my front door is quite old and hasnā€™t got multi-point locks so couldnā€™t use it on that and I can easily use my back door as my main door).

The reason I went for the Conexis over the Nest x Yale (which I prefered and could probably use on my front door) was the Conexis adheres to the British Standard TS621:2018 which is the recognised UK standard for smart locking devices for homes. Quite simply, your insurance can be void if you donā€™t have the correct standard of lock on your door.

Overall the lock does its job, it locks my door and allows me access with keyfobs cards etc. It has saved me a couple of times when I left my keys at work. You do need to separately buy a Z-Wave 2 module if you want to use its more extended capabilities like app or SmartThings integration. It doesnā€™t work with Google Home/Apple Homekit but does apparently Alexa and as I said SmartThings. The main issue Iā€™ve had is the battery draining fast when connected to my SmartThings but but I changed the Z-Wave 2 module and it seems better. It does have the prongs for a v8 battery if the lock battery is dead but generally it plays you a tune to warn you.

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I would go with Yale with Zigbee module if I would be buying now.

However I got PINEWORLD https://a.aliexpress.com/09EOAc62r

I am happy with how it works in general and it was quite cheap, however:

  • canā€™t manage fingerprints or pins from Tuya app, you need to do it via lock keyyboard
  • it doesnā€™t read to well Nfc implant I have in my hand, traditional nfc cards works well

From postivie things:

  • emergency backup phisical key
  • You can generate one time code via Tuya app
  • You can browse logs when and who opened the door
  • App can alarm you when somebody tries too many times to open it
  • It can trigger If This Then That, but not other way around

I am using Hubitat Zigbee smart hub, so I would for sure go with some Zigbee lock

Totally off topic, but I canā€™t be the only one who saw this topic in the list and assumed it had been closed because of the padlock :smiley:

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:joy:

Good point.

I changed it to a key.

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Iā€™m interested, but unusually for me as an early adopter, donā€™t get feel ready to jump in. However, Iā€™ve read the above comments with a great deal of interest.

Please keep your comments coming!

Then there is the Alfred ML2 with Wi-Charge. For mortice locks [seems to be the norm us US] not cheap and erā€¦ not yet available. R-

I used to have a battery handy, you need a 9v one when working with the small cash machines you get in shops as the battery always gives up on those too.

How often do people let guests in anyway? Yale locks are under Ā£20, just give guests a key then change the lock after :smiley:

Iā€™ve got a Xiaomi Smart Door lock. Doesnā€™t have Alexa/Google etc. integration which arguably is a good thing. By default itā€™s bluetooth but can optionally be connected via the internet.

Unlocks with code, fingerprint, NFC or bluetooth. Plenty of options for temp codes etc. Well worth it.

They were on the gadget show and they said they can be compromised by hackers