Subscriber Discussion

Anyone Know Smart Locks And Automation?

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Ari Erenthal
Sep 20, 2016
Chesapeake & Midlantic

A customer needs to be able to remotely (from off-site) unlock a door after visually confirming a user is authorized. It's an ancient French door, so it needs to be a mortise lock and be battery operated, and needs to work with a video intercom. Just for fun, the video intercom will be mounted to brick, so wireless and battery operated is a plus. There's no internet on site now but the customer could be persuaded to add internet and Wifi. Two or three times a month, the door will be unlocked for authorized users as well as visitors, and the facility is occasionally rented out, so the ability to temporarily disable the lock remotely is a plus. Budget is "as low as possible".

Any ideas?  

 

(1)
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Jason Ethier
Sep 20, 2016

S2 Security with Sargent IN120 wiFi locks

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harry girsh
Sep 21, 2016

Is there POTs line at the location?

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Ari Erenthal
Sep 21, 2016
Chesapeake & Midlantic

Yes, there is. They can also get cable internet if they had to.

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Undisclosed #1
Sep 21, 2016
IPVMU Certified

They can also get cable internet if they had to.

Is there really a viable way to do remote video verification and access control without internet?

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Ari Erenthal
Sep 21, 2016
Chesapeake & Midlantic

Telepathy. Smoke signals. Carrier pigeon. Two cans and a string.

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Undisclosed #1
Sep 21, 2016
IPVMU Certified

Telepathy...

Which provider, ESPN?

(2)
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Brian Rhodes
Sep 21, 2016
IPVMU Certified

If I had the situation with lowest price in mind, I'd probably go with a video doorbell like Ring Pro and then buy one of the 'integrated' lock products from Kisi, Kevo, or Lockstate.

Ring lists their integration partners here.

Would I state my reputation on the reliability of that solution? No way. But when a conversation begins "Price needs to be as low as possible", that type of solution really is going to be hundreds or thousands less than commercial grade gear.

You're looking at ~$500 - $800 all in for a doorbell and new lock.

That Ring Pro works pretty well, too. I still have our test unit installed, and I use it at least twice per week to yell at my kids while they are wrecking something on my porch.

(1)
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Craig Mc Cluskey
Sep 21, 2016

That Ring Pro works pretty well, too. I still have our test unit installed, and I use it at least twice per week to yell at my kids while they are wrecking something on my porch.

A solid user report if ever I heard one! :-)

HL
Horace Lasell
Sep 22, 2016

Here's a Youtube suggestion for Schlage ZWave door latch with Ring Video WiFi Doorbell.

Amazon Pricing at the time of this writing:

Schlage ZWave Deadbolt Kit on Amazon: $338.55+$12.94 shipping.

Ring Video WiFi Doorbell on Amazon: $176.96+$5.12 shipping.

Uninstalled equipment cost: $533.57, internet not included.

The Nexia kit includes a ZWave base station -- a requirement to interface to the internet. I chose the Schlage deadbolt kit because it was less expensive than the door handle. However, the deadbolt provides less functionality -- a person must turn the deadbolt within 30 seconds of the unlock command in order to open it. If you need better functionality, the door handle can be locked or unlocked at will, without a human on site.

We've had mixed experience with ZWave door latches and deadbolts. We have two deadbolts and four latches, and I think we're probably not going to purchase any more ZWave devices nor Schlage electrical locks. Batteries run out every 6 months, or sooner in one case. Our identical devices were indistinguishable from one another at set-up, and this required a significant amount of extra labor to sort out which device was being mapped to which label. Our Vera II ZWave controller is sufficiently unintuitive that it's a brand new learning experience every time we touch it, considering that we touch it only at annual intervals intervals or so. Finally, our devices must be fully disassembled to change batteries, which is nearly the same level of effort as reinstalling the door latch each time the batteries die. Recently this resulted in a broken wire, taking one of the devices out of service ($250 original cost, lost to changing batteries). The device routes a wire to the two pieces, one on each side of the door, and the wire is stressed each time the batteries are changed.

Still, the customer might be satisfied at this price point and functionality.

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