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Upcoming 'Array' HomeKit-Compatible Deadbolt Uses a Solar Panel for Charging
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Exactly my case as well.
Sorry earth, since I have to change the batteries in my smoke/CO2 detectors having to change 6 batteries in the doors is no big deal
It's a new house. It came with a Liftmaster MyQ motor. I bought a $30 bridge from Chamberland that can talk with the motor and upload the status and receive commands from the Internet.
No double cylinder option means no sale for me.
Those of you worried about the batteries running out, it says it can charge from any kind of light, so I would think that not being in direct sunlight isn't going to be a big deal. Also, do you only have one door to your house? I would think you could still get in another door, or through the garage.
ArtOfWarfare, you're concerned about someone hacking one of these locks, but just talked about how your garage door opener can work over WiFi. Couldn't that be hacked also? Not to mention that just having a garage door opener that can work by remote is an easy thing to get hacked itself without being WiFi connected.
Those of you worried about the batteries running out, it says it can charge from any kind of light, so I would think that not being in direct sunlight isn't going to be a big deal. Also, do you only have one door to your house? I would think you could still get in another door, or through the garage.
ArtOfWarfare, you're concerned about someone hacking one of these locks, but just talked about how your garage door opener can work over WiFi. Couldn't that be hacked also? Not to mention that just having a garage door opener that can work by remote is an easy thing to get hacked itself without being WiFi connected.
I'm more interested in how you paid $30 to connect your garage to the internet. Do tell?
There are 3 options. Which one you go with depends on what you have for a motor:
#1 - Does your Motor have a wifi logo on it? If so, you can already connect it to the internet, no money or equipment needed. Check the manufacturer's website for directions. I wasn't so fortunate to have one of these.
#2 - Does your Motor have a MyQ logo on it? MyQ is a protocol that numerous motor manufacturers have agreed to so that their accessories and whatnot can be compatible. We the consumers win. Unless yours is Genie, because they're a bunch of buttholes and haven't added MyQ compatibility to their products.
Anyways, if you have the MyQ logo, you can buy a bridge for $30. I got a Chamberland branded one from Home Depot. The process is: plug it into your router and power. Create an account on their website. Enter the serial number that's on the bridge on the website. Press the learn button on the website. You now have 5 minutes to press the learn button on the motor. And you're done. You can now login to your account from anywhere with an internet connection and see the status of your garage and control it. You can also set it up to send you alerts if you forget to close it or something.
#3 - If you don't have a MyQ logo or Wifi logo, there are kits for most other motors that have you replace the button mounted on your wall with something that can connect to the internet. Those cost $50 for kits that are entirely build it yourself or closer to $200 for kits which are already assembled and just need you to wire them up to your motor.
MyQ was introduced in ~2010. If your motor is newer than that and not Genie, you probably have MyQ. If your motor is older than that, you probably don't.
Thanks. I figured there had to be a catch. My house was built mid-2010, so the opener is older tech than that year since builders here don't tend to install the latest tech. I've seen the MyQ kit plenty of times, and to me it's not worth the $100 price tag for something kind of nice to have that will be useful a handful of times a year. At $30 I would've bitten, which is why I asked. My opener is Overhead Door brand, which is just a rebranded Genie. So I'd be SOL anyway even if it was brand new, except for buying the full kit I mentioned.
my lock lets me know when batteries are getting low. the lock is slower and if that is not enough the keypad lets you know. so far in a year I have never needed a key. once in a great while the lock will not lock from the outside and my wife had to use the key but I think thats because the lock thought it was locked.
And because it's usually unlocked with an electronic key; the physical key that you no longer carry but need is locked within your house somewhere...That's why you have a key. Any other method is a "convenience feature".
Well, when it doesn't work without the key, that's your indication that something is wrong.
I like the idea of smart locks, and this at least looks at my concern regarding powering it. But I can't help thinking that the traditional domestic lock positioning is the constraint to overcome. On top of that; these always look like they are exposing more of the lock mechanism outside the "protection" of the door structure, and could be defeated with a simple hammer strike.
Where I work; there's a fair bit of electronic access control. Usually by means of magnetic plates for interior passages and frame strikeplates for the external doors. A frame based deadbolt / secure lock for residential use would at least be mains connectable.
To me, that's the big thing: being alerted if something is going on, especially if it is out of the ordinary. And, the ones that record/transmit various data (like photos/videos) are even better.
This is the big reason I'm looking at them. It would be great to walk up to a door with fob/phone and have it just open to my touch vs trying to fumble with a key.
But, I can think of all kinds of uses for connected locks. First, they can transmit status data, photos, video, etc. especially when I'm away from home. You could easily let a friend or neighbor in to check on something without having to pre-hand keys out.
That's why we need indoor predator drones and remote-control shotguns! Once they've breached exterior security, you get a notification on your phone and the game begins.
That key in case of fire statement is a bit scary to me... but otherwise, I agree. That detection and notification aspect is pretty crucial. Our current method has paws and a tail, though she sometimes has an issue with false alarms.
I thought about that too, but turns out its even easier to just punch in a pin number than fumble with a fob or a phone. If I have to take anything out of my pocket, it might as well be keys. Plus, if your phone is dead when you get home, or you walked out of the house without it, you're screwed. A great solution would be NFC/Apple Watch compatibility, but even then, I've gone out and forgot my watch.
Yea, the phone-bluetooth based entry seems a bit silly to me too. I'm not going to just leave my bluetooth on, and it would be way too much effort to pull out one's phone and use some app to unlock it, etc.
But, systems like Weiser's SmartKey include a real key and a fob (RFID?) that will allow the person with the fob to just touch the lock and it will open (or, they can use a phone if they prefer). So, no need to fumble with anything. The thing that kept me from implementing it when we did our remodel, was that it wasn't connected to the system (it now can be via a hub component).
I'll probably give it another year or so and then start looking into the smart-home stuff. Up until recently, most of it just hasn't been well thought through. A few minutes into investigating each component I considered, turned up a number of *very obvious* problems with the implementation. Eventually, they'll get feedback from customers, or maybe actually try using such devices themselves before selling them.
