I’m solidly leaning towards a Schlage Connect Lock due to its local only Zwave capabilities (which has the benefit of also extending battery life). I was strongly considering the Aqara U100 for its many features, but based on what I’ve seen I can foresee it being a nightmare to get working locally with home assistant and the need for a phone app makes me fear for long term support.
I use the Schlage Encode for other houses and love the way it looks and how easy it is to setup and use. I really wish they would make a Zwave version with the same hardware.
So before I jump in and buy the Schlage Connect, is there anybody who has experience with either of the locks I’ve mentioned? Feel free to chime in if you have a different lock that you think beats out these.
If my experience in both IT and lock picking has taught me anything, it’s to stay away from anything “smart” 'nd also don’t secure your house with schlage or masterlock
Edit:
Abus, zeiss and squire are good choices in locks though
Picking a lock is a lot more likely than somebody finding an exploit and hacking your lock. In either case, locks are minimal theft deterrent, not prevention.
Well many smart locks can be exploited physically rather than hacking wise.
On the other hand, flipper zero can probably exploit a lot of 2.4GHz locks.
So can nearly all physical locks you’ll find on a house door. The ones nearly everyone puts on their doors are super simple. Most thieves won’t bother though, if your lock poses even the slightest challenge they’ll go through a window if they really want in.
The point I think is that while most locks are really easy to pick relatively, the people that it’s really easy to pick to, aren’t the same people robbing your house.
The ones that sit and practice picking the locks are the ones that install them, or come out when you’ve misplaced your keys and get you in the house.
The robbers are mainly opportunists that wander around looking for open doors and windows, knock to see if you’re home then try to force a way in.
That’s why my smartlock doesn’t have a keyhole.
what happens when the battery runs out?
Our smart lock has an external 9v battery plug so the worst case is that you will have to walk to the store and buy a battery before you can unlock using the keypad.
But that hasn’t happened to us yet because the lock will warn you before it runs out by beeping.
That’s risky. Anyone who can access this can basically blow in some real voltage and power to burn the hardware.
Yeah and anyone can throw a rock through the window.
Good question! It has backup battery prongs you can hold a 9v up to in case of battery failure to power the lock.