Advice on Smart Locks (Z-Wave vs. WiFi)

🛎️ Get Help Devices
4

For anyone who may come across this question in the future, I just got off the phone with Yale support and August support (which were both surprisingly helpful).

  • Yale Assure Lock SL (YRD256) has no built-in wireless radio. You can insert either a Z-wave module or WiFi module.

    • If you insert a Z-wave module, the only way to control the lock is via Z-wave. You can't use any apps to directly connect to the lock, you use whatever app you can use to connect to your Z-wave hub, and control the lock that way.
    • If you insert a WiFi module you can control the lock via the WiFi app (either the Yale Access App or August App works).

  • The newer Yale Assure Lock 2 (YRD410/YRD420/YRD430/YRD450) has a built-in Bluetooth radio and comes with a WiFi module. With this lock, you can either control the lock directly via Bluetooth or with WiFi, using either the Yale Access App or August App.

    • Apparently they are supposed to come out with a Z-wave module for the Assure Lock 2, but it is not available yet. The person I spoke to said that it was due out this year but it is behind schedule.
      • In theory, once the Z-wave module is available, you will be able to control the lock with both Bluetooth (via the app, while you are in your house) or Z-wave, but you still won't be able to use the Yale Access App or August App while you are away from home.

The August Smart Lock Pro, on the other hand, has both Bluetooth and Z-wave built-in to the actual lock.

  • According to the representative from August, the lock relies mainly on Bluetooth.
  • You can always control the lock locally from the app via Bluetooth.
  • Using the app, you can activate Z-wave and pair it with your hub, which offers an additional mechanism to control the lock.
  • Using the Connect WiFi bridge (which talks to the lock via Bluetooth), you can also control the lock over the internet from the app when you are not home.

I found two discussions suggesting that integrating the Yale WiFi lock with Hubitat doesn't work very well, so if I want integration with Hubitat, it seems like I need to use Z-wave:

So, it seems like the Yale Lock doesn't meet my current set of requirements, which is unfortunate. I'll probably end-up going with the August Smart Lock Pro, although I like the design of the Yale locks better.

Going through my original questions:

No, when you are using the Z-Wave module, you cannot use the August or Yale Access App.

No, when you are using the WiFi module, it doesn't look like there are any good ways to integrate with Hubitat. You might be able to hack it together with IFTTT, but that isn't great.

Yes! The Connect WiFi Bridge relies on Bluetooth, and the lock itself has built-in Z-Wave, so you can use both the WiFi bridge and your Hubitat, which allows control via the hub or the August or Yale Access App, including local control via Bluetooth as well as over the internet.

Yes! See previous answer.