I have been using the Ring keypad V2 for a few years. But it it is unreliable. Any suggestions on what to do in lieu of a keypad? Thanks
Can you tell us more about what you currently do with the keypad?
We use it to disarm the system when we return home. It does not always disarm and we have to use the app to disarm it. That is not as convenient. I have not found a keypad that is available to use.
That keypad was a massive waste of time and money for me and ultimately I cured myself of the problem by utilizing a hammer. I replaced it with a Samsung galaxy tablet wall mounted with a 3D printed enclosure. The battery is set to only chargre to 80% and I run fully kiosk browser with hubitat dashboards. I spent MANY hours over months customizing the dashboard manually since the built in dashboards are so terrible. Ultimately it does work fantastically well. I even changed the CSS for the HSM pop-ups so that the keypad is large instead of that tiny joke that they designed. I also wrote a script through rule machine and javascript so that the keypad opens up full screen when HSM is counting down to disarm (which plays a beeping tone over the tablet speakers). The tablet even records live video to Blue Iris. The dashboard loading screens (also absurd that they even exist) sometimes hang up, so I wrote javascript inside of fully kiosk browser that will auto reload them if that should happen. With many fixes it has been absolutely flawless for years now.
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It sounds like you put a lot of work into this. I thought about using an old Android phone for this. But, it sounds like it also would have some pitfalls just like your tablet. Did. I wonder what others do either for a keypad or in lieu of a keypad.
Maybe a key fob that can pair with the hub?
There used to be a couple z-wave and zigbee key fobs but I’m not sure if they’re still generally available.
Frient makes a zigbee keypad that should work with habitat. But those can be complicated to obtain from the US since they’re based in Europe.
I use a triple button press up and down on light switches near my entries to arm/disarm my alarm. The chances of any intruder knowing that is available is pretty much nil. I tie it to my Zooz Chime with preset messages for arming and disarming. Works pretty well. If you have decent smart switches, you can also change the LED indicator to indicate the state of the arming: red for armed, green for disarmed.
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I like that option. Can you tell me the make and model of the switch?
For about 100 bucks, you can get a Qolsys IQ2 panel on eBay. In my experience, the Hubitat integration has been great.
As a bonus, this will also give you the option of using PowerG devices with Hubitat.
Zooz switches, dimmers and scene controller. ZEN35, ZEN75, ZEN77 etc. You enable them to have scene control capability and you get 10 possible button presses (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 tap up and down) from a single 2-button device. It really allows for a lot of capability, but don't ask my wife to learn how to do it.
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I decided to use a digital deadbolt. I have one on my front door and have it set to disarm when it unlocks. That has worked very well for me for a number of years.
