Given the Amazon prime-day sales, I'm interested in getting a smart lock, but a bit torn about what to do.
I see both the Yale YRD256 Z-Wave as well as the Schlage BE469ZP with some decent prime deals, but I have some questions after reading all the other Lock-related posts here...
Zwave or Zigbee - I see people saying Zigbee is far superior, however i have ZERO zigbee devices connected to my HE currently, and I've read (I think?) that I need other zigbee devices (extenders etc..) to make sure the lock reaches the HE, which is about 30' away. Will i need more zigbee if I'm adding a zigbee lock?
Battery life - i've seen some say the Zigbee locks are far better with battery saver, and others saying ZWave is just fine. I know usage is a big component, but wondering what the consensus is?
Integration - are both the locks I mentioned above fully integrate-able with HE? I want to be able to lock automatically, but only unlock with a code from the HE dashboard. Would like to be able to see battery life on the lock, if possible?
Features - these locks show support for temporary codes and use with a phone app \ bluetooth. Do these features still work if paired with HE? I want to be able to give a temp code to the electrician etc.. and be able to remove it or time-box it, and I want my wife to be able to use the keypad or her phone to unlock in a pinch.
General question - at least one says they work with Ring alarm, however I suspect that if I pair the lock with Ring (Assuming via zwave) I assume this means I cannot pair with the HE?
Depending upon how far your lock is from your hub - yes, some zigbee repeaters - you can use smart plugs which are useful. I swapped out my Z-Wave module on my YRD256 for Zigbee and have had a great experience. My kwikset lock is also Zigbee. Others have had excellent experiences with Z-Wave so ymmv. I prefer Zigbee at this point.
When I was using Z-Wave with the YRD256 I had no battery issues, with the Zigbee module it's the same. Keep in mind Yale locks usually have an external battery terminal you can use to temporarily power the locks if the batteries die. edit: It also depends on how far your lock is from a repeater or hub, weaker connection will tend to cause more resending of data due to transmission errors and use the battery faster.
Yes to the first bit - not sure on the second but probably... edit: you would be able see the battery status on the dashboard of course. Seeing it on the lock is dependent on the device itself..
No - not that I am aware of.. BUT you can use the HE system app called Lock Code Manager to set up temporary access codes etc.
Right - although I think there might be a way to interface with the Ring system itself but not sure how much control you have other than reading events. I have no experience with this though so maybe some others can chime in...
I have one of the Schlage Z-wave locks. I did install an Aeotec range extender about six feet away from the lock to make sure connections were stable. I am only getting 40 kpbs connections with the lock while most of my connections are at 100 kpbs. However, it works just fine like that.
Yeah me too - in general I don't care about 40 on any of my devices. I only start to worry about 9.6.. Aeotec is good as is the Ring Alarm Range Extender. The Ring is nice because it is less expensive and has a battery backup.
Also I would recommend adding some sort of UPS on your hub if you haven't already... something like this for the hub:
