Ultraloq U-Bolt zwave 700 lock

I see Ultraloq is making a zwave 700 version of their fancy U-Bolt multi-lock. I looked at this a few times last year - and think it looks pretty cool.

It is not even listed on their webpage yet, so I doubt it is going on sale any time soon, though.

https://products.z-wavealliance.org/products/4115?selectedFrequencyId=2

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I have been looking at smart locks on the market, and by now (November 2021) the Ultraloq U-Bolt Pro Zwave is shipping. I just conversed with U-Tec technical support and they posted an article about how to pair the U-Bolt Pro Zwave to Hubitat. Hooray! :partying_face:

There are now three documented supported platforms that work with the U-Bolt Pro Zwave: SmartThings, Ring, and Hubitat.

I have not tested this integration yet but if others could post their experiences, that would be terrific.

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I have been waiting for the Ultraloq Z-Wave 700 series lock.

Where are they selling it? I couldn't find it on Amazon.

Looks like they're available direct from their site...

The integrated door sensor is a great idea. Not sure how other manufacturers missed that one. Seems like a no brainer.

I didn’t see anything on their website saying it was the 700 series. It just says Z-wave Plus.

It also doesn’t list Hubitat as a hub.

I sent U-tec (makers of the Ultraloq) an email. They confirmed it is a 700 series chip. They also sent me the link below on how to add (or remove) the Ultraloq to/from Hubitat.

These locks look pretty cool. Has anyone tried these yet? If so, what's the verdict?

Not I.

Was definitely interested, but since the Kwikset zwave 700 ones came out 1st, I went with those instead.

Are the 700 ones as finicky as there older z wave models?

I never really had problems with the old zwave 500 version of the Home Connect 620, so I might not be the best one to ask.

Keep in mind the Home Connect 620 line is a bit different than the Kwikset 8xx line - both in zwave programming and build. I did have issues with the Kwikset 8xx in both zwave and zwave plus, though, and switched those to zigbee.

Also, on the Home Connect 620 the comm cards are not removable/replaceable, like they were on the Kwikset 8xx models. Just a warning.

Has anybody tried the Ultraloq Pro Z-Wave or even seen a review of it?

I've been scouring the internet and haven't found any.

They have a 30 day money back policy (if we pay the shipping and have to have all the original materials), so I'm hoping they put it on Amazon like their wi-fi lock is. Plus, I'm thinking it may be best to wait a month or so for the inevitable first software updates to be put in place.

But otherwise, it looks like a real winner.

I just got the one with z wave yesterday. Setup was rocky as I had to reset it as it was giving me fits about setting an admin password via the U-tec app. After resetting it I was able to get it programmed. It paired with hubitat via s2. Did come up as Rgb genie remote, but I changed the driver to generic z wave lock and it works. It has a door sensor built in which is cool, tho with basic generic lock driver it won’t show the door status and or idk of that can even be implemented via a special driver. Definitely a step up from our old Yale zwave lock. Only down fall imo is the fact the U-tec app won’t work unless your with in Bluetooth range. So if your at work you cant see anything within there app, logs or setting or anything as the lock is zwave and Bluetooth only. No wifi. But yea it was easy to install and is neat. Hopefully in time a specific driver can be written to utilize the built in contact sensor as well. And on a side note it’s relatively quite as well, our old yale was maybe a little louder. I know from experience we had an old Kwikset and that thing was loud and I was curious as how quiet it would be.

I know you just got it, but it would be appreciated if you could reply here again in a week or so to let us know how well the fingerprint reader is working, are you using it with Alex and/or Google, and if so, how well that works and if you can lock and unlock the door with your voice. Also, if you use the auto-unlock, how well that works.

Much appreciated,

I read a review by the NY Times/Wirecutter about the Wi-Fi version. The good news is that it was their #1 pick (though they noted the fingerprint reader doesn't always work). But I think even more importantly for Hubitat users is that is says they won't share their API. While I can understand how that is a good thing, it seems to me that means that Hubitat/Users would not be able to write a driver for the lock and we would be dependent on Ultraloq to write it/fix it/update it.

I'm attaching a link to that story. You have to scroll way down to a table to see the API thing.

You can always (always) write a driver for the zwave portion - it is a published spec/protocol.

With a closed API you may not be able to use some of the advanced device features like the fingerprint scanner, etc, in Hubitat though.

The extent of my programming skills are limited to VBA, so I can't write such a drive. But, I hope Ultraloq does. (Which I think is certainly possible as they've pushed instructions on how to pair it with Hubitat - but those instructions also show we should pick a generic Z-wave lock for the driver - so they are certainly aware they don't have Hubitat specific one yet).

No worries. Hubitat will (maybe already does... :wink: ) support the zwave capabilities of the lock in the generic zwave lock driver.

No need for you to write anything.

And since you can't access the advanced features through Z-Wave anyway, I'm not sure there's any point in a vendor-specific driver for this lock in hubitat.

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I got this further response from Ultraloq:

Our products work with the Habit, but before that users still use the U-tec app to program it,
Maybe this FAQ helps.
How to connect U-Bolt Z-Wave and U-Bolt Pro Z-Wave with Hubitat?

You can control the z-wave lock with the Hubitat app via Z-wave, it has a longer range than Bluetooth.

For the Z-Wave lock, it can be paired with the Ultraloq bridge, to make it works with the WiFi. After that, you can control the lock remotely via the U-tec app.

For the API, we will open more API to Hubitat in the future.

BTW, I replied saying that if it the door sensor doesn't report to Hubitat via the generic lock driver then we couldn't do thinks like have Hubitat turn on a light, or send a message if the door was opened, but not shut for say, 5 minutes, etc. Also if it doesn't report who opened it via a dedicated PIN or a fingerprint we can't trigger events based on who came in or out.

Hope Hubitat and Ultraloq can get us a dedicated driver quickly.

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Is there some sort of cloud component to the Bridge/Lock? Will internet be required?

I looked over the FAQs but didn't see anything. I could have missed it.

Found something about the app though:

How Secure is U-cloud & U-tec App?
U-cloud Security

  1. U-cloud server constructs in Amazon Web Services (AWS), the server does have strong security.

  2. Except for the hardware protection from the internet service providers, U-cloud has additional security mechanisms.

  3. The Users’ data (name, ID, password, fingerprint, keyfob) have been encrypted by the MD5 algorithm.

  4. If the hacker tries to download the cloud data and entering the wrong password for a couple of times, the data download process will be suspended to avoid brute-force attacks.

  5. The downloaded data from U-cloud will re-process by U-tec App, then the original downloaded data cannot forward to others for reuse.

uh...

I didn’t see the device sending any reports when this contact was triggered.. So it appears they are just using it internally.