Greetings. I have a C-7 at my officd with a Kwikset 914 Zigbee lock which works well. I chose Zigbee because the research I did here a year or more ago suggested that Zigbee locks were gererally more stable than Z-wave. Have things changed since then? I'm upgrading to C-8 and will be adding a second lock but I want to provide staff with the option to unlock doors with a key FOB or biometrics instead of having to enter the code. Opinions? Thanks. -Tim
I've always had Z-Wave locks without issues. YMMV
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I’m not sure a blanket statement like that can be made.
People have different experiences with Z-wave and Zigbee. Some will swear Z-wave provides a more reliable experience, and others are equally certain about the same thing re: Zigbee.
I would say focus on these needs over z-wave or zigbee specifically.
Although it may also matter somewhat if you already have other z-wave or zigbee devices; particularly plugged in or mains wired devices, which act as signal repeaters.
I think you'll always get a YMMV response on these types of questions...every mesh is particular to the home it lives in. My feelings:
C7: Zigbee - always more robust/reliable on my C7 than Z-Wave
C8: Z-Wave (until they work through the Zigbee issues that are affecting some users, including me). Z-Wave on the C8 is much improved over C7, really strong, zero issues.
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Thanks. Currently just the one Zigbee lock plus a couple of Sonoff outlets just to act as repeaters. This network won't grow very large, perhaps sensors on other doors to confirm they're closed when they should be, -Tim
I have 2 914s and 2 916s, all of which are Zigbee, and all migrated to my C-8 without issue. For 2 or 3 years now they have been 100% reliable. I can’t say that for very many things.
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Thanks, that's good to know. I like Z-wave's low frequency, wall penetrating power and not having to be concerned with the 2.4 WiFi band. I'll have to go read about the Zigbee issues on the C8.
Thanks, that's good to hear.
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The only lock I am aware of that supports biometrics is the Ultraloq U-Bolt Pro Z-Wave, which supports fingerprints.
However, it only exposes limited information to the z-wave controller.
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I ordered another 914 Zigbee just because I already know it and neither protocol seems to be clearly superior to the other. I've also decided against implementing a touchless entry option because of the increased security risk. I'll look more into biometrics later. Thanks everyone. -Tim
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Like, limited how? I was interested in the version of this lock without the fingerprint reader, but maybe I'll skip if it won't support automations I want to run with it. Does it at least report which code or user was entered and it's lock/unlock status?
There are multiple threads on the Ultraloq U-Bolt Pro. The upshot with that lock is that code management is via BT and not z-wave. And by code management, I mean adding/removing codes, as well as reporting codes to Hubitat.
Perhaps the non-Pro version of this lock is better behaved?
Seems this might not be the lock for me. I have no BT capability with my Hubitat setup and I do not want to have to use my phone to manage codes. I need Hubitat to be able to manage the codes via Lock Code Manager to work with the rest of my stuff.
I don't have any probs with my z-wave locks (schlage). Some non plus versions may or may not be problematic but overall they're fine with Hubitat.
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I have a Kwikset 888 and 912, both Zwave. They've been running great for years.
