Smart Multi-Point Locks

Soldato
Joined
16 Apr 2007
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23,474
Location
UK
Hey all,

I'm hopefully moving into a new place soon, and it's a top floor maisonette. I've been looking into devices to make it a "smart home", and one thing I'm looking at getting is a smart lock and door bell for the front door. This is partially because I'm a nerd and I love these sort of things, but it's also probably a little bit of laziness, and that I don't want to go downstairs to open the door to people all the time :p

The front door has a multi-point lock on it - And after a small amount of research, I can't find many products out there that work on Multi-point locks.

The most popular I can find is the Yale Conexis L1, which looks great - However, the reviews are up and down, so not sure to trust it or not.

Regarding the door bell, I'm looking at either "Ring" or "Nest" - Which look similar and have similar features.

The main points I want to achieve are:

- Keyless Entry: I want to be able to open the door either using my phone, watch or a keyfob
- Remote Entry: I want guests to ring the door bell, and once I've seen who it is, I want to be able to unlock the door so they can enter

Any ideas on how to achieve this? And what devices will I need?

Thanks,
Marky
 
Whilst not helpful for you now. I'll also be interested in this in my new house. So be interested in your findings if you do go down one route.

With the doorbells, it annoys me there's no option to save locally and all need a subscription to get recordings, though i guess that's not *too* important.

When i last looked, there didn't seem to be much to compete with that Yale L1 either.
 
tech is still too new.

nest hello is overpriced for what it is also so is their monthly sub prices which is why they have brought out a new cheaper tier.

smart door locking is just far too new. smart tech tbh is mainly gimmicks anyway. smart thermostat is probably the only thing worth getting apart from smart tv, smart phone, etc.
 
Whilst not helpful for you now. I'll also be interested in this in my new house. So be interested in your findings if you do go down one route.

With the doorbells, it annoys me there's no option to save locally and all need a subscription to get recordings, though i guess that's not *too* important.

When i last looked, there didn't seem to be much to compete with that Yale L1 either.

I'll keep you in the loop if I find anything else. But it certainly looks like Yale L1 is the only option right now.

Have you asked the other people living in the flats if they are happy with you doing this?

Don't need to - I have a completely separate entrance.
 
With the doorbells, it annoys me there's no option to save locally and all need a subscription to get recordings, though i guess that's not *too* important.

Yeah - I didn't know this until I looked into it further. Ring seem to be the cheapest for the longest amount. £20 a year for 60 days worth of recordings if it's just for 1 camera/door bell. Think nest was a little more and that was for 5 days worth. Still rather tempted for a basic CCTV setup with the added bonus of being able to communicate with Amazon deliveries while at work to ensure they put it in the garage.

As for Smart locks, I've never really considered it but that L1 looks quite nice. Do you have an Apple Watch, any idea if it works with that?
 
Yeah - I didn't know this until I looked into it further. Ring seem to be the cheapest for the longest amount. £20 a year for 60 days worth of recordings if it's just for 1 camera/door bell. Think nest was a little more and that was for 5 days worth. Still rather tempted for a basic CCTV setup with the added bonus of being able to communicate with Amazon deliveries while at work to ensure they put it in the garage.

As for Smart locks, I've never really considered it but that L1 looks quite nice. Do you have an Apple Watch, any idea if it works with that?

No Homekit or Apple Watch support yet - I have read from unconfirmed sources that Yale are working on a module to attach to the door that will support Homekit. It currently has a module out for Z-Wave which allows for remote unlocking/locking.

It's frustrating that all these door bells have monthly charges attached to them to record the footage - But I wouldn't mind betting that within the next couple of years, we're inundated with copycat products that do the same thing but use local sources to record footage (in fact, I think there's one on Indiegogo right now).
 
I had the Conexis L1 but swapped it back to the standard handle as I was having an issue with my new door engaging the multi point locks and I didn't want to drain the batteries trying to sort it.

The thing is though, I've not missed it since I took it off. It's a nice quality product but it just didn't work the way I hoped it would.

- The phone unlock feature is pointless. It doesn't use any sort of proximity unlock where you could keep your phone in your pocket and it would unlock the door. You have to hold the phone to the door and twist it to unlock the door.

- The app and the setup of key fobs, etc isn't too intuitive.

I bought the the Yale wireless module and remote key fob. Which works kinda like how you unlock a car. But it's yet another battery that can fail. I ended up carrying the card in the car as a backup and a back door key with me for emergencies.
 
In case anyone is still interested in this Yale L1 lock - It is an Amazon Prime Day deal at £149.99

I'm still not convinced enough due to the reviews - So I'm going to give it a miss - I only hope more smart locks are introduced in the future that work on UK front doors...
 
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