We’ve spoke a fair amount about access control readers and mobile unlocks with various technologies, including modern Bluetooth and NFC methods. Here we’ll focus again on Bluetooth, technology, much the same as we did before, but in this article we’ll discuss a different piece of hardware that uses it: Modern Bluetooth smart door locks. Unlocking doors from mobile phones is becoming an ability people expect to have, therefore it’s poised to become the main method of unlocking smart locks in the next few years.To get more news about best smart locks wifi, you can visit securamsys.com official website.
Smart Locks: Different Protocols
While we’ll mainly look into Bluetooth enablement on smart locks, it’s worth noting that there exist different protocols that power smart lock connectivity. There are three main options here: Bluetooth, Z-wave, or Wi-Fi. All three are fully wireless protocols, and can effectively communicate with other devices enabled with their same technology.
Wi-Fi Connectivity
Wi-Fi, the most famous of the bunch, is the most powerful in terms of bandwidth capability: Given adequate network connectivity it has unlimited range. This means you can communicate with your lock from anywhere in the world; however, it has the significant disadvantage of requiring a lot of power—you’ll need to wire in the power unless you want to be replacing the batteries on a monthly basis. In our opinion, this somewhat defeats the purpose.
Z-Waves
Z-waves are a protocol very similar to Wi-Fi, in terms of bandwidth and range, with the added benefit that they are optimized for low battery usage, meaning that you’ll need to replace batteries much less often. However, they do have the drawback that they cannot communicate directly with your network to transmit information: They require a Z-wave hub to act as intermediary (you cannot talk to them from your phone without the hub).
How to Use a Bluetooth Door Lock
The good news is that most smart home hubs can interpret Z-waves, but it’s an added consideration. In an office, you’ll need the Z-wave smart locks themselves, a Z-wave hub, likely a gateway to communicate with a controller, and then some sort of server or cloud-enabled controller to communicate with your provider. That’s a lot of stuff lying around!
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a bit less powerful, in terms of network load, although it will always be more than enough for smart locks. The one drawback is its range, which is usually limited to around 150 feet or less, meaning that you will need to be in its vicinity to unlock the door (you will not be able to unlock from, say, across the city). Beyond that, though, it is energetically efficient—requiring very little upkeep.
How to Use a Bluetooth Door Lock
Your phone actually speaks the Bluetooth language, meaning that you can communicate with it without needing any sort of interface. This is what has made it the network standard for all close-range wireless communication: if you combine its power and sophistication with the fact that pretty much every modern device has a Bluetooth chip that can communicate with other Bluetooth chips, it’s really all you need.
And that’s why in this article we’ll be focusing on Bluetooth smart locks: Wi-Fi locks use too much power, and Z-wave locks require more (needless) hardware given that they can’t communicate directly with your phone. Bluetooth locks are energetically efficient, powerful enough over short distances, and can communicate automatically and efficiently with your mobile phone.
Bluetooth Smart Locks: Versatility and Ease of Use
Many modern smart locks are equipped with Bluetooth chips and use these to communicate with their respective control hubs and with mobile phones seeking access. In this section, we’ll look at the use-cases for these locks, then look at a case study of a good modern Bluetooth smart lock.