Smart Locks & Access Control

About smart locks & access control

Smart locks have matured substantially since their introduction in the early 2010s. Early products were plagued by connectivity issues, short battery life, and security vulnerabilities. Today's leading products from Yale, Schlage, Kwikset, and August address these shortcomings with improved RF/Wi-Fi chips, 6-12 month battery life, and TLS-encrypted API communication that meets modern security standards.

Physical security remains the foundation of any smart lock installation. Schlage Encode is built on the Schlage B-series platform — ANSI Grade 1 certified with the same hardened steel construction as their keyed deadbolts. The Encode adds a backlit touchscreen keypad and Wi-Fi connectivity (Schlage's own chip, no separate hub required) without any reduction in the mechanical lock grade. This distinction matters: some early smart locks prioritized aesthetics at the expense of physical security, using Grade 3 bolt mechanisms behind an electronic face.

Yale Assure locks use the August Connect Wi-Fi bridge architecture for their connected variants. The Yale Assure SL (slim-profile) line eliminates the exterior key cylinder entirely — the only access method is the capacitive touchscreen keypad or the app. This is a valid design choice for properties where key management is the primary concern, but it requires reliable power (regular battery replacement or a power-over-ethernet variant).

Kwikset Halo and Halo Touch offer Grade 2 certified hardware with Wi-Fi integration and fingerprint access respectively. While Grade 2 is one step below Grade 1, Kwikset's BumpGuard technology adds resistance to bump-key attacks, partially offsetting the grade difference. Halo Touch is popular for residential applications where users find keypad codes inconvenient — fingerprint enrollment supports up to 100 prints.

August Smart Lock Pro is a retrofit solution that attaches to the interior thumb-turn of an existing deadbolt, adding Z-Wave Plus and Bluetooth connectivity without replacing the exterior hardware. This approach preserves your existing key (useful if you are renting or want to retain key access) while adding app control and access logging. The trade-off is a larger interior profile and dependence on the quality of the existing deadbolt.

Our technicians complete all smart lock installations with app pairing, network registration, auto-lock configuration, and a demonstration of access log features. We also review firmware update procedures with customers — smart locks that are not updated regularly accumulate known vulnerabilities, similar to any networked device.