I really like this lock but am disappointed by the limited Z-Wave capabilities. Right now, the lock only reports its lock/unlock status and its battery level, and the only actions that can be taken are to lock, unlock, and add door codes.
It would be great to expand on the Z-Wave features and allow users to see via Z-Wave what door code was used to unlock the door, and to also see the door sensor status via Z-Wave.
It would also be good for the U-Tec app to also display door codes created from Z-Wave.
I know many others also wish to see these features added!
I totally agree. I have several other locks I would gladly replace, but U-Tec isnāt really making any attempts to make their Z Wave locks feature complete, which is unfortunate. Obviously The Z Wave protocol is more limited in terms of what feature can be supported, but thereās still no reason basic stuff the like door sensor shouldnāt work.
I wholeheartedly agree with @guniv . I purchased the Ultraloq U-Bolt Pro Z-Wave lock specifically because of its Z-Wave capability over all other options on the market. I too would like to see the capabilities exposed through Z-Wave expanded.
As stated above, exposing the door sensor status via Z-wave is a critical feature. Next, adding notifications about what user performed an action with the lock, and by what method (i.e. lock via code, fingerprint, app, etc.) would enable rich automation creation with the Z-Wave interface that many in the community want.
There is a large market for Z-wave-based home automation solutions and I applaud your effort to capture this market by enabling Z-Wave compatibility. But for customers like myself who bought this product for this specific use case, the lock is really lacking at this time.
I look forward to seeing what additional functionality you can bring to this large group of customers.
As a Home Assistant user, I concur with everyone else in this thread. I would love if my Z-Wave lock supported more native Z-Wave functionality and allowed me to use more features in Home Assistant, such as seeing what user unlocked the lock.
+1 to everything mentioned here so far. My top two priorities:
1 - being able to see which user unlocked the door
2 - fixes to the lockās reporting of available user codes so that hubs donāt overwrite stored fingerprints (see this post for more info about how the available user codes are being incorrectly reported).
I too chose this lock for the Z-Wave functionality in order to more readily integrate it into my Home Assistant implementation and agree with everything that has been brought up here. My biggest complaints about this lock are that the smart notifications donāt work at all and the door sensor always shows as open, which makes it useless for any practical purposes. My previous lock would also let me know if the lock was stuck in a jammed or unlocked state, which this lock seems to lack. Not sure if thatās something that could be fixed via a firmware patch or just a missing hardware feature altogether though.
I would really like to see a HomeSeer z wave plugin, as well as for Home Assistant!!
Now that Insteon has died, these two smart home hubs have pretty much risen to top status as home automation āsystemsā. U- Tec bills itself as. āpremiumā smart lock. It should at least be compatible with these two systems.
All the scheduling etc requests that the other posters requested could then be solved Actually seems like a no brainer, plus itās further promotes U-tec as a Premium product.
Just my humble opinion.
I am new to U-Lock but I am long Home Automation (20+ years) enthusiast.
Just yesterday my U-Bolt Zwave (keyed version) arrived and was installed.
The U-Bolt Zwave is/was a replacement for the August Lock Pro.
I have to admit, August Lock Pro i s very good and very reliable smart lock
but its ZWave function never worked reliably no matter what I tried.
After almost two years unsuccessful attempts to get it working finally
I decided to replace it. After long research and thinking which lock I should
buy I choose U-Bolt ZWave.
The installation (replacement) was very simple and easy.
Integration with my Hubitat Elevation hub was very straight forward.
Finally my āFront Door Automationā became functional and so far, reliable.
So far so good but here are my few comments on ZWave functionality.
First of all - Hubitat does not have a U-Lock specific driver and use
Generic ZWave Driver.
Right now only Lock/Unlock commands are working but I am glad, that is it
what I need at a moment.
ZWave Communication with the HE hub so far is very stable (unlike August Pro)
but U-Bolt ZWave sends Battery Level reports every 5 min.
This seems to be absolutely unnecessary and potentially shortens battery life.
Suggestion - please make this battery level reporting once a day or even user
configurable.
Door Sensor is a very good thing but must be exposed to the hub.
I am not sure why this was not already implemented.
All āUser/Code Managementā capabilities also better to be exposed to the hub
but I am OK to use an app for this matter.
And of course, everything what was already mentioned in this thread above better
to be implemented .
PS.
I signed for the Beta Testing and will be happy to test all new features.
I would really like a z-wave entity for door sense. The integrated door sense feature was a selling point for me only to find it not integrated with z-wave.
I should have read more first, but I too bought the z-wave product assuming that I would have greater access to status values, changing modes, etc. I do not see the value of z-wave for this product at all. I could have bought for a significant savings the WiFi version (with undoubtedly more reliable communication). Hoping that the capabilities will be added soon.
Basic expectations:
If I have a ādoor sensorā built into my lock, why canāt I ask if the door is open or closed? That is the minimum one would expect of such a sensorā¦ do I now need to buy a separate door sensor?!
Why canāt I change āauto lockā modes? Id like to say, āif after sunrise, set āauto lockā to āonāā. I have a playroom behind a detached garage. I donāt want auto lock on most of the time, as people go in and out of the room all day. But at night, Iād like to change that (and even say something like āif sunset and door is closed and door is unlocked, then lock doorā
Really not sure how the current implementation adds anything above basic WiFi and lock / unlock. Hoping that this evolves with time.
First off all - WiFi communication is Cloud-based.
This is ABSOLUTELY no go for the Home Automation projects.
If Internet and/or Cloud is down you are done.
How this could be considered āundoubtedly more reliableā is a BIG question.
Second - Why did you buy a ZWave Lock version?
Let me guess - You already have ZWave Home Automation Hub or thinking
to get one. Right? Otherwise you donāt need a ZWave capability at all.
So, If you have a ZWave Hub what is a BIG deal to add a Door Sensor?
Yes, Ultraloq has built-in Door Sensor and sure it must be visible by
ZWave Hub (@Frank ???) but as of toady it is not and we all hope this
capability will be provided (rather sooner than later) via FW upgrade.
Now you are talking about Home Automation tasks right on a lock.
Do you want to replace Batteries every day?
Running some sort of automation right on a lock will draining Batteries faster.
This is not a good idea. Right?
And finally, you can easily run all yours automation on a hub.
That is why you have a ZWave capable lock.
PS.
I have Hubitat Elevation hub and I am very happy with the Zwave keyed
version Ultralocq lock. This lock is a replacement for the August Lock Pro.
August Lock Pro had a Door Sensor visible to the Hub.
But guess what? The ZWave communication was next to nothing
and therefore all August Lock Pro features was absolutely useless.
Now with Ultraloq ZWave the communication is very reliable and
allowed me to run a lot of Front Door related automation.
Now I am very happy.
No. I have a Smartthings hub. I wanted to create the automation there. But I canāt create rules like the ones I mentioned if there is no access to the Auto Unlock mode or the status values I mentioned.
With respect to more reliable communications, I meant from my WiFi router to the lock instead of my Smartthings hub and mesh to my lock. I had a lot of trouble getting my lock connected with my hub. Kept getting āconnection failedā errors. Donāt know why. Took hours before it worked, but thatās the subject of a different ticket.
So, if the only things I can do via z-wave is lock and unlock, thatās a lot less than I can do with my outdoor floodlights, but I guess my expectations differ from yours, but not apparently to some others in this thread.
I meant to give support to the person who created this thread and have offered my feedback directly to support. Just putting in my vote for a little more control of my device. I was hoping to politely inspire u-tec to keep working on the API for hobbyists to enjoy creatively using in their scenes and routines.
Now I am not sure why you cannot create a desirable automation?
Yes, lock does not report Door Status sensor back to a hub but
what prevents you to add a separate one (Zigbee or Zwave)?
Extra $15 should not be a showstopper.
I crated many Front Door related automations including auto
door opening/closing (yes, I have door actuator installed),
arrival detection (I tested many different approaches,
but ended up using BLE Beacons), etc.
BTW, If really like all these Clouds for Home Automation
(Clouds are absolutely no go for myself) you can add
Ultraloq WiFi bridge and you will have WiFi and ZWave
communication options.
The Z-Wave module made this version of the lock the most expensive one. To only report locked/unlocked, and not even open/closed seems like a real rip off. There is so much we could/should be able to do like know who opened the door and how. (Which would go a long way to also tell us if they were coming or going).
Iāve found that the deadbolt often re-locks even with the door open (which is another issue itself) so we canāt even use locked/unlocked to tell if the door is open.
I am using Hubitat and hope you work with them to add this functionality.
As stated, my desired automation was to change the auto lock mode to āonā after a specified time. I donāt see that that is exposed. I can change the mode of my heat pump from cooing to heating, or the fan mode between on and auto, if I needed to.
I like to keep things simple. With a door that has an app which can tell you if it is open or closed, Iād like to ask for that status from a Smartthings scene. My kids sometimes leave doors open and Iād like to check.
Sure, I could add another sensor, but why? I donāt need a separate room temperature sensor for my AC when it has its own thermostat and thermometer. I can use my smart thermostatās separate room sensors to tell me if the room is occupied and itās temperature. No need for separate sensors. It is unacceptable to me to add a different open/closed sensor to the same device for different use cases / apps / ecosystems. If I have to do that, then I feel that the device I have isnāt really playing in my Smartthings ecosystem where I can get a gestalt effect with my other smart devices. It feels isolated, not integrated. As it is, I donāt love seeing the one sensor on the door, but Iāll not add multiple.
These are my expectations and not yours and thatās fine. Hopefully this boardās feedback to u-tec, to which u-tecās support email directed me to make recommendations, will provide the company some insight into the expectations of a certain community of users. So, I continued this thread for them and, hopefully, eventually, for me and others with my expectations. Seemingly that includes others on this very boardās topic.
(Not to open another can of worms, but Iām not sure what value having the WiFi bridge in addition to z-wave would add. I have seen on u-tecās web site in one table where it said that both a z-wave hub and a bridge are required. I assumed it meant either or.)
But why should we have to pay for a separate door sensor when the Ultra-low comes with one? If they just let the hub vendors like Home Assistant, Hubitat, etc., see that then weād be all set.
And, of course, that still leaves the issue that we donāt know who unlocked the door or how for our automations.
