Do you feel that as wireless technology becomes more and more popular, many technological products which we could not touch before are becoming more and more closely connected with our life. When we go out, travel, work, travel and watch TV, we often see digital Bluetooth door locks. With the development of the times, intelligence has begun to spread to the civilian market.
In fact, the digital Bluetooth door lock are used for different markets and have different functions. For example, home-stays, rental houses, smart hotels, long-term and short-term rental apartments, and some government agencies, etc. According to different needs, the function configuration will be different, and networking methods will also be different.
At present, there are mainly 5 ways of digital Bluetooth lock communication way used on the market: stand-alone version, Bluetooth version, ZigBee, NB-IOT and LORA . What are the differences and How are their principles different?
Stand-alone digital door lock
The stand-alone digital door lock is the only one of the five ways that does not need to add to network. It depends entirely on the algorithm built into the lock itself. Which can operate on APP .
It can send one-time-use temporary passwords and time-limited time period passwords. You can also register other passwords through the time period password. The registered password is also time-limited.
The advantage of this way is that it does not need to add any modules, so the cost will not increase, and it will not increase the power consumption of the lock also . Other networking methods will increase power consumption.
The stand-alone digital door lock is more use for small range ,which is more suitable for small rental houses, for it can solve the problems of keys and rent collection, it’s more easier to accept by the landlord for level to it cost low .
Other connected ways digital Bluetooth locks have more functions and more abundant usage scenarios: schools, large apartments, hospitals, long-term and short-term rental apartments, etc.
Bluetooth digital door lock
The Bluetooth version is one of the most widely used on the market currently. It has two methods, one is single Bluetooth, the other is to configure a Bluetooth gateway, and both methods are implemented through APP.
Single Bluetooth is to perform authorization configuration through Bluetooth short-range communication. For example, the landlord can register a password, fingerprint, card, etc for the guest on the mobile phone at close range, and can also unlock the lock through bluetooth.
At the same time, can share temporary passwords through bluetooth, also can authorized for other user through QR codes. The Authorized users can only unlock the lock through close range bluetooth but cannot do other operations.
Gateway Bluetooth locks add remote networking function on the basis of single Bluetooth. The lock and WIFI are connected through the gateway then it becomes a network door lock, which can unlock the door by remote and upload unlock records .
Bluetooth door lock isn’t activated under normal conditions, so its power consumption will be lower compared to other networking ways, higher than standalone digital door lock .
This kind of Bluetooth door lock is widely use for homestays and rental rooms, some government place also be useful. Especial such place which have many rooms ,while the room no need unlock everyday , only unlock after some certain time , such as electric well and computer rooms . Bluetooth door lock will be much convenient for avoiding to take a lot of keys , and avoid much card lost . Bluetooth door lock with it’s advantage of unlock with short range and low consumption to sloven the problem . Bluetooth door lock now widely use is TTlock .
ZigBee digital door lock
ZigBee way share currently largest market, several major digital door lock use this communication way . ZigBee was originally used in smart home systems for it’s longer use frequency and longer time and stable .
However, there is a big problem in the industry is that each company use different ZigBee frequency makes the other equipment only offered by the same company , there is no standard frequency and agreement , these reasons make the Zigbee digital door lock can’t use more widely now .
Wireless digital door lock function are similar , Data reporting and data delivery are only different in the networking methods of various protocols. However, except for NB-IOT, most of the others are based on wireless networks or network cables.
ZigBee digital door lock has another fatal disadvantage is the coverage of its gateway too limited, which makes the cost too much higher than other communication ways when used in large quantities rooms apartments.
ZigBee digital door lock is currently mainly used in large-scale apartment buildings. Due to the high cost and limited coverage, small homestays, hotels and rental houses are less used, because the layout of the rooms in these application scenarios is too irregular. While apartment buildings have the spacing and layout of all rooms are uniform, which will save much cost .
NB-IOT digital door lock
NB-IOT is NarrowBand Internet of Things. It is one of the most mentioned methods in the concept of Internet of Things, and it is also the way that the some countries are vigorously promoting. It is simply understand :a wireless networking technology just like our mobile phone,you can make calls and surf on Internet by plugging in the SIM card.
NB-IOT digital door lock are same. It can be connected to the Internet by plugging in an IoT card. It does not need to add a gateway. The NB-IOT technology is originally developed based on the service provider’s base station, which means as long as the mobile phone has signal the lock will have signal to work .
The only shortcoming of NB-IOT technology at present is that the signal is unstable. It’s single come from the base station. The signal is really elusive in actual experience, fortunately, the new technology 5G network has begun to be laid out slowly, we can expect this problem can be sloven well in the near future.
The advantage of NB-IOT is that no need to consider its coverage problem. And its power consumption is lowest in the all wireless digital door lock communicate ways . It’s with remote unlocking, recording upload functions.
Currently the most widely used is in scattered apartment projects. What are scattered apartments?
For example, you have several houses, and one of them is placed on a platform for rent, the platform party will upgrade your home’s door lock to an NB lock. Because it is developed based on the operator’s base station, it can be used wherever there is a cell phone signal.
There will also be some applications in other fields such as centralized apartments, hotels, and homestays. However, due to stability reasons, it has not been put into use in large quantities.
In fact, the application of this communication way is very wide, such as smart home, Internet of Vehicles, etc., it should become an important role in the Internet of Things in the future .
Lora digital door lock
The last one is Lora: Longrange .
The biggest feature of Lora is extremely stable. As long as successfully connected, it will not basically disconnected again. Even if all devices are powered off, they will automatically connect after power on. This is the reason why it can competitive with NB-IOT communicate way .
The application of Lora door lock started in the past two years. Except its strong stability, the coverage of the gateway is advantages. A large Lora base station can cover a radius of 1-2 kilometers. , Almost a housing estate only put one base station can link all the Lora smart devices . Moreover, the number of devices connected to the Lora base station is quite astonishing, reaching thousands or even tens of thousands. Of course, the number of devices that can be connected to base stations depends on configurations .
The most widely used scenarios for Lora locks include centralized apartments, homestays, hotels, etc. Except for distributed apartments, because the cost rise . The price of Lora base stations from hundreds to thousands or even tens of thousands according to different application requirements.
Lora’s wide coverage and strong stability have made it popular in many industries, such as the Lora technology used in smart homes, smart cities, and smart communities.
In fact, there are other communication ways, such as 433, 485, etc. But these applications are slowly retreating now.
Technology are changing our life way . From the first big cellphone to the current smart phone, from original black and white TV to the current smart TV, from mechanical lock to smart door lock , all of them showing the rapid development of technology.