I just thought I would throw this question out there for the community. My wife and I used to have a professionally monitored security system, but after one too many dispatches of the police to our home due to a false alarm, we determined that for us, self monitoring is a better option.
As I looked at options four or five years ago, Aqara arose to the top and that purchase was my first introduction to the brand. Since that time, I have expanded my system so that every door and window has an entry sensor, and my smart hub acts as the siren. We have also added other things on such as security cameras, door locks, and doorbell cameras.
I have figured out how to arm and disarm the system when my wife and I are both gone from the house, or return to the house using a smart outlet that is not plugged into anything as the trigger. This is a limitation in HomeKit, but it has been an effective work around for me. We also can arm and disarm the system manually in the Apple Home app, but this has become largely unnecessary. When we do need to open the app to interact with it, it can be a little bothersome.
My wish list item that I do not believe exists would be to simply have a keypad that would arm and disarm the security system. This would be extremely helpful for when I have someone housesitting when we are on vacation.
I have worked on several options. My hack right now is just to have the system disarm when the front door deadbolt is unlocked. That is helpful, but there are definitely ways that a burglar could get around this. I am excited about the new touchscreen that is coming out from Aqara and would absolutely love if there would be a keypad functionality built into the touchscreen interface. But for now, I guess I am just left waiting for the right product.
Has anyone else found a good solution for keypads that does not involve using something like Home Assistant or Homebridge?
Good morning @marshytapp
I also was hoping to get a keypad from that can operates like that and more… also thought that maybe the U200 lock keypad can get such an implementation!
But I’m sure that Aqara is working on such a thing
You can use a simple button to arm/disarm the alert system. I have this implemented in my houde. A button near the entrance door. Two hits arms the alert system, one hit disarms it.
I have heard of others using this in their implementation, I guess my main concerns with just using a button is that it is a fairly insecure way of disarming the system if someone saw the button. I guess you can always hide the button, but it definitely does not seem as secure as something like a keypad.
Many systems like hikvision and synology use geofencing. When a device is present at the home location you are detected. But I am not sure if there are more secure options.
I have an Aqara 2K Security Camera Hub G3 with facial recognition at my entrance. When a family member (or other authorized person) enters, recognizing their face deactivates the alarm system. An Aqara Video Doorbell G4 can also do this before someone opens the front door.
Alternatively, you can also use an NFC tag. The NFC tag is written with text such as “Alarm off”. Then, using Apple’s Shortcuts app, you create a shortcut to deactivate the alarm and a personal automation to scans the NFC tag and activates the shortcut. As this automation is only on your iPhone, anyone else can scan the tag, but the alarm will only be deactivated when you scan it. To activate the alarm, you can still use a button.
By the way: I find 2D facial recognition too insecure. iPhones, on the other hand, use 3D facial recognition to unlock the device.
I tried with various photos of myself and of other authorized people, even in high definition for capture and/or printing. They were never recognized as authorized faces.
I actually didn’t intend to spark a debate here, as this topic has been discussed extensively elsewhere. However, just to clarify the misunderstanding:
When I mentioned “insecure”, I wasn’t referring to spoofing protection (which is what you tested with the photos). It is good that the liveness detection works on your device, but that is a different metric.
I was referring to the statistical False Acceptance Rate (FAR) regarding actual faces. Even if a system perfectly blocks photos, the biometric model for 2D is mathematically less precise than 3D:
2D recognition error rateis typically less then 1 in 50,000
3D recognition (like Face ID) has an error probability of 1 in 1,000,000
So, regardless of how well it handles printed photos, the statistical probability of a random real person (maybe your neighbor) unlocking the device is 20 times higher with 2D. In my hometown of 250,000 people, 5 people can open the door, but nobody can unlock the iPhone
Therefore, an NFC tag that triggers automation on an iPhone is even more secure, as someone would need to steal and unlock the iPhone first. Unless, of course, you’ve set your Code to 1234
