I’m using a Nuki Smart Lock 1st. generation Firmware Version 1.13.1 (current) together with a Nuki Bride Hardware Version 020.116 with Firmware Version 1.18.3.
I use this combination since 2018 and since this time i have the following problem, no firmware update hat fixed the problem since now:
I don’t use the Nuki App on my smart phone. I only use the API to communicate with the smart lock.
I use a plain token and I only send the lock actions unlock (1) or lock (2) via OpenHAB to the bridge. The reason for that is that I have implemented the smart lock in my home automation project and I only need to use this two commands and it normally works fine and is very responsive.
BUT if for some reason my internet connection is broken then (in most cases) the Nuki bridge is getting very unresponsive. I can ping the bridge during this time but if I send a Lock Action command to the device then in most cases nothing happens or there is a massive delay (more than 30 seconds).
Same problem if I use a normal PC instead of OpenHab to send the command.
This only appears if the internet connection is not available.
To me it seems that the bridge is busy trying to connect to the internet and therefore the API is not responsive.
Has anybody similar issues?
Until now I didn’t try a beta version I also not a software engineer or a specialist for Nuki devices.
I’m only a normal user that likes to use the API to implement this smart lock in my home automation.
The Nuki customer support told me that I have to use the developer forum because they can’t help with API problems.
I searched the forum and found some similar sounding issues but I didn’t found a solution.
Hope that someone is able to help me with this, because every time my internet is broken I’m not able to open the door anymore without a physical key
There are several threads around the forums, that the Nuki bridge doesn’t work without an Internet connection.
I can confirm here with a Nuki Bridge 3.0 at the most actual firmware on the bridge (10.05.2022) →
The Nuki Bridge is not to be run locally with the HTTP API, it needs the internet.
Not for the setup only, but for running properly with HTTP API. If Internet is shut down it works for some time, but after at least 1 day it will stop working.
This offers only disadvantages for the clients:
Overall bad for security aspects
Further security aspect → you got to trust the Company.
If Nuki goes out of business you got 1 useless device.
If Nuki decides to discontinue / change the product you got one useless device.
Please fix… or be that company like Philips hue or all the other Amazon and Ring and stuff.
I bought a Nuki Bridge to be able to open my doors from my WiFi, however it seems like it needs access to the internet to work properly. As soon as I disallow internet access in my router (FritzBox in this case) the Bridge won’t properly connect to my devices and is not working as intended.
I dislike the idea of having internet access on my Bridge. My main goal is to maintain the most secure solution but still be able to manage my devices over WiFi. Therefore exposing the Bridge to the internet is a potential security hole in my opinion. I don’t want to rely on trust that there are no security holes in the software. Bugs happen.
Is there some possibility to disallow internet access for the Bridge?
Let me add my strong support for this requirement. Local-only operation is highly desired, for failures such as OP is describing, or for security reasons (or both). Indeed cloud provide very smooth and user-friendly UX, but quite a few people will want this (e.g. Home Assistant savvy users, etc.).
Could be an “advanced” thing, but would really be helpful.
Thanks for considering!
I don’t own a Nuki yet, but I’m in the process of selecting a smart lock an Nuki is quite high on my short list . . . or unfortunately I have to say was . . . considering this thread.
One of the hard requirements for my new smart lock is a local API to control the smart lock → check!
A second requirement is “local only” operation → fail!
There is no way, that I will install a device to lock or unlock my house which needs a permanent internet connection. That’s simply a security fail as already mentionend in several posts above.
So Nuki, please consider implementing a “local only” mode - could not be that big of a deal.
Thanks!
