Smart Lock offline

Currently there is no way to update the firmware from remote (for security reasons and as a position detection drive is done at the end).

Can you still check the activity log for errors or is the Smart Lock still not reachable?

This is the activity log:

There are no errors, but around 19 Nuki was offline, because my client cannot access to flat with app and keypad. And also from my device Nuki was offline.

Any news on this issue? We are losing credibility and accountability on smart locking with our clients. I hope that you can understand

Yesterday the rollout of the new Bridge firmware 2.4.8 startet, which should rule out stability problems at that point.
Have you already been able to update the firmware on the Smart Locks?

Yes I have upgraded to last smart lock firmware. How is possible to upgrade bridge?

The bridge does update on its own. See also Nuki Bridge Firmware Release notes (public releases)

Thanks, this solved my problem.

In the app all connections seemed good (bridge, server, bluetooth). From the Nuki webinterface I could remotely control the lock, but with my iPhone the lock was offline. Deleted my user and reinstalled to app on my phone. All is perfect again :slight_smile:

I get that relatively often, as the v1 bridge’s wifi connection tends to be flaky. I see that v2 recently received firmware updates related to WiFi stability, but v1 hasn’t received any since last July: is anything coming?

(And I really wish for a v3 with 5 GHz wifi)

Hello Stephan. I need to operate my Nuki remotely as I am abroad and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. For a few weeks I have been experiencing the “offline” status for the lock on the iOS app screen. I cannot access or reprogram the lock and I am starting to get increasingly uneasy since I am unable to grant access to anyone should an emergency arise and the “offline” situation continues. I have tested the status in two mobile devices and also via Nuki web, to no avail.

I have noted also that the activity log, only visible via the Nuki web at the moment, reports the last activity as having taken place on Friday, 21.2.2020, however, the Nuki has been operated since then but these events are not reflected on the activity log.

The router is working well as all other smart gadgets including cameras are accessible from where I am 100% of the time. The router is a Huawei 5G CPE Pro (Model H112-370). Nuki is a V2 with a bridge which reported connection status early this morning at around 8:02am.

Please kindly advise. Many thanks.

Jav

Hallo Jav!

Can you please send a log-file from your iOS App to our support team at contact@nuki.io, so they can see what the App gets reported exactly.

This will also include the Smart Lock ID.

Could you try to lock the (e.g. already locked) Smart Lock via Nuki Web and include the result of that test? So they can check if it is a sync issue ot is is really offline.

Hallo Stephan!

Thank you for your guidance. My wife loves Austria, in particular the beautiful architecture, the viennese schnitzel in The Hotel Bristol, the beer and sausages on the street corners, and the theatres and opera house!

Nuki going offline
Although I have not heard yet from Nuki Support, I can report that the issue was a connectivity issue and it has been solved.

How it was solved?
I literally stood in front of the app for about 1 hour until the connection status went from “offline” to online for a few seconds, enough time for me to send the instruction to unlock the door’s deadbolt. My door has a smart nightlatch also (in addition to a main deadbolt operated by Nuki) operated by a third party smart solution, which safely closes / opens the door after the deadbolt is unlocked by Nuki. This third party solution works with wifi, bluetooth and a 4G card so it is always “online”. After unlocking the Nuki, I was able to open the nightlatch for a friend of mine who kindly entered the flat and reposition the Nuki bridge to a location closer to the Nuki lock. This allowed for the signal strength to go from yellow to green, and the lock has stayed online since yesterday.

What I have learned from this is that if the last leg of the connection between the Nuki unit and the Nuki bridge goes yellow on the app, even occasionally, there is no guarantee that the lock will remain online for an acceptable period of time. So for anyone reading this, if you want a reliable operation 24/7, make sure to test thoroughly and that in all your tests a green indication was obtained folks before you leave the building!

Bluetooth Range Issue
As it transpired, with the bridge unplugged, there is no issue operating the Nuki directly from a smartphone with bluetooth 4 or 5 even from double the distance the Nuki Bridge was originally placed in my flat. This may suggests the Bluetooth connection between the Nuki Bridge and the Nuki lock v2 is of different specification / quality than that between the Nuki lock and a Smartphone with Bluetooth 5.0 or 4.0. May I ask if this is the case and if so, are there any plans to improve the signal between the Nuki lock and its bridge to make it less “distance-dependable”.

The reason I am asking this is because for a smart lock to be truly 100% operational remotely, it has to be able to open the door even during a blackout or when the electricity is off in the flat, i.e. during a refurbishment. There is tendency to dedicate a special room or cupboard in people’s homes for the smart department. In my case this is the 2nd floor, where I have a location in my flat with a robust UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) to which the home’s router, Nuki bridge, ethernet switch, and all gadgets are connected so they can continue operating everything for several hours in case of power cut. It would not be practical and economically feasible to have several UPSs in different places just because the operational range of a gadget is not optimal to ensure a proper operation. At the moment, although I have found the solution for Nuki Bridge to operate reliably and keep the Nuki lock “online”, I have exposed my smart locking system to not being operational remotely during a power cut unless I invest in a new UPS with a standard 240v socket (not DC outputs) solely for the Nuki Bridge, and these are expensive and not aesthetically-pleasant.

I hope this feedback is appreciated.

Best wishes

Jav

Hi,

I have also this same Serious problem.

I have connected to nuki smart lock v1 (v1.9.6)
2 smartphones
1 nuki pad

I’m part of your early adopters without any problem until 3-4 months : half of the time nuki is offline for everything

No log, nothing…

You need to fix it ! Your core feature doesn’t work ! We don’t care about alexa siri bla bla bla all of your secondaries features, we need something that open a door !!!

Could you please answer to my problem ?
Regards

Same issue for me. I am currently locked out of my house!!! Bluetooth keypad is not working!!! I open the app and it says door is offline, yet I can see the bridge is online and connected to the Wi-Fi (through my router and VPN)

Hey @karl.billington,

What happened? Did you manage to see what the issue was? (and get in the house too?)

Cheers,

David

I had to get a lock smith to open the door! One of the 4 batteries in the lock was completely dead, other 3 were 90% (All brand new lithium and only couple of months old). I got no alerts from the smart lock to say they were draining. I got no alert that the smart lock had likely been offline for a few hours (I manual open as it is faster). I emailed support over 24 hours ago but absolutely no reply so far!! This has damaged my confidence in the system so much. I now have to carry a key which defeats the purpose of having a smart lock!!

Word of warning for anyone considering a Nuki Smart Lock, don’t bother!!! It’s a great product, but there is no support as far as I can see. I got locked out of the house due to 1 out of 4 batteries being completely dead. Now I don’t know whether that was due to battery fault or problem with the device, but what I would have expected would have been a notification to say the battery was low on power and also a notification that the device had gone offline. That would have allowed me to replace them before I left the house and got locked out. The worst part though is that in this dire situation, I email support twice and almost 4 days later I still have not got a reply. For a lot of people leaving a key at home and relying on a smart lock is daunting. The product must be up to scratch. If anything happens they need to provide timely support to put the matter at rest, but in this case, I received no support. Absolutely shocking. Totally lost confidence in the product and the support.

The Nuki Smart Lock is shipped with Alkaline batteries and Nuki recommends to use Eneloop accumulators. There is a reason why Lithium batteries are not recommended, which is because they tend to behave perfectly fine (and appear 100% charged) until they quickly die off. If - like in your case - one battery suddenly completely gives up, there is no way for the Smart Lock to send out battery notifications in advance.

Even if the support would have reacted faster, they would have not been able to help you in this situation, which is why Nuki recommends to store a key somewhere as backup.

If you think a server side message that alerts a user about his Smart Lock beeing offline is a good idea, please feel free to add a feature request and start collecting votes for it.

This article specifically states to use Lithium batteries for the maximum durability. Nuki’s own words there! No mention of them not being recommended or having these issues!

Maximum durability: Lithium batteries

Lithium Batteries (e.g. Energizer Ultimate Lithium) provide the maximum durability and last up to three times as long as alkaline batteries, but they are significantly more expensive.

They can of course be used, but Nuki recommends another battery type.

With one battery being defective the Smart Lock won’t work with any battery type though.