Apartment door locks can tell renters a lot about the resident experience they should expect in your building. Smart door locks and keyless entry for apartment units using fobs or mobile credentials stand out to renters, with some even willing to pay more for those features.

 

Despite the growing demand for keyless apartment entry, there still seems to be some hesitancy in the market to adopt electronic door locks. From conversations during the 2021 OPTECH conference, Allegion’s director of multifamily strategy, Robert Gaulden, realized much of the confusion is related to Wi-Fi and infrastructure.

 

Do smart locks need Wi-Fi?

 

Smart locks for apartments can operate in offline or online mode. You don’t need community Wi-Fi or complicated infrastructure to enjoy many of the benefits of smart door locks. Keyless access, audit trails, no-tour functionality and mobile credentials are all available with offline solutions like Schlage® smart locks.

 

Start with smart locks for apartment doors and common spaces, then let your access control solutions grow with you. Overtime, your locks can evolve from offline to online for more advanced features. One day you might even have a smart building with everything connected and community Wi-Fi. But you don’t need any of that to get started today.

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