Keyless entry

July 9, 2008 1:58 PM

What's the state of play in the home/office keyless entry world now? I am aware of this thread from 2005.

I've had a long interest in biometrics, RFID and truth be told, locks in general. I would really like to kit out an interior door out with a biometric (fingerprint, in this case) lock! There are not that many different types (if the super-low-budget Chinese models available on eBay are not counted) available to choose from and information is scant. I understand, however, that the latest thinking on fingerprint locks is that models which scan a fingerprint which is drawn across a sensor are more secure. I am a little leary of the Mythbusters find that a supposedly secure (but unnamed) fingerprint lock could be easily fooled with a copy of the print - but it's true that my application is not top-security. This leads me to considering proximity readers/RFID/radio locks. I'm less excited about the way they work (the need to have the tag/card with you - whereas the fingerprint is always with you) but I imagine in the long run they are probably more reliable.

It seems that the web's most celebrated RFID/radio reader is the Mykey 2300 successor (can't find the original for sale anywhere) the AP501 and the best budget fingerprint reader is the iTouchless.

Does anyone have any experience of either of these two, or could offer an alternative recommendation, specific or broadly?

Much appreciated!

posted by dance to technology (3 comments total)

"I am a little leary of the Mythbusters find that a supposedly secure (but unnamed) fingerprint lock could be easily fooled with a copy of the print - but it's true that my application is not top-security."

This at least is true, some of the finger print readers are essentially bar code scanners with the ridges being white bars and the valleys in between being black bars. This type can be fooled with a scan of the finger.
posted by Mitheral at 5:02 PM on July 9, 2008

"I am a little leary of the Mythbusters find that a supposedly secure (but unnamed) fingerprint lock could be easily fooled with a copy of the print - but it's true that my application is not top-security."

I'd argue that if someone is determined enough to lift your fingerprints to get into your home, you have bigger problems.

FWIW, I have a fingerprint reader on my laptop, of the "draw your finger across it" type. I'd say that about 85% of the time it takes 2-3 scans before it will recognize my finger. Sometimes it works on the first try, sometimes after 4 or 5 tries I just use my password. When I upgraded to Vista, I didn't even bother installing the drivers for it. It ended up being too much of a frustration.

This leads me to considering proximity readers/RFID/radio locks. I'm less excited about the way they work (the need to have the tag/card with you - whereas the fingerprint is always with you) but I imagine in the long run they are probably more reliable.

My mom's car (Prius) has the same sort of setup: the key needs to be within about 15 foot radius to start the car. The problem is that her keys normally hang on the wall just the other side of the garage, so she can start her car and drive off without them. The problem is that, in the convenience of not having to produce the key, she sometimes forgets that you need it at all: we went to swap cars the other day, and I had to remind her that I needed her keys, too. This is hardly a reason to condemn the technology as a whole, but it's something to keep in the back of your mind.
posted by fogster at 5:46 PM on July 9, 2008

The gummy fingerprint technique from 2002 is apparently quite easy; I assume Mythbusters got the idea from Tsutomu Matsumoto's paper. A determined thief could presumably lift your fingerprint from a window or other smooth surface outside your house, if they had some reason not to just break in.
posted by hattifattener at 10:17 PM on July 9, 2008