| | |  | Keyless Entry | Home » » » » Sunnect AP501SN Advanced Protection Digital Deadbolt Lock, Satin Nickel | | | | | | | Description: | | Commended by The National Locksmith magazine as "one tough deadbolt...built like a tank," the pickproof and bump key-proof Sunnect AP501 Advanced Protection Digital Deadbolt Lock boasts advanced engineering and patent-pending digital technology that combine to guard your home or office. This advanced security system offers keyless entry with a backlit keypad, "decoy digits" to deter hackers, an intruder alarm, and more, all in a stylish, durable, rigorously tested, deadbolt model. heavy-duty metal - zinc alloy. | | | Features: | |
• Patent-pending digital technology with keyless entry with backlit keypad, decoy digits (random digits entered before the real code), intruder alarm, automatic locking, and master function
• Vital parts (motor, batteries, computer chips) mounted on the secure side of the door to protect against vandalism and extreme weather
• Easy 3-step registration of codes (3 to 20 digits) and digital keys (up to 20 keys) and easy and safe deletion of lost keys
• Standard installation (Phillips screwdriver needed) and fits 1-3/8 to 2-Inch thick doors
• Includes 2 digital keys and 4 AA batteries, with visual and audible low-battery warning and a 9V external temporary power terminal in case of a complete battery drain
| | | Product Details: | | | Product Weight:
| 6.0 pounds | | Package Length:
| 11.5 inches | | Package Width:
| 9.0 inches | | Package Height:
| 4.2 inches | | Package Weight:
| 6.4 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 72 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 72 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
47 of 49 found the following review helpful:
 Awesome product, no better digital keypad on the market, neat keyMay 24, 2009
By S. Horvath
"Sellshomes"
Let me say first off, I've been a Realtor and owner of my own real estate company for 25-years. I know quality and I see new, neat, high-end products on a daily basis. I've opened 1000's of doors, locks and deadbolts over the past 25-years.
Well, I was at the Ft. Lauderdale Home Show this Memorial day weekend. I go every year, and usually find at least one neat, cool item at the show that's a "must have" for the home and buy it or order it if its not available at the show. Well, the Sunnect AP501SN easily fit the bill this year.
So I bought two Sunnect AP501SN Advanced Protection Digital Deadbolt Locks, one for my front door and one of the door leading into the house from the garage. I installed one of them today.
These are heavy, well made, well constructed, nice looking top-shelf deadbolt locks. The quality, fit and finish is second to none.
It was real easy to install where my original existing deadbolt was located, the directions and photos were well written and easy to follow.
What is even more impressive is the technology that went in to designing and building these deadbolts. The Sunnect AP501SN is by far superior to Schlage, Quickset or anything else on the market.
These are the finest digital keypad deadbolts on the market at any price.
Its got a ton of neat features, including the autolock feature, which automatically locks the door after 3-seconds of closing it. Wow, never forget to lock your door, its automatic, unless you don't want to activate this feature, no problem, you can.
The two included access keys (and you don't need to use them)are 21st Century technology. No key hole, therefore no getting key bumped by the bad guys.
The unit has blue/red colored lights and musical tones/sounds that easily communicate with you so you know by both sight and sound how to program the deadbolt for your personal and individual needs and the status of your lock after you complete the install.
This is a 5-star product, and deserving for any homeowner, apartment owner, property manager, as its been approved by this Realtor.
32 of 32 found the following review helpful:
The Rolls Royce of deadboltsJul 28, 2009
By Jason Steiner
This is it. Top of the line. There's nowhere to go after this. Impeccable fit and finish. Good looking, sturdy, easy to use, easy to install. Now that I have them in my own home, I can say that the product videos are very accurate representations of what to expect. Watch them. It really is that easy and convenient. The written manual is of similar quality, and clearly explains all the features. My wife was a little concerned about the potential for getting locked out of her house by a crashing computer, but after reading the manual and using them for only a day, she's very comfortable with them. The manual latch on the inside and the 9V terminal on the outside ensure you'll always be able to get in or out. They are a little expensive, but easily pay for themselves the first time you lose a key and DON'T have to call a locksmith. Not to mention the value that comes from knowing they're un-bumpable, and the convenience of being able to hand out temporary codes and keys to house guests, pet sitters, etc.
I will mention one minor snag with installation: the included magnetic strike plates were not the same size as any of the existing strike plates on the doors in my 20-year-old home. (The bolt and bolt plates fit perfectly.) I don't know if things have been standardized since then, or if my builder just didn't follow standards. Some were too large, some too small. Without the magnet, the deadbolts still work, but the more advanced features like auto-lock and alarm are disabled. Fortunately, it is just a magnetic sensor, so simply attaching a tiny neodymium magnet (available online, from hobby stores, or even out of an old hard drive) on the bottom lip of your existing strike plates activates those features without requiring any modifications to the door frame. I just happened to have a bunch of neodymium magnets in my parts box, but if Sunnect had included several sizes of plate, or a neodymium retrofit right in the box, I'd have given them 6 stars for going above and beyond. As is, I'll have to knock them down to "only" 5.
Bottom line, this is as good as it gets, and if you're already interested enough to be reading this, you should probably just click the order button now.
17 of 17 found the following review helpful:
Cool Gadget + Great SecurityMay 21, 2009
By Joshua J. Strain
"Engineer"
The Good
-Great security
-Easy to use and program entry codes and register keys
-Sleek design and looks just as good in person
-Long battery life, option to hookup 9V if runs out
-Installation was easy with existing door cutouts.
The Bad
-Priced a little high, but well worth the investment.
16 of 17 found the following review helpful:
 Too many issuesApr 27, 2011
By Jason M. Page
I just purchased this and received it early today. After the experience I had with the installation I thought I would write up a review. I had been looking for a while for a product that would allow for use of key codes, etc, for access into the home, and was also concerned about common methods of break-in such as bumping.
Our home is just over five years old so the construction is pretty modern. I have a moderate level of handiness and can take on most small to medium sized jobs in the home without bringing in professional help.
My existing deadbolt set is a cheap Kwikset job and it was installed by the builder. I removed this one quite quickly and began installing the AP501. The first thing I will note is that the satin nickel finish on the AP501 is quite a bit shinier than on any of the other nickel finishes throughout my home (all of my door hinges, door handles, etc, are nickel). The door lock is not something that I want to be super shiny, it would be nice to have an option for brushed nickel that is more muted.
Installing the deadbolt receiver is a piece of cake. Installing their new hardware for the strike plate on the door frame is not a piece of cake at all. My Kwikset, like most deadbolts just has a simple steel strike plate that is fastened into place with four two inch screws. The AP501 comes with a very thick "inner" strike plate as well as a plastic receiver that includes a magnet and then a metal secondary strike plate that goes over the plastic receiver. Unfortunately because of the large depression at the bottom of the plastic receiver (for the permanent magnet used for the auto-locking and security feature) I had to route out a large area below the existing cavity on my door frame. The new strike plate has two huge screws that are supposed to provide reinforcement. Unfortunately these screws are soft pieces of junk. Even with pre-drilling the torque became high enough when hand tightening them with the appropriate sized screwdriver that both of them became stripped. I then had to spend a considerable amount of time backing them out with some pliers, which was not a lot of fun. The screws that came with my Kwikset, by comparison are indestructible. I have screwed them in and out numerous times and they have never become stripped. Honestly, a $300 deadbolt should come with decent quality hardware, including the screws, etc. These screws for the striker, etc, are really cheap, everything else in the package seemed to be of pretty high quality.
The other problem with the strike plate assembly is how thick it is with all three pieces included. It is a good .25 inch thicker than a regular strike plate, which means there is a good chance that you will wind up not being able to shut the door once you have this thing installed. When I had all three pieces installed it actually bowed out in the middle.
Considering the price of this kit, you would think that they could include a properly designed single strike plate and receiver that was itself magnetized, to prevent the need for the cheesy plastic receiver and cover plate. I have seen people post that they used their existing receiver and simply put a magnet inside the enclosure (tape it inside the old receiver, etc)... if this is such a common need then that should tell Sunnect that they ought to include a separate magnet for those scenarios so people don't take their existing deadbolt out and find that they can't complete their install.
I also had a little bit of trouble with the lock assembly installation. The directions tell you to install the bolt assembly and screw it in, prior to installing the outer and inner part of the AP501. Like a lot of doors, mine was not drilled perfectly straight front to back. It is just offset from the outside of the door to the inside of the door, like the hole saw was not lined up PERFECTLY when they drilled the hole (big surprise). This small offset posed no problem with the original Kwikset deadbolt, but resulted in some problems for the Sunnect which has very tight tolerances due to the outer door keypad requiring a lot of space to get through the hole. I actually had to loosen the screws on the deadbolt plate to get enough "wiggle room" to get the outer part of the lock through the deadbolt receiver hardware. Unfortunately after doing this, hooking up the inside plate, and tightening everything up, the lock cylinder refused to engage with either the motor or with the manual override turn lever.
I was really reluctant to re-drill my door, especially since the offset was so close to fitting, so I loosened all of the parts up to see if I could get the cylinder to engage, before making the decision to re-drill. Unfortunately during this process, one of the very small black wires on the lock motor/sensor snapped off and left me with a lock cylinder that was now useless.
//update (2nd attempt)
Okay, so after I had some time away I took another shot at this. I had forgotten that Sunnect includes two different bolts, for different door offsets. I was able to remove the wire/sensor harness from the undamaged bolt set and install it into the bolt set that had the broken wires. Removing these was not difficult but I would exercise caution when doing so (to tuck the wires back in I used the edge of a credit card so I would not break them).
This time around I left a little more slack in everything initially and quickly got this working with my original door strike plate (in the intervening time I had re-installed the original doorbolt and strike plate). This means that unless I want to put some kind of strong aftermarket magnet behind the plate (I removed the one from the Sunnect plastic receiver but it would not work when I slipped it behind the strike plate) or tackle installation of their crazy thick strike plate hardware setup I will not have the automatic close and alarm features working.
I want to comment on what another reviewer mentioned about friction. If I leave the deadbolt engaged there is probably 1/5 inch or so of clearance on either side between the bolt and strike plate. If I try to open the door with the deadbolt engaged, obviously it will not open. However, after doing this if I then try to open the door with the motor that is inside the AP501, it will try to withdraw the bolt three times (unsuccessfully) and then give up. If I then wiggle the door and try again it will retreat. This is not a huge cause for concern, but it is worth mentioning, as someone (especially a guest, visitor, etc) could try to open the door with the deadbolt in place and then create enough friction that they believe they have locked themselves out. I have read the Sunnect technicians comments regarding friction, etc, and I still have to imagine that this could be fixed with some minor changes, such as five open attempts before giving up or a marginally more powerful motor. This does make me wonder how well this will perform in the winter time when it is possible that there is a little more friction or sticking between the bolt and the strike plate.
Another minor gripe is that there should be some kind of indicator on the interior side of the door to make it obvious, even from a distance away whether or not the deadbolt is in the locked position. There is a manual release that moves from left to right, but since it is exactly the same finish as the rest of the assembly it is difficult to tell if the lock is engaged or not. Maybe a future version could have a small red or black dot or stripe on the manual override lever so you could tell from across the room if the deadbolt is in the locked position.
All in all this is a good product, but I feel it's a little over-rated and that the install is more complicated than it needs to be. Realistically though it is about the same cost as a high quality double cylinder lock that is "bump proof", and you get all of the added features. The drawback is that the install is a little bit tougher than anticipated and the motor for the deadbolt is pretty weak, so it is possible to jiggle the door, get the deadbolt to stick and believe you've locked yourself out.
I will keep my original dead bolt and keys "just in case" and try to get through a year with this AP501 to see what I think. I am looking forward to be able to give out a tag key or code to someone while we are away and if that code is compromised or that key stolen I can easily re-program the lock. I will also search for a strong permanent magnet that I can slip behind my strike plate to activate the automatic locking and alarm features... or, failing to do that, I will consider re-installing the Sunnect three piece strike plate assembly again.
9 of 9 found the following review helpful:
 Completely Overkill But, You Must Have This Lock!!Jun 08, 2011
By R. Ashe
For any home built in America this lock is complete overkill, let me say it again, this lock is complete overkill. Unless you live in a cave 500' underground and have a bank vault for your front door, this lock will never be the path of least resistance. Intruders will take one look at this monstrosity then find the nearest window to break in. With that being said after watching the videos and seeing the pictures and reading about the features YOU HAVE TO HAVE ONE.
Only once in a long while does something come along that you simply know you must have. After seeing this lock you will not be able to sleep at night until you have it, you will never look at your puny doorknobs and deadbolts the same again, you won't be able to think straight knowing only 5 pins and a tumbler separate your personal belongings from the rest of the world, and you will finally breathe a sigh of relief once you've placed this lock in your Amazon cart.
Ok enough with the emotions, what about the facts?
Installation
Installation for me took about 3hrs, way longer than I would have liked. For the most part this was through no fault of the lock's. You take for granted that your house is reasonably well built until you try to do something that should be simple such as installing a deadbolt and expecting the strike plate to line up with the door frame. The first .5hrs of the installation for me was using a dremel to widen the strike plate so that the deadbolt would engage without sticking.
The next 2hrs was spent using the dremel to deepen the groove for the strike plate in the door jamb because this lock has 3 layers of plates that must be installed in the door jamb. By the time they were all in place the door would not close. I do think Sunnect could have improved this part and found a better way to mount the magnet without adding another layer to the strike plate, and I also had to file down the strike plate so that it didn't stick out so much from the backing plate.
After all of that was done the bolt finally smoothly engaged and disengaged from the strike plate and backing plate. Note: You MUST ensure engagement and disengagement is silky smooth, the motor is not very strong and if the two are not perfectly lined up, it will not engage. I also adjusted my doorknob's strike plate to try to take some of the back pressure from the closed door and insulation off of the deadbolt. After all of this was done it finally worked as advertised.
Programming
Programming was a little weird, mainly the left handed vs right handed thing, but after I got that figured out it wasn't so bad. I did not bother programming in a keytag, only a passcode and it was straight forward.
Auto Lock
The auto lock feature is great, I also like that it audibly tells you when it is locking the door so that if you are in a hurry you do not have to pull on the door to check it.
Other Features
The alarm was just weird to me, not loud enough in my opinion to be heard from the bedroom, so I turned it off.
The Bad
The ONLY reason I gave this lock 4 stars was because it only lets you store one user passcode at a time. That to me is completely unacceptable at this price point. Locks half the price of this one lets you store 15 or more passcodes, for this one to only let you store one is hard to believe. I knew this before buying the lock and it almost made me go with a different brand. I know exactly why they only let you store one user passcode; each stored passcode exponentially decreases the number of tries it would take to brute force hack the passcode not to mention old passcodes laying around may accidentally let in a long lost 'guest' since they were never deleted, however, the fact that Sunnect didn't just come out and say this BUT, still let users DECIDE if they wanted to store additional codes anyway is an epic fail in my book.
There is a fine balance between security and useability and Sunnect dropped the ball in this area. The first thing I wanted to do with this lock was create a temporary PIN that I could give a visiting friend then delete the PIN when they left but instead I will have to change my own PIN once they are gone.
Feature Wish List
1) It would be nice if this lock let you input random numbers in front of and behind your actual passcode. Instead it only lets you input random numbers in front of your passcode, since you have to press star to actually submit your code, I would think it wouldn't be too hard to let you do both.
2) As I mentioned before, 3 layers of backing plates proved to be really bulky for my door jamb, finding a different way to sense when the door was open or closed without needing the magnet would greatly improve the installation process for people with door jambs that aren't that deep. Maybe the magnet could be attached behind the deadbolt's backing plate instead, etc.
3) It would be nice if the external cover slid closed once the lock engaged. Nothing fancy, just a latch and release that let the cover fall back in place over the keypad once the door had been opened and closed. My first two times opening it I forgot to close the sliding cover.
4) Maybe an upscale model in the $500 range could be developed that randomized the numbers in the keypad so that shoulder surfers would have a much harder time watching you type your passcode.
See all 72 customer reviews on Amazon.com
| | |
|
View Cart
