MiFare Cards

[tmcd35]

Thanks Ben, Interesting to note, I've got AC Leigh visiting on Tuesday. Turns out they are the retail arm of that Ipswich based company I couldn't remember the name of!

 

Slightly put off of SALTO as they need specially formatted cards - supplier lock in. We'll see what AC Leigh have to say and how their quote compares with the other one I received today.

[deano]

I think you will find that the MiFare cards from SALTO are slightly more expensive that some on the market but they are of a better quality and are sure to work with all MiFare products. In essence, you get waht you pay for.

[plexer]

I dunno about better quality they are normal mifare cards with certain sectors programmed with encrypted information.

 

With regards to vendor lockin you're going to be tied to vendor supplied hardware anyway.

 

Ben

[plexer]

I compared Salto to Paxton when we got quotes the other year and for normal single doors Salto are much cheaper as it doesn't need mains or network cabling.

 

Doors that need to be online and mag locked were slightly more expensive but not enough to make the overall solution dearer.

 

Retro fitting a Salto lock to a door that has a suitable lock case means drilling 2 holes and takes 30 mins max.

 

Ben

[robk]

Worth looking at the Paxton net lock devices, sound very similar to the salto system, they have only been available for the last year or so. Quick to fit and cheap, but are battery powered and not suitable for external doors. Our cards are bog standard mifare, whatever we can get cheap at the time.

[plexer]

@robk yes similar being a slimline escutcheon but looks like they have to have the Paxton wireless stuff installed as well.

 

Salto battery handles can be online ones via wireless or offline ones the reason the cards need to be written to are the fact the cards basically tell the locks they should be let in.

 

We've had Salto battery handles on external doors as do other schools so that's quite handy.

 

Ben

[robk]

@robk yes similar being a slimline escutcheon but looks like they have to have the Paxton wireless stuff installed as well.

 

Salto battery handles can be online ones via wireless or offline ones the reason the cards need to be written to are the fact the cards basically tell the locks they should be let in.

 

We've had Salto battery handles on external doors as do other schools so that's quite handy.

 

Ben

 

Ah, I see so can you lock out a lost card them, or do you have to update the doors if they are working off line?

 

The Paxton units as you say work with paxton wireless, though in theory you could use them off line by having one wireless unit that you moved round to update programming etc.

 

Sounds like both systems are worth a look.

[bclarke]

Salto here too. We use a company called Beaver Access. We use the keyfobs with the copiers on a safecom system. We have one online updater to keep fobs up to date.

 

Don't be tempted to get the cheap keyfobs on ebay. They are cheap for a reason. They don't work.

[plexer]

Ah, I see so can you lock out a lost card them, or do you have to update the doors if they are working off line?

 

The Paxton units as you say work with paxton wireless, though in theory you could use them off line by having one wireless unit that you moved round to update programming etc.

 

Sounds like both systems are worth a look.

 

All cards also carry the blacklist on them so once a card is blacklisted the next time a card that has been updated at an online lock so it gets the latest blacklist is presented to an offline lock that offline lock also updates its blacklist.

 

The online doors will also run in offline mode if the network connection is lost for whatever reason.

 

Ben