I just opened up the module. There is a surface mounted device labelled ‘AN1’. It looks like a large SMD resistor. It’s also blue in colour 
Based on the label and a quick search online, I think it might be a Ceramic Bluetooth Antenna.
If so, then hopefully replacing the module will fix the Bluetooth issue 
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I’m afraid I won’t have an update for the key fob today as the fob holder is now coming tomorrow. But, I have played around with the Yale Bluetooth integration today, and it seems pretty good (…until the Bluetooth stops responding on my lock!!)
I bought one of these from the PiHut:
I ordered it just before midnight on Monday and got it today - total cost including delivery was £11.99
I then loaded the Bluetooth Proxy option on to it from this page:
It only took a few minutes to set up, and I was then able to add it to Home Assistant.
First of all, I added the August integration - this is a cloud based integration, but I only added it so that it could retrieve the ‘offline key and access slot’. This all happens automatically behind the scenes, making the Yale Bluetooth integration really, easy.
I had it all set up within a few minutes after plugging in the Bluetooth Proxy within a reasonable distance of my front door.
Despite the documentation saying otherwise, it does seem to provide the lock status, and door open/close status (from the DoorSense device), and also seems to be very quick to respond.
There is a sensor named Operator which shows who last operated the door, but I’ve just realised that this is provided by the August integration so was probably only updating when the Yale app on my phone was able to talk to the lock via bluetooth and then communicate that data to the cloud.
Testing was limited as I only get around 4/5 minutes and then it all stops working, but I would definitely recommend this Bluetooth Proxy over the Yale Wifi Bridge - it’s a fraction of the price, and is tiny,
Only drawback is that it needs USB power. I have a power socket with USB near(ish) to the door, so it’s no big deal for me.
Yale haven’t responded to me at all today, so I’ve sent another email asking them to send me another module, and have also asked them what they’re prepared to do if their update has managed to break my lock completely.
Thanks for all the updates @ChadH360 - really useful.
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so the wifi bridge needs to be close to the lock? That means I would need 3 of them for my 3 locks. At
£70* each. That’s out of the question right away. -
I hope you can get your lock’s BT working again. Assuming you can, what do you think you’ll end up leaving in the lock, the Z-wave module, or the wifi module, with ESP BT proxy?
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I edited the subject, as I’d spelled Conexis wrongly!
*edit - currently £35 each, if ordered with a module, but even so…
I echo the thanks to @ChadH360 for all the testing!
Where did you see the £35 for the WiFi extender? I only saw the option of £4.99 for the module and then £70 for the WiFi? Subsequently, I have only bought the module with the view of swapping it out if i need to add a fob as I am really happy with the zwave module.
Thanks
mb
To enable integrations (e.g. voice control or away from home control) you must to purchase a Connect Wi-Fi Bridge (Save £34.99 when bought together - discount shown at checkout)
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so the wifi bridge needs to be close to the lock?
I would say reasonably close. My phone will actually still talk to the lock via Bluetooth when I’m a good twenty foot away, but I don’t know how reliable the Bridge will be.
I also have no idea whether a bridge can support multiple locks. When setting up the Bridge, I have to select a lock for it to control. I only have one lock so don’t know whether it’s possible to select multiple locks for one Bridge.
The fact that the Conexis L2 all come with a Bridge, says to me that it’s 1 bridge per lock - I might be able to confirm this later.
- I hope you can get your lock’s BT working again. Assuming you can, what do you think you’ll end up leaving in the lock, the Z-wave module, or the wifi module, with ESP BT proxy?
I like the idea of being able to use both the Yale app and have local control without switching modules so will probably stick with the BT Proxy, but if it gives a hint of unreliability, it will be back to ZWave.
Yale came back to me this morning after I sent them a crappy email last night and are sending me a new module which I should get tomorrow (apparently!)
currently £35 each, if ordered with a module
They’re also offering £20 off of a keypad when bought with a module at the moment.
Even if you’ve already ordered your module, you could still order another module to take advantage of the cost saving - just treat the £4.99 as a delivery charge 
I’ve ordered an L2 lock and some extra fobs which should be arriving today. That way, I can test adding new fobs whilst switching between Yale and ZWave.
I’ll also have another module to test to see if it’s my Yale module at fault.
And if my L1 lock is the problem, then I’ll have a replacement and I’ll pester Yale for a refund.
I’ll also be able to see if it’s possible to control two locks from a single Yale Extender, and whether two locks can be used with a single Bluetooth Proxy.
It will also be interesting to see how the Yale app handles the same keyfob on two separate locks.
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OK - a quick few updates before I start having a play around with the Bluetooth functionality.
I put a new Yale module in my front door today, and set it up in the app - I had to set it up as a new door which I was expecting, but the great thing is, it is now working properly. So, it does look as though it was a problem with the module rather than the lock.
Set up was still a bit of a faff - complained that it couldn’t update, then it couldn’t register, and lost contact with it during the update.
I felt like it was going to have the same issues, but after a few reboots of the lock, it all seems to be working fine and now carries on working for more than 4 minutes!!
You’ll all be pleased to know that if you want to stick with ZWave, editing fobs is simply just a case of popping the Yale module in, making the changes you need, and then putting the ZWave module back in.
All I would recommend is that before you start using the Yale Module, do a hardware reset on your lock as per the installation manual. If you don’t, you won’t be able to manage any fobs that are already on your lock - the lock won’t let you re-add them when the Yale module is installed, and if they’re not added via the Yale module, you won’t be able to delete them at a later date.
If you’re using a Wifi Bridge, you definitely need to have one Wifi Bridge per lock - when setting it up, you choose which lock you want to associate with, and can only select one.
I’m going to have a little play with the Bluetooth Proxy and see how that works with multiple locks - from memory I read that you can have up to 3 permanent connections, but since they’re only £9 a pop, if you have to multiple then it’s no big deal.
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Quick update on integrations - much easier to work with them now that the Bluetooth connection remains constant
So, I’ve set up the August Integration. This sets up the locks and operates them through the cloud (assuming you have the Wifi Bridge). I currently have the Bridge plugged in just so I can see how responsive the integrations are.
The August integration is pretty responsive when using it directly, but I have noticed that if I manually unlock and leave it to autolock, the August integration doesn’t seem to notice.
Occasionally it also seems to hang a bit when trying to operate the lock.
The Yale Bluetooth integration, though, is absolutely brilliant. The only caveat is that you need to click on Configure and tick the ‘Always connected’ option.
Without that option, any changes to the lock status may go unnoticed by HA - I unlocked with my mobile,and the lock auto-locked a minute later without any changes to HA.
But, if I tick that option, all notifications are instant. I just need to monitor battery life as no doubt it will be impacted, but who knows by how much.
The Yale Bluetooth integration gives Lock, Cover, Battery Level, Battery Voltage, and Bluetooth Signal Strength (Voltage and Signal Strength are disabled by default)
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I’ve now removed the WiFi bridges from my Yale account completely - this makes everything much tidier as the August integration no longer adds any unnecessary devices that need to be hidden/disabled, but still pulls in the security keys/slots for the lock to be accessed by the Yale Bluetooth proxy.
All told, a really simple integration that works well as long you select the ‘Always Connected’ option - I just need to monitor battery life.
The only slight negative I can see is that the Activity log in the app (which is still way more detailed than the old L1 app) doesn’t seem to record any locks/unlocks from the Bluetooth integration - they don’t get stored on the lock.
Manual locks/unlocks and keyfob unlocks do seem to get stored on the lock, so when you next connect with the app, they are saved into the log.
I guess keeping the WiFi bridge would mean that the log is uploaded to the cloud more frequently, but I suspect it still won’t record locks/unlocks that originate from HA.
Still, not the end of the world as that information should be in Home Assistant anyway, but any other lock/unlock by autolock, manual or fobs is just logged as a lock or unlock - with the ZWave module it is possible to pull all that information from the ZWave logs.
So I’m definitely still in two minds about it. I’ll use it for a bit as is, and see how it all goes. I never had any issues with ZWave at all, and if there’s even a sniff of unreliability with the Yale module, I’ll definitely be switching back
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Fantastic detail - thanks for doing all that research and updating us.
So, based on what you’ve said, I think I’ll order a wifi module, install the new app on my phone and hook it up to one of my locks (after doing a full reset on it), and re-add the keys that way, plus a firmware update if available. Then immediately switch back to the Z-wave and put the new module in a ziplock bag somewhere safe, in case I need it in the future.
I wonder whether I could use the one module to update all 3 of my locks, or whether that would be asking for trouble. Perhaps if all goes well with the first lock works, it would be better to order 2 more modules, and label them so I know which one does which lock.
I think if you used one module for all 3 locks, you would have some issues with managing fobs.
When you add a fob, the module grabs details about it, loads it into the lock and stores it into the app.
If you have multiple locks/modules, you will see fobs stored under each individual lock.
With just one module, you would need to add the same fob to the same lock several times and I’m not sure how the app, module or lock would feel about it. At best it will just be confusing, but at worst I suspect you may end up having to reset locks tonget the fobs right.
Prob best just to get one for each lock and keep them all labelled up - each lock would then be identifiable in the app, and any settings/fobs should only apply to each specific lock.
I think you are probably right. 
First of all thank you @ChadH360 for all the testing as I was going mad with this, my grief is about the responsiveness or not of the actual wifi bridge (less than a metre away), poor cloud notifications etc - in fact I did send an email to Yale/Assa earlier not being a happy customer being pushed to an integration that doesnt work.
After I crawled here and I am happy to say I am glad I did, my Conexis L1 worked perfectly over the years just like yours but this migration almost rendered it useless with only one benefit, you dont need to buy virtual keys anymore.
I quickly installed a BT proxy, got the integration up and running and it performs pretty well - the only caveat to your points
The Yale Bluetooth integration gives Lock, Cover, Battery Level, Battery Voltage, and Bluetooth Signal Strength (Voltage and Signal Strength are disabled by default)
this means you do not get any key use reporting (who did what) I had a look at the logs but it seems there is no information in there that could be used - have you found anything?
just to add to this, you mention you need to enable to always connected on the BL proxy, funny enough it seems this is what the wifi bridge would need as well - it exposes this “wake” button and as long it is awake it captures all changes perfectly fine, it goes into a “sleep” mode and starts failing to capture but gets all events once the lock and bridge sync - at least that is how it looks to me - unfortunately they dont have such a function on the bridge.
Another thing I wondered, have you seen any impact on the battery life yet? I assume the reason why the wifi bridge may not be constantly connected, may be due to battery drainage but I am not sure about it.
I’ve gone back to ZWave for the moment as the replacement Yale Module I had access to was only temporary. I was expecting to get my replacement module from Yale on Friday, but it never turned up. It’s still not here today, either 
Now that I think about it, I’m not even sure Yale support have my address, so I’m not sure how they’re going to send it!
As a result, I haven’t had a chance to test battery life yet on the Bluetooth integration.
With regards to reporting/logging, I did have a play around with it, and from memory, it was something like:
If using just a Bluetooth Proxy, and locks/unlocks initiated by Home Assistant are not recorded by the lock/Yale app (but are still logged in Home Assistant).
Any local activity (manual lock/unlock or key fob access) is remembered by the lock. If you then open the Yale app and connect to your lock, that information is then recorded in the app.
If using a Bluetooth proxy and the Wifi Bridge (and assuming that any Home Assistant locks/unlocks are done through the BT Proxy), it will be the same as above, but local activity (manual lock/unlock or key fob access) will be uploaded to your Yale account by the Wifi Bridge without the need to run the app - I think this is the case, but it was difficult to fully test whilst in the vicinity of the lock (I could have turned Bluetooth off on my phone, but never though to!)
Having the Wifi bridge and the August Integration set up (although this will give you an extra lock that you should hide/disable) does give you a sensor which from memory was called Operator, and records who last operated the lock - i’m pretty sure for keyfobs too, so that might give you what you want.
Apart from the Operator sensor, I’m not sure how easy it would be to pull any other information back into Home Assistant.
For the Z Wave module, it’s possible to look at the ZWave messages and pull all sorts of status information out including the key fobs that have been used if relevant.
I don’t know if anything similar can be done with the Bluetooth Proxy.
I have actually just spent a chunk of the day putting together some automations and helpers, so that now I can record every single lock action that occurs and store the user that performed the action as well (some actions like manual unlock don’t have user info, though) - this is only with the ZWave module installed, though.
My lock can be opened via keyfobs, the HA app, and I also have an NFC tag next to the door that can be scanned by a mobile running the HA app.
Whichever method is used to unlock, it logs the keyfob, or the user that unlocked via HA/NFC.
I will post it up on the forum in the near future, but as a result of the decent logging i now get, I may just stick with ZWave.
If I can just come up with a decent way of sharing digital keys too, then I’ll probably skip the Yale module altogether (apart from managing key fobs!)
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Thanks all for all the details and updates on your experiences, it’s been useful and good to know it’s not just me! 
. I’ve too had the email and bit the bullet on ordering the module and WiFi bridge and have had no end of problems since.
I’m wondering if there’s been any further updates on peoples experiences with reliability of the lock and the integrations using Bluetooth and the BT proxy?
Currently I’ve switched back to using zwave as my module seems to be faulty and has the issue with Bluetooth stopping working after a few minutes. Currently I can’t get any fobs to work either after successfully registering them with the module/lock when the module goes to sleep there’s no waking it back up again so I’ve had to switch back and rely on HA to be able to unlock the thing at all!
I’ve emailed Yale and been told that the Bluetooth on the lock is disabled by the update as it’s no longer needed by the module and since this the external tap to wake doesn’t work so I was wondering if this is related to the Bluetooth going to sleep or if anyone else is finding issues using the fobs after the update and if you need to try and wake the lock like you used to or if the fobs should just work without the blue light coming on?
Sorry for the waffle, my lock had been working well for a long time and I should just left it as it was but I do use the fobs quite a lot and wanted to ensure I could manage them easily. Certainly hadn’t expected all these issues as I know someone else with the WiFi bridge on their lock and theirs is working well.
Another question for those of you who have taken the plunge with the new app.
It seems from what you’ve said that once you have migrated to the new app, reset the lock and reinstalled all the cards/tags, you can then switch back to the z-wave module and continue as before. But the lock’s Bluetooth no longer works, I think.
If I do all that, then if HomeAssistant goes offline (power cut for example), I have no way of unlocking the door with my phone - is that correct?
It doesn’t matter about the Bluetooth lock no longer working as they are killing the old yale app.
Yes, I know. Not sure whether you read the rest of the thread. I would like to continue using z-wave rather than switch to wifi and cloud. Others have said that it is possible to re-insert the z-wave module after migration, but that the lock’s own BT module is disabled, in favour of the one on the new wifi module (which I would have removed). It occurred to me that if I only have my phone, I could be locked out if HA goes offline. I wanted to sense-check that with one of the people here who have already migrated.
Yes I have read the entire thread and fully understand what will happen when switching over to the new module.
My point that i should have made clearer is, yale are killing the old app (they’ll stop you from logging into it, even if you don’t delete it)
and their new one will only work with their new module. Meaning yes unless you are using the new module along with the new app you wont be able to unlock your door with your phone
I have brought the Bluetooth module.
I’ve currently have no plans of using it, as I have more fobs then I need and the z wave module works flawlessly with HA.
Yet when the time comes I’ll reset my lock fire up the module re-add my fobs and switch back to the z wave
Now I’ve had my lock for over 5 years, yet I do keep a back door key stashed away just in case.
I too have lost my lift to lock functionality. The technical help people are going to call me back. They are saying it must be mechanical, which I’m pretty sure it isn’t, just crappy firmware. Also my lock keeps trying to update and then failing.
Hopefully I can get the lift to lock functionality back, re-register all my cards/ fobs and then put the zwave module back in.
It’s a real shame the great hardware is let down by their crappy app/ software.
If only there was a way to use without using the app to register new cards I would ditch their app completely!
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Hi,
I too have “upgraded” from the Z-Wave module to the new Yale Access Module and Wifi Bridge.
Thankfully, the swap seemed to go ok, installed new module, firmware updates all done (although failed once the first time) and new app and all key fobs and cards are now working ok. (And lift to lock is still working for me)
I took the opportunity to add the Yale Smart Keypad at the same time and this is working well too.
However, I have now lost all integration with HA.
I am trying to install the August Integration, so I can get the offline key and slot needed by Yale Access Bluetooth.
I have tried configuring the August integration using brand “Yale Home” and “Yale Access” and “August” . I am using my yale home credentials, but I keep getting “Invalid authentication”.
I have tried resetting my Yale Home password, but still get the “Invalid authentication” error for the August Integration.
Anyone have any suggestions on how I can get the August integration working, or indeed any other way to get the offline key and slot? (I have tried the method using an IOS backup explorer, but none of the Yale/August apps that I could find in my latest backup seem to a have any key or slot in their plist files)
Any pointers would be gratefully received. (If I can avoid the need to revert back to the Zwave module, that would be easier and will allow the keypad to continue working!)