What happens to smart locks during an internet outage

The first question every board and owner asks about cloud access control: "What if the internet goes down?" The short answer is that doors keep opening. The longer answer explains what waits, what to prepare and what to do if you must act during the outage.

Guide · Published November 4, 2026 · Vega Access team

How the pieces connect

A building with smart locks has three layers. The lock on the door runs on batteries and stores the credentials allowed to open it. A gateway nearby talks to the locks over Bluetooth and to the internet over Wi-Fi or Ethernet. The cloud (the lock platform’s cloud and your management software, such as Vega Access) is where your team makes changes. Wired doors work in a similar way: readers connect to a controller on site, and the controller connects to the internet.

The key point: the decision to open the door is made at the door, or by the controller on site, using credentials already stored there. The internet carries changes and records; it does not open doors.

What keeps working without internet

  • Cards, fobs and phone stickers already loaded on the lock.
  • PIN codes stored on the lock, including time-limited codes, within their validity.
  • Fingerprints on locks that have a reader.
  • Phone over Bluetooth where the app already holds a valid key, on locks and apps that support it.
  • Wired doors run by an on-site controller, with the access the controller already has.

What waits for the connection

  • Remote unlock from the panel.
  • New changes: a new card, a new code, an end date moved, a card marked lost.
  • Live entry logs: entries are stored and sync once the gateway is back online. On WLock doors, Vega Access reads the controller’s log for the missed period when the link returns, so the history has no hole.
  • Battery and gateway alerts, which resume with the connection.

What about a power cut?

Battery locks are not affected by a building power cut; they keep running on their own batteries. Gateways, network switches and wired controllers do need power. When they lose it, the battery locks behave as in an internet outage: they keep opening, and remote functions wait. Wired doors depend on how they were designed to behave without power (fail-safe or fail-secure), which is a question for your installer and your fire-safety requirements.

If you must block a card during an outage

A lost fob during an outage is the one case that needs a plan. Marking it lost in the panel queues the change, but the lock only learns it when the gateway reconnects. If the risk cannot wait, a technician can apply the change on site at the lock over Bluetooth. Write this down in your procedure so nobody improvises at night.

How to prepare

  1. Prefer wired gateways. Wired G3P gateways powered over Ethernet (PoE) avoid Wi-Fi dropouts. G2 gateways use Wi-Fi and suit places where no cable can run.
  2. Put the PoE switch on a UPS. A small UPS keeps gateways online through short power cuts.
  3. Use a separate network for devices. A VLAN for gateways and controllers keeps them away from residents’ or office traffic. Gateways only need outgoing internet.
  4. Watch gateway status. Vega Access shows whether each gateway is online and how many locks it serves, so a gateway that dropped off is noticed before someone needs it.
  5. Keep batteries healthy. A lock with a flat battery is the real outage. Set a low-battery threshold per building and act on alerts.
  6. Give staff a fallback. A technician fob or a PIN code for service doors, with dates, recorded like everything else.

What to ask a vendor

Ask any vendor exactly what happens in each case above, including how long locks store entries before they sync, and whether the management software catches up on missed history. For Vega Access, the answers are on this page and in our FAQ. For the integration details, see SMLock (TTLock) and WLock (UniFi Access); for budget, see plans and the calculator.

Questions we hear

Can a tenant be locked out because the internet is down?

Not because of the internet: credentials stored on the lock keep working. A tenant can be locked out by a flat lock battery or a credential that expired, which is why battery alerts and dates matter.

Are entries lost during an outage?

Entries are recorded by the lock and sync when the gateway reconnects. For WLock doors, Vega Access reads the missed period from the controller’s log when the link returns.

Related pages

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