User Guide

What is the LocknAlert Admin Portal?

The Admin Portal is a page that lives on your LocknAlert device. You open it in a web browser — no app to install, no internet needed. From here you can change your Wi‑Fi, set up your alarm panel, connect to Home Assistant, and keep an eye on how the device is doing.

No cable nearby? Run it over Wi‑Fi instead. If your LocknAlert is not plugged into your router with a cable, it will start up in setup mode and create its own temporary Wi‑Fi network so you can tell it your home Wi‑Fi details.

1. 1
   Power on the devicePlug in your LocknAlert and wait about 20–30 seconds.
2. 2
   Connect to the LocknAlert setup networkOn your phone, tablet, or laptop, go to Wi‑Fi settings and connect to the network called LocknAlert-Setup. There is no password. Your device may show “No Internet” — that’s fine and expected.
3. 3
   Open the setup pageOpen your web browser and type this into the address bar: http://10.42.0.1:8080. You’ll see a simple page asking for your home Wi‑Fi details.
4. 4
   Enter your Wi‑Fi

   • Network Name — type the name of your home or office Wi‑Fi exactly as it appears in your Wi‑Fi list.
   • Password — type your Wi‑Fi password. Take care with uppercase letters and numbers.

   Click Save. The device will reboot and connect to your Wi‑Fi. This takes about 30–60 seconds.

The Wi‑Fi setup page

Once your LocknAlert is on your home network (either by Wi‑Fi or cable), you can reach the Admin Portal from any phone, tablet, or computer on the same network.

Open your browser and go to: https://locknalert.local

You will see a security warning. This is normal. LocknAlert uses encryption (HTTPS) to keep your connection private, but because it’s a local device — not a website — your browser can’t verify it the usual way. You are not going anywhere dangerous. As long as you typed the address correctly and you’re on your own home network, it’s safe to continue.

• Chrome: Click Advanced → Proceed to locknalert.local (unsafe)
• Safari: Click Show Details → Visit Website (you may be asked for your Mac password)
• Firefox: Click Advanced → Accept the Risk and Continue

After logging in you land on the Configuration page. This is the main screen. On a phone you’ll see a top bar with a menu button (☰). On a tablet or computer you’ll see a side menu on the left.

The Configuration dashboard

Status Tiles

At the top of the page are four tiles that show you how everything is doing at a glance. Each one has a coloured dot:

• Green — working
• Yellow — not set up yet, or waiting
• Red — something is wrong

Tap or click any tile to see more detail.

Alarm Panel Settings

This is where you tell LocknAlert about your alarm panel.

• Panel Type — Choose the type of Paradox alarm panel you have. If you’re not sure, leave it on EVO (default).
• Panel Password — The installer password for your alarm panel. The factory default is 0000 for most EVO panels. If you’re not sure, ask your installer.
• IP Module Password — Only needed if you’re using the LocknAlert as a network module for Babyware or Winload. Leave this blank if you don’t know what it is.

Click Save Alarm Settings when done.

If the alarm bridge stops or you make a change and it doesn’t seem to take effect, click Restart Alarm Bridge to restart it.

Home Assistant Settings

• Arm / Disarm Code — A number you type before arming or disarming your alarm in Home Assistant. Leave it blank if you just want to arm/disarm with one tap — no code needed.

Click Save HA Settings when done.

Alarm Bridge Status (tap the Alarm Bridge tile)

Tapping the Alarm Bridge tile opens a detailed view. It shows you whether the bridge is running, and gives a plain-English diagnosis if something is wrong — for example “Wrong Panel Password” or “Can’t find the USB cable.” There’s also a log at the bottom you can share with your installer if they ask for it.

Wi‑Fi (tap the Wi‑Fi tile)

Tapping the Wi‑Fi tile opens a pop-up that shows your current connection and signal strength. At the bottom of that pop-up there’s a form where you can change your Wi‑Fi network — type in the new network name and password and tap Save & Connect. You can also change Wi‑Fi from the Settings page (see Part 4).

Remote Support (tap the Remote Support tile)

This is how LocknAlert sends software updates to your device. When it’s turned on, the LocknAlert team can connect remotely to install new features or fixes. You can turn it off if you don’t want that, and turn it back on whenever you’re ready to receive an update.

Home Assistant Pairing (tap the HA Pairing tile)

This shows whether Home Assistant is currently paired with the device. If you need to re-pair — for example after reinstalling Home Assistant — tap Allow Provisioning here, then add the LocknAlert integration in Home Assistant.

Want to Start Over? (Reset Options)

Near the top of the Configuration page there’s a section with three reset options. Only use these if something has stopped working.

Advanced Settings

Click Settings in the menu to get to the Settings page. This is where you manage the device itself.

The Settings page

Wi‑Fi Connection

Shows your current connection status at the top. If the dot is green, you’re connected. If it’s red, the device isn’t on Wi‑Fi (which is fine if it’s plugged in with a cable — it will say “LAN cable connected”).

To change your Wi‑Fi network:

1. Type the new Network Name (your Wi‑Fi name exactly as it appears).
2. Type the Wi‑Fi Password.
3. Click Save Wi‑Fi.

The device will connect to the new network. Give it about 30–60 seconds, then reload the page.

If the signal strength warning appears (“Weak signal — an ethernet cable gives a much more reliable connection”), consider using a cable instead.

Admin Account

This is where you change the username and password you use to log in to this portal.

• Username — change this if you want to use something other than “admin”.
• New Password — must be at least 8 characters. Leave blank if you’re not changing it.

Click Save Account when done.

Home Assistant Pairing

Shows whether Home Assistant is currently paired. If you need to re-pair — for example if you reinstalled Home Assistant — click Allow Provisioning, then go to Home Assistant and add the LocknAlert integration.

Restart Device

Reboots the LocknAlert device. Home Assistant will lose connection for about a minute during the restart. Your physical alarm panel keeps working normally throughout.

There is a custom GitHub HACS integration written to handle integration of the LocknAlert Bridge into Home Assistant. See here for how to install HACS if it isn’t installed yet.

In HACS, click the three-dot menu in the upper right and select Custom repositories. Paste the following URL: https://github.com/LocknAlert-Pty-LTD/locknalert_mqtt, select Integration as the category, and add it. Search for LocknAlert MQTT in HACS and install it, then restart Home Assistant.

After the restart, if your network supports mDNS, Home Assistant will auto-discover the bridge. You’ll see it appear under Settings → Devices & services → Discovered.

The discovered LocknAlert bridge in Home Assistant

Back in Home Assistant, select the discovered LocknAlert bridge and click Add. The serial number is auto-detected from the network and pre-filled, you only need to enter it manually (from the bottom of the bridge, or the bottom of the admin portal page) if auto-detection didn’t work or your network doesn’t support mDNS, in which case add the integration manually instead (see below). Click Submit to complete setup — Home Assistant will provision a dedicated MQTT username and password for the bridge automatically.

Once complete, a new LocknAlert MQTT integration entry appears, with your Paradox alarm panel showing up as a device.

If the Bridge Isn’t Auto-Discovered

If your network doesn’t support mDNS, or the bridge doesn’t show up under Discovered after a minute or two, add it manually instead:

1. In Home Assistant, go to Settings → Devices & services → Add integration, and search for LocknAlert MQTT.
2. Enter the Broker field — the hostname or IP address of your LocknAlert bridge on your network (e.g. 192.168.1.50).
3. Enter the Bridge Serial Number (from the bottom of the bridge, or the bottom of the admin portal page). Otherwise setup will fail with “Bridge serial number is required.”
4. Click Submit. As with auto-discovery, if the bridge hasn’t had provisioning allowed yet, this will fail with “The LocknAlert bridge requires pairing before it can be used” — go to the admin portal at https://locknalert.local, sign in, click Allow Provisioning, then submit the form again.

Once it connects, Home Assistant provisions the MQTT credentials automatically and the LocknAlert MQTT integration entry is created, same as the discovery path.

Automation Blueprints

Ready-made Home Assistant blueprints are available at github.com/LocknAlert-Pty-LTD/HomeAssistantBlueprints. Install them to get notified why the alarm might not have armed, and to receive a notification whenever the alarm changes state showing what it changed to.

Register your warranty at register.locknalert.co.za/warranty/register. Completing the warranty registration ensures that we have the necessary information on record to process and honour any valid warranty claims efficiently.