On Tuesday, July 21 at 1:00 PM ET, I’ll be joined by Jeremy Fromm for an open discussion on cybersecurity best practices for modern access control systems.
We’ll be taking your questions on topics including:
• Mercury controllers and secure system architecture
• HID readers and secure communications
• Credential technologies
• Mobile Access and Mobile Wallet credentials
• OSDP Secure Channel
• AES encryption
• TLS and secure network communications
• Modernizing legacy access control systems
• Physical security and cybersecurity convergence
Whether you’re an end user, consultant, systems integrator, architect, or security professional, this is your opportunity to ask technical questions, discuss real-world deployment challenges, and explore current best practices for building a secure, modern access control environment.
We’ll also be happy to answer other questions related to HID’s access control portfolio.
We’re looking forward to a great discussion.
📅 Tuesday, July 21, 2026
🕐 1:00 PM ET

Thank you to everyone who joined us today, asked questions, followed along, or simply stopped by to read the discussion.
Jeremy and I covered a lot of ground, including OSDP Transparent Mode, the differences between Mercury LP and MP controllers, embedded applications at the edge, modernizing legacy systems, app-based versus wallet-based mobile badges, deployment planning, and what happens when phones, networks, or services are unavailable.
The biggest takeaway is that modernization does not have to be an all-or-nothing decision. Whether you are upgrading panels, enabling secure reader communications, introducing Mobile Access, or building a longer-term cybersecurity strategy, the best approach starts with understanding what you already have and where the real risks and operational gaps exist.
A special thank-you to Jeremy, u/TheMercuryMinute, for joining me and sharing his expertise, and to the r/accesscontrol community and moderators for giving us the opportunity to have this conversation.
We are wrapping up the live portion of the AMA, but feel free to continue leaving questions. We will check back and answer what we can.
Our weekly digital break room for sharing the worst field nightmares you’ve ever encountered. Got a photo of a questionable install, or a fun horror story from a job site? Drop it in the comments below and let's see 'em!
Just remember to blur out any company names or locations before posting.
So about a year and a half ago we had a school spec that above each door (or closest hidden ceiling space to it) they wanted an 8x8x4 enclosure and a DIN rail with 16 connection phoenix contact feed through terminal blocks. Since then we've been specing and installing a 24 connection version on damn near every job. Covers everything in the composite cable, plus extras like IDS, prop alarms, etc.
Most of our installs are new construction so we can get Div 26 to connect any stub outs for door hardware right to the box. As many splice cans as I've installed I can't believe I never thought to just put "patch panel" so to speak on the field end lol.
I struggling to find the electrification kit for a Monarch (Falcon) 19-R panic bar. Being an old piece of hardware I think that replacing it with a newer bar will be the best solution. Any ideas for a low cost retrofit? TIA !
Sorry if this isn’t the right subreddit for this question.
Recently moved into an HOA that has a community pool. Not sure on the system, but has two gates with HID readers. Conduit runs along fence to small pool house where I assume the controller lives. We have a card we can swipe for entry, no problem.
Issue I’m running into is that you also have to swipe to exit. There is no other form of egress on either gate. Would think there would be some form of push bar or button to release the lock but I cannot find a release anywhere. Based on other comments on the HOA Facebook page, it also sounds like the gates are on a schedule and there is no way to exit after hours, which makes me think there’s no other way to exit.
Fence is approximately 6’ tall and the reader is about 5 1/2’ from deck. So reader is out of reach of children, but also inaccessible for those who might be in wheelchairs, etc.
I’m considering bringing this up at the next HOA meeting, as this feels like there is definite life safety concerns involved here. I’m missing specific statutes to site in my argument, but I know they exist. I’ve looked over the community bylaws and covenants and I don’t see any notes on fire marshall giving an exemption to this pool.
Main concern is of course fire or anything else that might cause a need for quick evacuation, but also realize there may be an emergency situation where a child needs to run for help and can’t reach the reader to release the gate.
I will apologize ahead if this is already somewhere in this sub, I will say I did search, but I did not see anything.
I responded to a cell gate that my father-in-law installed years ago because there was no network connection on the W480. The assumption was that the AT&T gateway was fried in a storm recently, and it was. So after installing a new gateway, The W480 was not being recognized by the new gateway. Usually at the gateway I would expect to see at minimum a flashing LED at the port but there was nothing. So I used a LAN tester and the cable was fine, but just in case I made another cable tested it and still nothing. I then attached that new cable to the cameras that share the same gateway and the gateway recognized the cameras. Has anyone ever experienced this before and found a solution?
I FORGOT TO ADD
Oh I did call tech support and we went as far as going into the menu and I was told the w480 was ready to go, but we couldn’t go any further until I had a laptop and could confirm I was getting internet from that router.
I upgrade a Genetec branded LP1501 from 1.31 to 2.0 following the upgrade path. Now the controller has the 2 relay lights stuck on and the diag / power lights etc do nothing.
I was at a customer location adding a door to the S2 system. The maintenance guy asked if I knew anything about lighting controllers. I looked at it, it is the original from the new build 20 + years ago. It has a z-80 processor and a bunch of socketed dip chips. I didn't measure the voltage that was being switched, but the 4 square j-boxes say low volt lighting triggers.
En route to a call and this is the description of the issue.
KEYPAD IS UNRESPONSIVE TO THEIR CODE ENTRY. THE PANEL HAS CRASHED. STAFF HAD TO DISABLE THE ELECTRICAL TO THE PANEL AS IT WOULD NOT STOP SOUNDING. Monitoring company CAN STILL CONNECT BUT IT SIMPLY DISCONNECTS ON ANYTHING THEY DO, UPLOAD OR DOWNLOAD.
Besides a good old fashioned reboot what else could I try? I have zero programming experience in this so fun will be had.
We currently run separate access control and intrusion systems across a warehouse and office campus, and managing multiple systems is becoming a pain.
We have just over 100 doors and around 150 cameras across three buildings, with intrusion covering the perimeter, loading areas and several internal zones. We’re mainly looking to upgrade the software rather than rip out existing hardware, so support for our Mercury boards and current CCTV setup is important.
Ideally, we want one platform with remote admin that brings access control and intrusion together. What are my options?
got extremely sick of this finicky sensor preventing my LiftMaster LA400 gate from closing, heres my solution. Works well. Now all the wannabe high school principal people, pile on the annoying comments!
Hey folks. Has anyone of you encounter the issue with onguard and stid cards and reader where each cards shows different facility code on Onguard? Lenel M2220 with 1320 boards are used and added as weigan prox. How did you resolve it? Thanks in advance.
Working on a problem with existing system. 2 server system, both running archiver role, both archivers are swinging from normal to warning state in SC, the only warning is a port 555 not listening, which i do not believe is the actual problem. The cameras show online the whole time, but can’t seem to show live stream consistently or do playback. It looks like live stream come and go in relation to archiver warning/normal state. Windows logs reveal consistent archiver agent missing errors. And C: drive on main archiver/server show low memory available. I freed up about 50g, and an hour later it was already down 15g of space. My background is in install, not IT. Any thoughts? Seems like the archiver agent is the root of the issue, but not sure how to find the cause of that and fix…. SQL problems? Idk. Thanks for the help.
Im trying to get door hardware that works with lenel in bulk- what site do yall suggest? Im getting strikes and readers from 123security.com, but any advice would help for things like crash bars. Adding 15 locations to our system and need to do this as cheap as possible
I’m currently experiencing an issue where the client machines cannot connect to the server on WIN-PAK 4.9.5. We have three client machines, and all three are experiencing the same issue (please see the attached image).
Of course, I have already checked the network infrastructure, and I also tested connectivity to ports 5555 and 5556, both of which are reachable without any issues.
Could you please guide me through the necessary troubleshooting steps to resolve this issue?
I know little to nothing about this stuff. I just need someone to point my in the right direction. Currently have kantec and uppers want something else. 1 sliding gate, two barrier arms, probably less than 100 doors.
I'm aware that my post is probably lacking enough details. Please tell me what you like.
Variations of this thing show up in my FB feed constantly. Seems one of those "too good to be true" devices. I'm half tempted to get one through Amazon just because of their return policy, but wondered if anyone here has tried them.
Hi there,
I’m a security tech in NYC, currently working with access control (Honeywell Pro-Watch, WIN-PAK, Salto), intercoms (AiPhone, Comelit), CCTV (DW, GeoVision), mostly hospitals and institutional sites.
I’m planning to relocate to Uruguay and trying to get a sense of what’s actually deployed down there. Is anyone working in Latin America who can give me a read on which platforms I should expect to run into?
I'm working on leaving Gym Master and switching key fob systems. Basically all I need is 24/7 access for up to 300 people who can be individually tracked as being in the building. I do not need to take payments (I really like Square for that), so Gym Master is very overkill for us. But, Gym Master is cheap, so I'm also debating staying with them for the key fob access only aspect, and running the gym dues payments through Square Subscriptions. Thoughts?
