Your DoorKing Gate Intercom Has A Huge Flaw - And How To Fix It

At Regent5, we get a lot of security based questions from our clients. There are a lot of homes in the SF Bay Area with incredibly sophisticated security and camera systems, and people have no shortage of expenses when it comes to keeping their families safe. But unfortunately, one of the first lines of defense may be more of a trojan horse than they’d realize. All someone needs is a simple electrical tutorial, and a key. Seems fairly complicated, but it’s not. In fact, you can buy a universal key for your DoorKing gate keypad on Amazon for a mere $20.

First off, let’s not get into fear mongering territory here. Fortunately, there are plenty of newer and more sophisticated systems of gate keypads that do not have this fatal flaw. 2N systems are much more advanced and will not fail in this manner. And secondly, if someone really wanted to break in, they could just hop your fence, so don’t fret as your other security measures will still be extremely useful. It just happens to illicit fear to know that the main entryway to a home, which should be extremely well protected, could be betrayed so easily. Some of you may already have moved on from this ancient technology, and may have no idea what a DoorKing even is, but its incredibly likely you’ve seen one before in some fashion.

DoorKing models are a bit dated. Despite still having newer models created in recent years, they still are created with technology that only has limited connectivity to the homeowner. They only connect to landline telephones first of all, while other newer systems have video connection or even app-based connectivity. Second, they have a glaringly obvious flaw in their construction — a keyhole. Whoever designed a security based system that uses a key was not doing their job to the fullest. Here’s why: it’s possible to buy a universal key for Doorking models on Amazon. The price? Less than $20.

The Amazon Link is only half of the equation for breaking into a DoorKing. The other part comes with a little experience in terms of electrical equipment. Opening the DoorKing device with a key only reveals its inner parts. A few circuit boards and wires make up the internal mechanisms of the device, but with a little knowledge of what’s what, it’s easy to trigger the gate to open.

By simply triggering two of the connections with an electrical conduit (wire can do this) it’s possible to trigger the gates opening mechanism. The gate opens up entirely on its regular cycle after this is done, and then closes. It’s easy to see how this can be incredibly alarming, especially for a device that costs upwards of $750.

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So what are the other safer and reliable alternatives? The 2N system is very reliable and doesn’t have keyhole access. It comes with much more advanced features such as video and wireless phone access as well, ringing your mobile device instead of a landline. Because of these advanced features, it does cost a bit more for most models. However, the reliability and newer features might be worth it to someone concerned about this DoorKing flaw. There’s many other systems that could be considered as well, however the 2N IP Force or 2N IP Verso is definitely one of the better ideas out there.

Don’t fret, now that you know about this flaw, it’s possible to replace the model. Hopefully DoorKing finds a way to fix this for their newer models, as most people are not going to want a device that can so easily be deactivated and bypassed. For now, we recommend going with the 2N system instead. Keep your Bay Area home safe by upgrading your intercom with Regent5 today.