Key safe

[dennis]

That's because nobody reads the destructions and they don't put the key on the key ring on the removable front.

[dennis]

There aren't many combinations to try if you have the odd hour.

[The Medway Handyman]

Only 10,000. Pillock.

[John Stumbles]

That's what I meant by brute-forcing it: I tried all the combinations.

Outside, in the winter: I probably didn't key in the right one correctly and missed it.

[The Medway Handyman]

Dennis, if you use 4 digits there are 10,000 possible combinations. The GE keysafes can use up to 6 digits. It would take days to go through them.

[The Medway Handyman]

I happen to be the GE Keysafe approved installer for the ME postcodes :-) If you buy from them direct & want it installed you pay extra & get a voucher.

The appproved method of installation is 4 x dynobolts. Be easier to pull a sailor off your sister than get one off the wall.

My daughter uses them all the time when attending 'grey lady down' calls. Normally control will get the code & pass it on, but usual practice is to ask a neighbour how old the person is - 90% of the time its the year of birth - so don't do that!

[Dave Liquorice]

combination

That depends on the mechanism. Some locks you can tell when you select the correct digit by a very slightly different feel to the button you push and/or how the other buttons feel.

Having 4 5 or 6 digits to select certainly makes it harder but I doubt impossible.

[Matty F]

For keypads where each key can be used once and the order used is not important:

1023 combinations if there are 10 keys. 4095 combinations if there are 12 keys.

I installed a four disk combination lock (10000 combinations) on a door in a remote location. I used to set it to 0000 every time I left, and it was always different next time I was there. People can't resist playing with a combination lock when they think nobody is watching! The only time anybody got in was by smashing the whole lock off the door with a sledgehammer.

[Bruce]

The GE Slimline KeySafe can use up to 7 digits, giving 10 million possible combinations. You could spend your whole retirement trying to find the combination. ;-)

[The Medway Handyman]

Dennis prolly has the time, nothing much else to do...

[neverwas]

Does it really allow you to use the same digit more than once? And distinguish the order in which the keys are pressed? The few I've ever used don't.

But I've assumed that the main consideration is that the majority of burglars looking for their next fix don't have the patience and/or short term memory to work through the combinations.

[David]

Dear All Thanks for the advice. My day has been particularly enriched by learning the phrase "grey lady down". I'll go ahead with the GE box offered by Age Concern after checking the house insurance situation and speaking to them about where its sited, or being there when they install. Thanks again David

[Dave Liquorice]

Assuming you can use one number more than once. If you can't it significantly reduces the number of combinations. I expect there is a clever bit of maths that given the length of the code, number of allowed characters per position and max number of reuses would tell you the number of combinations available.

[Bruce]

That's a good point. I have a key to the house so don't ever use the KeySafe, but I will take a look next time I visit.

10*9*8*7*6*5*4 = 604,800 combinations from 7 digits.

Yes, that has to be it.

[dennis]

There are only 2^10 combinations on the push button one (1023). Even less if you assume they have left it with the four button combination they come with (210 IMMIC). But you would need some basic maths and to have some idea of how they work, maybe a child of five to help?

I doubt if a normal lock has that many differs so its not less secure.

[dennis]

The GE can have each button pressed once only, pressing it more than once has zero effect. There are 1023 + 0000 combinations no matter how many digits you select as long as you don't tell the cracker how many digits he needs to press.

F-, join TMW in the dunces corner.

[Bruce]

10*9*8*7*6*5*4 = 604,800 combinations from 7 digits.

[dennis]

For some reason people can spin a dial one digit at a time but can't work binary.

[Andy Dingley]

Just watch out for your social worker leaving the case notes on the doorstep, with the combination on them.

[Andy Dingley]

Many of them have only 1024 combinations.

Many are also pickable by touch - particularly the 4 dial sort.

Really though, they're all diecast zinc and will respond to a small hammering.

Does it matter anyway? If you've got agency care staff going in, the jewellery and silverware will have walked already. 8-(