Skip to main content

Wiegand board

The Wiegand board is an add-on for the Kisi Controller Pro 2. It has four interfaces, supporting up to four legacy hardware devices.

Supported Wiegand device and credential types

Main use cases

Seamless transition to Kisi

Transition to Kisi and enjoy all the benefits Kisi is known for with minimal cost and migration effort. This use case is based on a legacy reader to Wiegand board connection.

Benefits

  • Maximum value at minimum cost
  • Easy installation, simple plug-and-play
  • Full Kisi experience, admin dashboard and mobile apps. Unlock doors with existing legacy credentials or by tapping in the Kisi mobile app (Tap to Unlock excluded)

Ensuring a continuous access flow with Kisi

In multi-tenant buildings, ensure a continuous access flow with Kisi, regardless if the main entrance door is secured with a legacy access control system. This use case is based on a legacy controller to Wiegand board connection.

Benefits

  • Use Kisi Tap in-app to unlock doors controlled with a legacy access control system
  • Assign only one generic credential for your entire organization
  • Ensure your team doesn't bypass the landlord's legacy access control system

Inputs and outputs

  • 4 Wiegand interfaces
  • 7 ports per interface
    • D0: Data line 0
    • D1: Data line 1
    • G: Green LED
    • R: Red LED
    • BZ: Buzzer
    • +: Direct current voltage (12 volts direct current and maximum 375 milliamperes per port)
    • -: Ground

Connecting to legacy hardware

Once you have the Wiegand board attached to the Kisi Controller Pro 2, you can wire your legacy hardware to the controller. Depending on your use case, you can wire either legacy controllers or legacy readers to the controller, or both simultaneously.

Next to all four Wiegand interfaces there is a switch with two modes of operation: READER and CONTRL.

  • When switched to READER, the Wiegand board is in input mode. Use this mode of operation to connect a Wiegand interface to a legacy reader.
  • When switched to CONTRL, the Wiegand board is in output mode. Use this mode of operation to connect a Wiegand interface to a legacy controller.

Supported legacy readers

The Wiegand board supports all legacy readers that use the Wiegand communication protocol and are compatible with 125 kHz credential technology. For this information, please refer to the datasheet of your reader.

Check our non-exhaustive list of supported reader types here.

Supported legacy keypad reader configurations

The Kisi Controller Pro 2 with the Wiegand board provides support for a wide range of legacy keypad readers, allowing for different configurations to be used:

  • Single key Rosslare format (Wiegand 6-bit)
  • Single key Nibbles complemented (Wiegand 8-bit)
  • Four keys binary + facility code (Wiegand 26-bit)
  • One to five keys binary + facility code (Wiegand 26-bit)
  • Single key (Wiegand 4-bit)

To find the configuration type of your keypad reader, please refer to its documentation. Most of the keypads can be configured with at least one of the different modes listed above.

tip

To learn how to assign legacy keypad readers to a Wiegand board, check out Assign door to reader.

Supported credentials

Although Kisi can work with all low-frequency RFID (125 kHz) card types, only the card formats listed below can be imported in bulk at the moment. It's essential to note that even though some types of RFID cards (such as HID) also exist as high-frequency (13.56 MHz) cards, they may not comply with NFC standards and are thus unsupported by Kisi.

  • C15001 KeyScan (36-bit card, 125 kHz)
  • EM410x/TK410x (for 26-bit readers, 125 kHz) (Supported by the Kisi Reader Pro 2.1 and later models only)
  • EM410x/TK410x (for 32/34-bit readers, 125 kHz) (Supported by the Kisi Reader Pro 2.1 and later models only)
  • HID H10301 (26-bit card, 125 kHz)
  • HID H10302 (37-bit card, 125 kHz)
  • HID H10304 (37-bit card, 125 kHz)
  • HID D10202 (33-bit card, 125 kHz) (Supported by the Kisi Reader Pro 2.1 and later models only)
  • HID C1k35s (35-bit card) (125 kHz) (Can be assigned to Kisi only via the unique card ID (UID))
tip

To determine which Kisi hardware is compatible with the aforementioned card types, please refer to our card compatibility guide.

Safety

Make sure you always cut the power of the Controller Pro 2:

  • before wiring
  • before connecting the Wiegand board
  • before switching between READER and CONTRL modes

Tamper detection

Similar to the Kisi Controller Pro 2, the Wiegand board also comes with a tamper detection feature. As the Wiegand board is directly connected to the controller, there is no need for an external tamper sensor, and the feature is always enabled. Administrators can configure alert policies for the following events:

  • Wiegand board connect - get notified when the Wiegand board has been connected
  • Wiegand board disconnect - get notified when the Wiegand board has been disconnected

Compliance

  • NDAA