I recently picked up a new ZBT-2 device for my Home Assistant system and set it to be thread. It took several tries to get the device to be recognized and it's only a "bronze" level compatibility (it's an official device, wtf?) but that's another story for another day.
So the first thing I try to do is add a Matter device, specifically a TImmerflotte (wooden raft) temp/hum sensor from Ikea.
I immediately discover that this type of device, matter over thread, won't just pair like zigbee does. With zigbee, you simply press a button until it goes into pairing mode, the host says "Hey, there you are, what are you" and a conversation happens and you have new device. End of story.
Matter? Nope. No way to pair it without some sort of third party interrogator. You can scan the device's QR code with the host's application or interrogate via bluetooth which then passes it to the thread bridge. You literally cannot just add a device without doing this.
But that's not all. In addition to needing a phone with a camera or bluetooth if the device supports it, it requires IPV6.
That's right, a fucking local radio protocol requires IPV6 For what? I have no fucking clue. I couldn't get the device to pair without it. I've had IPV6 turned off on my router since the day it was installed in the rack, because IPV6 on a local network is not needed...but sure enough, the minute I re-enabled the package on the router and told Homeless Assistant that it could use IPV6, it worked. But before that? No indication that anything was wrong, it just didn't work. Failed to pair. No error, no "IPV6 is not enabled." It was slow to fail, and slow to pair when it did work.
This is supposed to be the future of home devices? It literally took the ease and intuitive installation of zigbee and tossed it out the fucking window for some zoomer wet dream. I'm not unhappy I have it installed, but fuck me running, this is overly complex.
Thank you for listening.
I recently picked up a new ZBT-2 device for my Home Assistant system and set it to be thread. It took several tries to get the device to be recognized and it's only a "bronze" level compatibility (it's an official device, wtf?) but that's another story for another day.
So the first thing I try to do is add a Matter device, specifically a TImmerflotte (wooden raft) temp/hum sensor from Ikea.
I immediately discover that this type of device, matter over thread, won't just pair like zigbee does. With zigbee, you simply press a button until it goes into pairing mode, the host says "Hey, there you are, what are you" and a conversation happens and you have new device. End of story.
Matter? Nope. No way to pair it without some sort of third party interrogator. You can scan the device's QR code with the host's application or interrogate via bluetooth which then passes it to the thread bridge. You literally cannot just add a device without doing this.
But that's not all. In addition to needing a phone with a camera or bluetooth if the device supports it, it requires IPV6.
That's right, a fucking local radio protocol requires IPV6 For what? I have no fucking clue. I couldn't get the device to pair without it. I've had IPV6 turned off on my router since the day it was installed in the rack, because IPV6 on a local network is not needed...but sure enough, the minute I re-enabled the package on the router and told Homeless Assistant that it could use IPV6, it worked. But before that? No indication that anything was wrong, it just didn't work. Failed to pair. No error, no "IPV6 is not enabled." It was slow to fail, and slow to pair when it did work.
This is supposed to be the future of home devices? It literally took the ease and intuitive installation of zigbee and tossed it out the fucking window for some zoomer wet dream. I'm not unhappy I have it installed, but fuck me running, this is overly complex.
Thank you for listening.
