Can't pair Matter devces to HA, says I need Open Thread border router

Configuration Matter/Thread
1

So continuing from my previous topic, which was claimed as a known bug and thus solved.

But now I can’t pair anything to my Skyconnect. It wouldn’t install the Thread fw through ha interface so I was forced to connect it to my PC and install the Universal Windows drivers through the Device Manager and thankfully, successfully flashed the OpenThread firmware.

Back to HA (running on RPi 3B+).
I’ve installed both OTBR addon and the Matter server addon and the corresponding integrations. I’m trying to add an eve Energy smart plug, so I go to matter, add device, it searches for the device for half a sec (so the bluetooth pairing should be working?), then it starts connecting only to end in the message “You need a thread border router to use this device”. Which I have installed and paired to my Skyconnect.

This is what the error message looks like on my phone:

And here you can see I have both OTBR and Matter installed:

Halp :frowning:
The only thing that comes to mind is that the skyconect used to be usb000 and the sonoff usb001 but now its revered, even though both are using by-id so that shouldn’t be an issue.

2

Waaait it might be ipv6 related. How do I enable it? :smiley:

Okay so under Settings->System->Network it’s showing as enabled. Do I have to fiddle with my routers’ settings too?

Edit: It’s enabled in my router too :frowning:

Thought I had a stroke of genius for a sec there but nope, back to square one.

3

Okay not sure if this is relateable since it’s AI generated but I also tried:

Verify Device Discovery on Your Phone

  1. On your mobile phone, open an mDNS browser app, such as “Discovery” or “Bonjour Browser”.
  2. Search for _meshcop._udp or _matter._udp services.
  3. If you don’t see these services, it indicates a problem with the mDNS setup, and your phone cannot discover the OTBR, which is necessary for pairing.

Installled Bonjour Browser (Discovery wants an account with them) and it’s scanning but not finding the two aforementioned services (in fact it’s not finding any services). Are you guys seeing them if someone doesn’t mind installing Bounjour Brower on their android phone?

4

Do you have a key next to your border router ?

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5

I do have a key next to my single entry, yes. I’ll admit to having forgot to do it the 2nd time around but I just did and it said “You have no credentials to send” then the entry reappeared with the key next to it.

I tried re-adding, still a no go :frowning:

6

Okay I kinda fixed it… Went to:
In the Companion app, go to Settings > Companion app > Troubleshooting , then select Sync Thread credentials .

That did the trick. The device started pairing normally after that. Ofc it ended on a “Something went wrong” message, but the device is now visibile in ha and has 8 entities assigned to it.

But jeez…

Edit: Also both my zigbee and now my new thread network seem to have slowed to a crawl. Changing zigbee lightbulb scenes now takes 5-10 secs (then works normally for a couple secs then slows down again) and turning off the thread eve energy smart plug takes a good 5 seconds too. Is this normal? I’ve got some nanoleaf essentials and eve weather coming in (couldn’t resist) and was thinking about two more smart plugs if there’s a good black friday deal or something.

Then I’ll be a good boy and wait to see what ikea comes up with. Apparently they’re launching 20 thread products in early 2026 :smiley: