Creating a single thread network from multiple vendors. HA/ST/Amazon

Configuration Matter/Thread
1

Hi. I currently have 28 Zemismart Thread battery powered motorised blinds spread through the house, connected to 2 x Smartthings Hubs in a group. While the 2 hubs are spread at each end of the house, I am finding that the blinds are dropping off the network and not re-connecting automatically. Deleting and re-pairing will connect them again. Also issues with connecting some of the blinds at times. So issues with the location of the hubs, moving them around will help with some but then ruin others.

So, thinking of adding more TBR’s.

I have a SkyConnect and 2 Echo Plus units (Stereo Unit) in the living room. I could pull those 2 Echo units out of the stereo setup and move those to other rooms, I was also thinking of upgrading 2 Echo Show 5 units to 3rd Gen that support TBR functionality also.

Does anyone know if it is possible to connect the devices from Amazon, Smartthings and HA OTBR (SkyConnect) into a single thread network for resiliency?

I was mainly thinking the HomeAssistant thread device might give some better diagnostic info including whether these blinds are actually working in some kind of mesh etc.

Thanks.

2

The issue is that thread networks that have more than one border router (plus one of them is based on OTBR) are instable and the root cause has been unclear for months. So currently adding more border routers will make the problem worse. The HA core team is working with Apple and others on resolving the issue, but this could still take months.

Besides that: Yes, it’s possible to add devices from various vendors to a single Thread network, but the process can be challenging. Thread 1.4, expected to roll out to many border routers by spring 2025, aims to simplify and streamline this process.

As for diagnostics, the OTBR implementation currently lacks diagnostic tools. For now, the best option to inspect Thread networks is the Eve app for iOS, but I’m hoping that we’ll see thread network maps soon that are at least as informative as the Zigbee2MQTT maps.

3

Thanks for that info, much appreciated.
I’ll stick to a single vendor network and save the OTBR part for the future, keeping an eye on progress.