I have a working Thread network with several Matter-over-Thread devices using a Home Assistant Connect ZBT-1. Sometimes, one of my Matter-over-Thread devices experiences a bad connection which is due to the thread signal strength being a bit unreliable in that location.
I have a Tado X Bridge lying around here and was thinking about whether I can use it to extend my existing Thread network somehow. I have set it up using the Tado app on my iPhone and connected it to my IoT wifi. I can see it as “another network” in the settings of the Thread integration of my Home Assistant installation.
Is there something I can do to use this Tado-540 Thread network as an extension of my existing ha-thread-bb2a network or as another independent Thread network?
You should be ble to join the two networks, but there have been reported issues with combining different brands of thread border routers in one network.
The best solution in my mind would be to add more repeater devices around the spot, such as power plugs or light bulbs.
I will try to extent the network with an Onvis Matter-over-Thread power plug.
However, just out of curiosity: How do I „join the two networks“? I don‘t see any options (three dots) next to the other Tado network. Also, in the Tado app, I don‘t see a „share with“ option…
Remember to updatevthe Onvis plug.
The first firmware had issues that killed the entire Matter over Thread fabric.
The update process is proprietary and you need an Apple Matter hub device for it.
The firmware file can be hard to find, but ask Onvis for it, is you can not find it.
I am not sure how two networks are joined in HA.
Maybe you need to do it through the web interface of the Matter addon.
IF the border router is based on OTBR software, and IF it supports control via the REST API, and IF you are able to setup the OTBR integration to connect with it, THEN you get the three-dot menu with the option to “Add to preferred network”.
If this doesn’t work, you might be out of luck. I have yet to see a TBR vendor (other than OTBR) that lets you change its credentials dataset (i.e. TLV) manually. In the rare case it does, you can extract the TLV by clicking the circled (i) icon beside your preferred network name. What most owners of Apple/Google/Amazon TBRs end up doing is changing their HA/OTBR border router network to join the third-party unchangeable one.
I’ll also reiterate Wally’s comment that adding repeaters is far better way to extend your network than adding border routers.
Today, I received the Onvis S4EU power plug. Adding it to my HA Thread network using the HA Matter integration worked without problems - and luckily without killing my existing Thread network. I guess it came with the latest firmware already as I purchased it from the official Onvis EU store on Amazon.
It seems that the repeater functionality works as expected since my Tado TRV came back online after it hasn‘t been seen for a couple of days. Thanks for your support!
Is there a way to update the firmware (if it didn’t start shipping with the latest fw already) apart from the Apple ecosystem? I only have an OTBR on my ha and this is the first I’m hearing about Onvis. I’d like to order like three, but need them working with HA/OBTR out of the box or a way to update the fw through HA since I don’t own any Apple devices.
I have one eve energy smart plug atm I’m using for my grow lights, but these are cheaper and as far as I can tell do the exact same thing so… I’d basically get one free. And I kinda want at least one for xmas lightning (don’t wanna head out twice a day in freezing temps to turn the lights on and off) and another two would be nice for the furniture spotlights (which is a story in an of itself - they started flickering, they don’t produce them anymore, they use a proprietery closed connector blah). I’m looking at my options with a universal adapter and a good electrician that could open up the power switch and soldier the wires, I’m not much of a diy person).
But yeah, @srueberg, would be nice to hear from you again in terms of stability and hopefully the firmware version before I order anything (ikea is coming out with like 20 thread products start of 2026 but i don’t want to wait that long for everything xd) stuck_out_tongue:
Sadly, I found none and their support team confirmed it.
I had to order a Apple speaker and update them fast, then return the Apple speaker.
After that ordeal I have tried to post this obstacle whenever Onvis is mentioned, both here and on other sites.
Shame. Well I guess that means no Onvis for me, for the time being at least. I don’t really wanna cough up over a $100 for another three of eve energy lol, it really adds up (got a dongle, nanoleaf lightbulbs, eve weather, eve energy, got a PI5 coming in… plus other things xd Guess I’ll just have to leave the xmas leds on all day and night for another year and sit tight until I see what ikea comes up with. If they’re not worth their salt though, I’ll just suck it up and order more eve. At least it looks like a quality product.
Bruh. Onvis going for under $18 right now, 23% off. Too bad I don’t know anyone with Apple homekit or I’d get three right away, energy monitoring be darned for that price, I only need them to turn lights on and off. It would still extend/(and stabilize?) the Thread network (with the updated firmware).
Really hope eve has a good Black Friday deal. I really don’t wanna pay $120 for three smart plugs when these are literally half the price atm
I would not buy them even if I knew someone with an Apple Hub.
The update process is complex and they have absolutely no support or help for updating the devices.
I have mine updated to the current firmware, AFAIK, but I fear the next firmware update that might be required and I fear I will hear nothing about it anywhere.
Dunno, I’m being optimistic and I hope it’s just some just-starting-out bugs that will get ironed out (and allow for future updates through other vendors, including ha/otbr). Although, in today’s world, hardly anything surprises me anymore. I’m still pretty optimistic about the upcoming ikea stuff though, even though I’ll probably just cave in and buy three more eve plugs on black friday. That should suffice for all my current needs atm (because I can’t live without being able to turn my furniture spotlights on and off from my cellphone all of a sudden) xD
I’ll stop before we get any further off topic though. But I suppose this really is one of those you get what you pay for things (even if they are overpriced, they obviously currently can afford to be :p).
Edit: Screw it, just caved in and ordered three more eve energy plugs. While I do want smart home furniture sooner rather than later, it ultimately came down to support for paving the way and working with the ha team on enabling fw updates through ha and whatnot. Definitely got bitten by the (thread) bug though
But I suppose this really is one of those you get what you pay for things (even if they are overpriced, they obviously currently can afford to be :p).