HA Native alternative to the ZBT-1 ? It seems to be unavailable everywhere?

Configuration Matter/Thread
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I don’t have any Thread capable homekit (no home pod and apple TV 4Ks are too old) hub devices and I am actively working on eliminating google devices .

Based on another thread it appears that a U200 lock with homekey might natively work when directly connected to HA being the first matter device that has interested me.

DO I just need to wait for months for the ZBT-1 to come back in stock or are there reliable alternatives to use HAs native matter / thread support?

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Sonoff Dongle-E

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Not sure what “HA Native” means in this context. Here are some TBR options, in order of increasing price (usd), not including aforementioned dongles:

  1. Use an esp32-h2 ($5 aliexpress) flashed with radio coprocessor firmware, and run your own OTBR server software. Should work with HAOS; I have tested successfully with docker.
  2. Get a standalone espressif border router board ($12 Amazon) and flash with OTBR firmware. I haven’t tried this yet so I don’t know if this image has the REST API for HA integration but that is not necessary for operation.
  3. GL.iNet sells a similar prepackaged board with PoE adapter, the GL-S20 ($58 aliexpress) which I believe runs OTBR and should work with REST API.
  4. You can get a renewed Eero 6 router ($75 Amazon) which is reportedly based on OTBR. If you don’t already have WiFi 6, this is a great network upgrade.
  5. Once you hit the >$80 price range you can get a HomePod mini from Costco — which has a lot more functionality — but the TBR do not let you change any settings so is the least “native” option.

Edited to add: since it’s not documented well elsewhere, it may be worth noting that OTBR-based routers that support the REST API (HA integration) only appear to add three new functions to HA — router reset, change channel, and “add to preferred network”, all of which can be done elsewhere.

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Intended to be an alternative USB dongle to the ZBT-1 or other hardware that works well out of the box directly with home assistants Matter/ thread support.

The GL-S20 looks like the only option from your list that makes much sense for my needs in context.

Don’t want to DYI an ESP board, Eero would conflict with my existing WIFI 7 system. No interest in the Homepod as I find Siri kind of useless most of the time, I am more likely to replace one of my existing Apple TV 4Ks for the thread one but that is much more expensive.

I will probably just wait for the ZBT-1 to come back in stock.

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@francisp had a good answer.

The Sonoff Dongle-E is about as close as you can get to the HA product. Same chipset and functionality of the ZBT-1.

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Can the firmware be flashed / updated via home assistant or Will I need to do that separately before setting it up?

Edit: guessing this discussion is relevant Sonoff ZBDongle-E with Openthread RCP - #9 by trappelaar

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Yes, using the Silicon Labs Flasher from the add-on store, along with darkxst’s firmware.

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Yes it does