Hi,
i have 2x Apple TV, 2x Apple Homepod and 2x EVE Room. All on a thread network.
I got myself a HA Skyconnect and configured that and it seems like its running, but how can i join my devices the other thread network now? I cant find anything useful on the documentation sadly.
Thanks
Ok so more information: I got the Thread up and running and i tried with the Pairingcode. Put in the code in the HA app but it says “not possible”. Somehow. Then i tried to remove the eve room from my apple home. But when i try to scan it with with the HA app via the MATTEr integration its not recognizing the code. If i use the same device / code with the EVE app, its recognizing it in an instant.
Ok i figured alot of stuff out lol.
So the eve room dont have matter yet so it makes sense to move the homepod first. I decided to first move my eve energy which are infact on matter. I resetted those and added them with the HA app in the matter integration. On the thread ingegration the skyconnect thread network is the prefered.
But when i add them they still are on the old apple thread network, dunno why
This is what worked for me. Go into your HA Thread integration and make sure you’re joined with the preferred thread network (let’s assume Home1234556 - from your apple devices). You might need to use the companion app to send thread credentials to homeassistant.
Once done pair your thread devices with Apple HomeKit. Then remove them from the home app and they will appear as HomeKit Device in Home Assistant - enter pairing code and you’re all set.
I just did that with an Eve Room and an Eve Weather.
Currently, if you have a Apple Thread border router, then when adding a Matter device via the Home Assistant companion app will prefer the Apple Thread border router.
You can import the Apple Thread network to Home Assistant, and then make that the preferred. This will allow you join the Home Assistant OpenThread Border Router to the Apple Thread network.
The “preferred” setting currently has only limited meaning, it essentially only becomes relevant which Thread network gets imported when using the Send credentials to phone operation (see also Thread - Home Assistant). But since you already have a Apple Thread network, this won’t be useful anymore as the Apple Thread network will be preferred.
In general: You don’t need a SkyConnect or a Home Assistant Thread network. Matter and Thread are two distinct protocol layers, Thread is just like WiFi just a transport. Home Assistant can use the Apple Thread network and pair to a device directly via Matter. But you can join the SkyConnect to the Apple Thread network. This way you have an additional Border router and better mesh coverage. Use the “Add to preferred network” on the OpenThread Border Router once you have the Apple Thread network credentials imported and preferred.
Hmm i see. I have the Apple Thread already joined via the TCP IP of the network, see:
Why i got the Skyconnect is that i want to have the Eve Room in my Home Assistant. Eve Room is using Thread and HomeKit.
Thats why i wanted to have my HA the “Master” TBR and the Homepods the “secondary” so that the Homeassistant can do the work. Therefor i wanted to have the devices join the Skyconnect thread network.
Ah I see, yeah I think if you use the HomeKit Device integration and add the device via the Home Assistant to the Thread network, then the preferred network will become relevant (see the HomeKit Device integration docs).
If your goal is to add HomeKit devices to the Apple Thread network via Home Assistant, than you can just import the Apple Thread network, and make it preferred, and you are good to go. The SkyConnect is not really necessary for that.
But since you have it, you might as well use it. You intended to create a single Thread mesh network then, correct? Then you can just make the MyHome47 network the preferred network, and then click the three dot menu and choose “Add to preferred network” on the OpenThread Border Router.
All the Thread Border router are kinda “equal”. Adding the SkyConnect does extend the mesh (and the Thread packets most likely will prefer the local Thread border router to send packets to your Thread network as the target network is available from a local interface), but other than, there is not really a benefit adding a Home Assistant SkyConnect OpenThread Border Router to the network. It is still cool though 
Thanks for your help.
So did i understood it correct: I wont get any benefits (beside range i guess) if i join the HA to the thread network?
From a pure on-boarding/communication standpoint, yes. Once you have the credentials, you can just add devices to it, and HA will automatically use the existing border routers.
If a OTBR is in the Thread network, you can control a bit more, e.g. you can change the networks RF channel.
