Kwikset Halo Select Thread connection issue

Configuration Matter/Thread
1

Perhaps a year ago I purchased a Kwikset Halo Select and successfully commissioned it in Home Assistant using Matter over Thread. Unfortunately, so many features were missing at the time that I converted back to Wi-Fi and used the Halo app.

Forward to recent weeks and I saw an announcement of improved support for lock codes in Matter on Home Assistant. I have tried several times to switch the lock back to Thread but it will not fully connect.

Important fact: the hub attached to my Home Assistant Yellow is my only hub. Google and Apple are not options.

The process has been:

  • Convert lock to matter using the Halo app
  • Start the connection process
  • Select “other” after Google/Apple/Samsung/whatever
  • Choose Home Assistant
  • Ignore HA’s warning that Kwikset recommends their own process
  • Scan QR code (possibly before the warning)
  • Lock connects
  • Credentials are generated
  • Hangs on the “Checking connectivity to Thread network ha-thread-xxxx” screen

This is not my first time commissioning a matter device - I have 35 matter devices, almost all using Thread. The lock is less than 20 feet from the hub and 2 feet from an Eve wall switch which acts as a router.

I just can’t make this one work.

The warning about using the manufacturer’s preferred method looks like a red flag, but I don’t see any other options in the app which don’t require a hub from one of the big web companies.

Has anyone successfully connected directly to Home Assistant? Other suggestions?

2

Are you asking if you can onboard a new Thread/Matter device without initially (once off) contacting the vendor site over the internet?

The answer is no (by specific design of the Matter standard)

Once you have finished the once-off onboarding process, you should be able to free yourself of their shackles.

Your failure may be related to IPv6 connectivity back to the vendor website, another obligatory portion of the Matter standard.

Welcome to the 21st century - IPV6 is (finally) here!

3

What I don’t understand is why I never got such a warning from Eve, SmartWings, SmartSetup, Aqara, or Ikea devices, but I get it from the Kwikset device.

I can’t really see what the vendor app or Home Assistant is contacting behind the scenes, I only know that after initial steps which seem to succeed I see this and nothing more:

Screenshot_KwiksetToThread
Screenshot_KwiksetToThread1080×2400 43.5 KB

4

You may need to turn on debugging and examine the logs, to attempt to narrow down the bottleneck.

I’d venture your issue will be with IPv6 network configuration, specific to you, rather than faulty code which would affect all users.

A full power down and restart of all equipment, including your router and other network equipment can sometimes be of use, especially when mDNS and DHCP are involved and you have not gone down the path of allocating static IP Addresses.

5

Hmm. I did up date my DNS resolvers recently, both IPv4 and IPv6. I also turned on IPv6 for my router, which was not explicitly enabled before. My phone has had it all along and I did not change any settings there. I’ll try logging as soon as I get a chance to retry this.

Is logging just a matter of clicking “Show and share logs” in the companion app and then trying again, or is there some other logging I should enable? I see OTBR and Matter Server logs on the desktop, but if there is something more please let me know. Thanks.

6

Would it be accurate to say your previous successful attempts at onboarding were done via your phone, and this one is the first via HomeAssistant? If so, network configuration will most likely be the culprit.

7

My normal process is with the companion app Settings->Devices & Services → Devices → Add device → Add matter device.

For the lock I have tried starting from the companion app and from the Kwikset app.

I will go and repeat both now. I have restored my primary DNS resolvers to old values, rebooted the web routers and restarted Home Assistant in the last 15 minutes.

8

I had a moment of excitement. The Kwikset app announced that Matter setup was complete and that I could control the lock with Matter. Unfortunately, the lock does not appear in Home Assistant. I looked at all of my Matter devices and tried a few search terms on devices and entities just in case I missed something.

I tried adding using my usual companion app process again, hoping that the conversion was complete on the Kwikset side and I just needed to complete adding to HA. No luck.

Below I am mostly spewing everything I can think of. No offense taken if you don’t want to go through it.

I have been referred in a generic way to the manufacturer’s site. After clicking past the big companies I get this: "Your matter enabled smart lock can be added to any smart home platform that supports Matter. Visit your desire platform’s website for additional details on Matter Features and smart home hub requirements.

In the OTBR log I see lines like

error:NoAck, prio:net, radio:15.4
9d.05:51:50.623 [N] MeshForwarder-:     src:[fe80:0:0:0:e009:94f:c0d4:136a]:19788
9d.05:51:50.623 [N] MeshForwarder-:     dst:[fe80:0:0:0:404c:b44c:b856:e7fe]:19788
9d.05:51:51.643 [N] MeshForwarder-: Failed to send IPv6 UDP msg, len:131, chksum:e1ca, ecn:no, to:424cb44cb856e7fe, sec:no, error:NoAck, prio:net, radio:15.4
9d.05:51:51.643 [N] MeshForwarder-:     src:[fe80:0:0:0:e009:94f:c0d4:136a]:19788
9d.05:51:51.643 [N] MeshForwarder-:     dst:[fe80:0:0:0:404c:b44c:b856:e7fe]:19788

but there are no timestamps that I understand and it is not clear to me whether this is normal or whether is is related to my problem.

I scrolled back through the Matter Server logs and all I see is polling for Eve energy data.
In the companion app there are lots of log lines, but all dated after my attempt. Perhaps they get cleared when the app is restarted?

I’m going to try Kwikset’s support pages but I tend to get things like “There are no search results for Matter over thread configuration, please try different search term.” in all red text. I’m now dealing with a chatbot which does the usual thing of spitting out canned advice to do things I have already tried. … Support case opened.