I have 12 Matter devices, which were all connected via the Matter Web UI commission node dialogue (Thread/OTBR).
All devices work well, except one. No problem when it is close to the ZBT1, but it goes offline when placed at its desired location. Not too far away are two other connected Matter devices, the next one is ca. 5m away.
So I rebooted the Raspi with HA on it (Proxmox), and all Matter devices reappeared after a few minutes - except the one causing problems. I restarted the device a couple of times but it stays offline. It canât be pinged either:
2025-03-30 15:22:27.071 (Dummy-2) CHIP_ERROR [chip.native.SC] CASESession timed out while waiting for a response from peer <000000000000005C, 1>. Current state was 4
2025-03-30 15:24:25.332 (Dummy-2) CHIP_ERROR [chip.native.EM] <<5 [E:14249i with Node: <0000000000000000, 0> S:0 M:79479735] (U) Msg Retransmission to 0:0000000000000000 failure (max retries:4)
My understanding is that the Thread mesh is organizing itself. However, in this particular case the device stays offline unless brought closer to the ZBT1. Any hint how to âenforceâ the mesh optimization?
I suspect what has happened is that when your node was joined to the network, it was right next to your ZBT (since you used the web+ble commission method) so it continues to try and use this node as its next hop, even when you move it further away.
A device doesnât necessarily know youâve moved it, which is why both Zigbee and Zwave have methods to force rebuilding mesh routes. Probably OTBR has this feature, but I donât know what it is, hopefully someone here can enlighten us. Also the mesh might auto-heal itself, but I donât know what time period to expect (Zwave heals itself usually within a day or two). Or maybe power cycling the devices could force a rebuild? When rebuilding routes, always start closest to the gateway and work your way outwards.
Indeed. But thatâs the case for all other units too.
Would be great if it did that for Matter too. I recently went through some issue with Raspberrymatic. Eventually a miracle happened and the system healed itself after two days. So letâs stay optimistic, maybe the problem will resolve itself.
Is that particular device a specific brand / model different from the others? Some brands in Zigbee were more âstickyâ than others to the node used when setting it up.
A device going offline however would be reason enough to look for another router around, so it looks either a problem with that device or the device that should act as router.
I donât know about Z-Wave, but Iâve never seen a Zigbee controller offering a way of force-rebuilding the mesh, mostly because the controller isnât responsible for the mesh, thatâs something that the devices handle between themselves. Iâm fairly sure this is also how Thread works.
I see they run on batteries so theyâre not routers, theyâll depend on other Thread devices acting as router. Are those the other 2 connected Matter devices you talked about in the first post? Are they Thread routers or just end devices like the handles?
What you refer to repeater is called âThread routerâ. Usually, devices that are mains powered like smart plugs, switches or smart bulbs will be Thread routers. The Eve Energy, the Nanoleaf Matter over Thread bulbs, etc.
Your battery powered handles donât form a mesh, theyâre âend devicesâ and just connect to other devices, either the Thread border router or other devices acting as Thread routers.
Hence my question before, is there any non-battery powered Matter over Thread device near that handle that wonât connect? If not, maybe adding one of the aforementioned devices could help.
Generally with zigbee to force this, you take the controller offline for ~20 minutes. (I cnt remember exact but itâs more than 15 and less than 30) All of itâs children should go into âpanicâ and start hunting parents. I have no clue how it works in Matter hit Iâd bet considering thereâs a lot of zigbee under the hoodâŚ
Thatâs why I called it a âmesh extenderâ, because thatâs how routers are called in Thread. I referred to âroutersâ only because most people are more familiar with Zigbee terminology
I see. No, at this time I only use one single Tapo P110M as a test installation, but it is not near the handle. Sadly its firmware doesnât (yet) allow the energy metering, however, Tapo has plans to provide an update (but is telling this since quite some time now). These units are cheap and I donât mind adding some more. Is the Tapo capable of acting as a mesh extender? If not, any suggestions what brand/model to use?
3x? In Spain the Tapo is 20⏠(15⏠when it goes on sale) and the Eve Energy is 30⏠today in Amazon Spring sales.
The Onvis S4 is also Matter over Thread and I believe itâs a Thread router too, although the first firmware version had some issues. That one is cheaper but does not have energy monitoring.
Hhm, suddenly there are four handles that are no longer connected at all. So the situation has actually worsened. Reason is that the Eve has disconnected.
