Matter over Thread devices all offline

Configuration Matter/Thread
1

I’ve recently set up a Thread network with some Matter devices and while they were all working, they’re now all offline. I’m not sure when this happened or what the trigger was. I did recently set the beta option to true to get the Open Home Foundation Matter Server and its network map feature.

Can anyone suggest what I might do to get the devices back online?

Thanks in anticipation

IMG_0920
IMG_09201206×2622 248 KB

IMG_0923
IMG_09231206×2622 158 KB

IMG_0922
IMG_09221206×2622 191 KB

IMG_0921
IMG_09211206×2622 209 KB

2

I do not know if this works for you, but yesterday when I had a similar issue, I removed and re-added the Thread dongle and rebooted HA. It all came back.

3

I restarted my server (not just HA core) when I had the issue.

1 Like
4

I tried restarting the Radpberry Pi and while that brought my Matter over Thread devices back online, the Sonoff Thread dongle (EFR32MG21) no longer appeared in the visualised map. Since then, I’ve noticed that some or all of the devices are regularly online and it’s not easy to get them back online. I think the physical layout of the devices should be OK, I have an Ikea plug (I.e. mains powered) in the vicinity of the battery powered devices and the map shows the plug being used as a router. The plug is about 8 metres from the dongle.

What else can I try by way of diagnosis or resolution? My Zigbee network seems very robust and stable but the Thread network feels fragile. Is this a typical experience?

5

The problem might be that you only have one Thread Border Router and it is a single point of failure. If anything goes wrong, you lose all Matter/Thread devices.

You seem to be running the Border Router on the Home Assistant server. In that case, a reboot of the whole server might work as it has for others.

I would suggest adding some redundancy to the Thread network, at least one more Border Router, and some other AC-mains-powered Thread devices. A robust network like that can still work, even if parts go down.

Thread is like Zigbee in that the more devices that can route, the stronger the network. In both, only those devices that are NOT battery powered can route. Lightbulbs and smart plugs are good. But Thread also allows you to have any reasonable number of Border Routers. which provides redundancy.