I tried to create a dedicated matter server by using a raspberry pi but it didn’t go as expected. So, I wanted to know if somebody has an idea.
I tried 2 different approaches:
Installing linux and then the matter server and the openthread border router (both through docker).
Installing full haos with the matter server and border router addon and then exposing the necessary ports (“Show disabled ports” in the config section).
The raspberry pi sits on one vlan (with the matter devices) and my home assistant in a different vlan. Both times I configured the integrations (not the add ons) using websockets.
This seems to work as expected for the matter integration. I can add devices through the companion app, and they are controllable.
For the border router this does not seem to work. If I add the border router to home assistant by providing a URL for the rest api, I get an entry for both the “Open Thread Border Router” and for the “Thread” Integration. The thread integration does show the correct thread network id so the connection seems to be working but it also shows “No border routers were found. Check your border router is configured correctly or reset it to factory settings.”. This results in the integration not working.
Maybe somebody has an idea what went wrong and can help.
Uses multicast DNS (mDNS) to publish mDNS DNS-SD discovery packets on behalf of the thread nodes so they can be discovered on adjacent networks.
Ensure all of your IoT devices and ALL smart hubs/controllers, like Home Assistant, are on the same VLAN. The VLAN can be isolated, with firewalls ports open into the IoT VLAN as needed to access Home Assistant.
It knows you have a TBR, because of the OTBR integration, but if can’t see the mDNS announcements (required for discovery) because they are blocked by the router separating the two servers. This is one case where an mDNS reflector on the router might actually solve your issue (assuming you have ULAs and not just LLAs on the pi vlan).
It’s actually not a requirement that HA “see” the TBR, only that the credentials get synced to the mobile app for commissioning. Another option you might test is direct commissioning via rhe Matter server web console, but that requires setting up a dedicated Bluetooth radio for the matter server container, and keeping the new device within range of the server during setup.
This may be the insight I was missing. I thought manually adding would not require any discovery, because all information would be forwarded from integration to integration.