Matter over Thread with ZigBeeToMQTT and SonOff ZBDongle-E V.2

[giafranzoni (Gian)]

1. I Updated the firmware of the dongle with multipan protocol from the Sonoff website: https://dongle.sonoff.tech/sonoff-dongle-flasher/

2. I installed and start MQTT

3. I installed and start Silicon Labs Multiprotocol Add-on

4. I installed and start ZigBeeToMQTT and tried to pair a ZigBee 3.0 device. The device was recognized and everything worked fine and smothly.

Now talk about Matter Over Thread:

1. After i have installed the Silicon Labs Multiprotocol Add-on, Home Assistant automatically recognizes both “Thread” and “Open Thread Border Router” under Settings → Devices and Services → integrations, and configures them automatically. I don’t have to do anything.

2. i installed the Matter Integration under: Settings → Devices and Services → integrations → Add Integration

3. i go to Settings → Addons → Matter Server → and start it

and it works properly.

Now Theoretically I should have all the components to implement the communication chain which should be this:

ZBDongle-E ↔ Silicon Labs Multiprotocol ↔ Open Thread Border Router ↔ Thread ↔ Matter

Issue A:

In Setting → addons → Add Addon → There are in Light grey: “Matter” and “Open Thread Border Router addons”.

and if i click on it, it Says: “This add-on is not compatible with your device’s processor or the operating system installed on your device.”

I assume they are different add-ons than the ones I already have installed, but I’m not sure. some one can explain to me?

Issue B:

on Settings-> Addons → Add Addon i search “open thread border router” and appears the addon to install:

have I to install the addon “open thread border router” in addition to already having the auto-configured integration installed in Settings → Devices and Services → integrations? or is it not necessary? I think is not… because the addon should be for other configurations, and in this case the integration is configured automatically… i don’t know…

if Yes, What settings should I set?

when i installed the addon “open thread border router” it works for few minutes and after it stops. it’s not working properly.

also starts to compare a warning:

2025-08-01 13:46:29.192 WARNING (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.otbr.config_flow] Failed to communicate with OTBR@http://81bc2df9-hassio-ihost-silabs-multiprotocol:8081: 

i tried to disinstall the addon and the warning seems resolved after restarting HA.

Issue C:

I configured on HA IpV6 as automatic. How can i configure my modem router parameters to work with Matter?

How can i get updated the integration of “open thread border router” and “Thread” ?

i hope this post could help other people to install correctly Matter over Thread with ZigBeeToMQTT and SonOff ZBDongle-E V.2

[WallyR (Wally)]

First multipan support is put on standby by the devs, because there were serious performance issue with it.
Second do you run a 32bit HA? This has been set for deprecation in one of the latest releases and will go around new year. Many addons do not work with it, because many of third party libraries needed are not available in 32bit.

[giafranzoni (Gian)]

Ha on a 64Bit pc

[WallyR (Wally)]

But is HA 64bit?
You can run a 32bit OS on a 64bit machine, but not the other way around.

[giafranzoni (Gian)]

Very intresting! i never thought about this issue. maybe this is the problem of some warnigs i have…

i Download the HA image from Here:

Generic x86-64

at this link:

On installation information HA reports this:

[humingchun (Michael Hu)]

@giafranzoni

Issue A:

Issue A: The Matter Server, OpenThread Border Router Add-on (and other gray add-ons) under Hassio iHost Add-ons are supposed to run on Home Assistant OS over SONOFF iHost which is based on 32 bit SoC.

Since you are running Home Assistant OS on 64 bit PC, you can’t install them. But there are corresponding 64 bit add-ons with the same name, you should be able to find them on the Add-on Store page.

Basically, you can just safely ignore these gray add-ons.

[humingchun (Michael Hu)]

Issue B: You should not install OpenThread Border Router add-on if you are using Multiprotocol firmware because the Silicon Labs Multiprotocol add-on you have installed earlier automatically creates an OpenThread Border Router by default, and that OpenThread Border Router will be automatically discovered and enabled by intergration OpenThread Border Router and intergration Thread.

You should install OpenThread Border Router add-on if you are using OpenThread firmware of ZBDongle-E.

[humingchun (Michael Hu)]

Issue C: I don’t think you need to adjust your Wi-Fi router’s IPv6 settings in order to use Thread network. I believe the default settings should just work. I have even completely disabled the IPv6 function on my Wi-Fi router, and all Matter over Wi-Fi and Matter over Thread devices still work.

[giafranzoni (Gian)]

So clear! Thanks a lot!

I dont have this screen:

i have these:

Settings → Devices and Services → Matter

Settings → Addons → Matter Server

Settings-> Developer Tool → States

Auto update is “False” → and Doesn’t appear in: Settings → Addons → Matter Server the option to autoupdate the addon

Does Home Assistant notify you if there’s a Matter update available? The same goes for Silicon Lab Multiprotocol that does’t have an autoupdate on:
Settings → Addons → Silicon Labs Multiprotocol

on Matter addon LogBook i have this error:

2025-08-02 12:12:10.064 (Dummy-2) CHIP_ERROR [chip.native.DIS] Failed to advertise records: src/inet/UDPEndPointImplSockets.cpp:421: OS Error 0x02000065: Network is unreachable

I installed HA on an 11 year old laptop and the Buetooth device is old as well.

Would it be better for me to install a recent Bluetooth dongle? This is because, from what I understand, many Matter devices use Bluetooth for pairing.

In that case, which Bluetooth USB dongle do you recommend to use on Home Assistant?

About Multipan:

@WallyR

First multipan support is put on standby by the devs, because there were serious performance issue with it.

Look this ufficial article (Jul 14, 2025) by SonOff about Multipan Protocol on ZBDongle-E:

Multiprotocol is Not Dead — ZBDongle-E revives Zigbee + Thread potential

[humingchun (Michael Hu)]

Yes, Home Assistant’s official statement is against the use of Silicon Labs’ Multiprotocol technology. But Silicon Labs is continuously improving this technology with its partners, and SONOFF is one of them. The open source Multiprotocol add-on in iHost Open Source Project is considered to be stable for daily use, but use it at your own risk.

If you see Bluetooth intergration already enabeld on Settings -> Devices & services page, then your current bluetooth adapter is good to go.

Having said that, you don’t need to have bluetooth adapter if you are going to add Matter over Wi-Fi devices through Home Assistant Companion App. The Home Assistant Companion App will use the bluetooth adapter on your phone.

Note: you can’t add Matter over Thread devices to the Open Thread Border Router provided by Silicon Labs through Home Assistant Companion App because Home Assistant Companion App will always use the Open Thread Border Router provided by your phone vendor (Google or Apple). Please refer to Thread - Home Assistant for details. Correct me if I am wrong.

So now, If you want to add Matter over Thread devices to Silicon Labs’ Thread network, you can only do it through the WebUI of Matter Server add-on. It looks like this:

If the Commission new WiFi device option and Commission new Thread device option are both gray, then you haven’t specified the Bluetooth Adapter ID on the Configuration page of Matter Server add-on. The ID should be 0 if you have only one bluetooth adapter.

[WallyR (Wally)]

@humingchun

Note: you can’t add Matter over Thread devices to the Open Thread Border Router provided by Silicon Labs through Home Assistant Companion App because Home Assistant Companion App will always use the Open Thread Border Router provided by your phone vendor (Google or Apple). Please refer to Thread - Home Assistant for details. Correct me if I am wrong.

You can, but you need to get the credentials on the phone.
If HA can see the network, then the companion app can copy them in.
If HA can not see them, then you need to find another way to get them in.

[giafranzoni (Gian)]

This is my first HA installation and i’m a newbie. i’m trying to understand the best solution to install ZigBeeToMQTT possibly with the future option to install Matter, Thread or Wifi, with a SonOff ZBDOngle-E. I bought this Dongle searching in tutorials and articles and it looked pretty used.

I have also tried to install ZigbeeToMQTT with only ZigBee ember Firmware, beacause EZSP firmware and driver are no more supported in new HA and ZigBeeToMQTT. This for sure! in OnBoard (WebUI) Configuration page of ZigBeeToMQTT the EZSP driver are no more selectable. no way!

It does’t need the Silicon Lab Multiprotocol Addon

ember Firmware Download Page: silabs-firmware-builder/firmware_builds/zbdonglee at main · darkxst/silabs-firmware-builder · GitHub

ember Firmware version: ncp-uart-hw-v7.4.2.0-zbdonglee-115200.gbl

Page used to flah the firmware: Silabs Firmware Flasher | Web based flasher for ZB-GW04 and ZBDongle-E. MultiPAN RCP firmware enables these devices to be used with Silabs Multiprotocol Addon in Home Assistant. Allow Zigbee and Thread to co-exist on the same dongle. Get ahead of the tech an experiment with Matter!

and works fine, but only ZigBee network

AnyWay… go back to the Topic:

In the configuration page of Silicon Lab Multiprotocol addon there is a check:
“Enable OpenThread Border Router”

I Think this is the reason why compares “OpenThread Border Router” and “Thread” Integrations atomatically and setted automatically by Silicon Lab Multiprotocol addon with near no way to configure these.

infact if i restart the Silicon Lab Multiprotocol addon restart also the “OpenThread Border Router” i checked it on the logs

[20:46:51] INFO: Starting otbr-agent...

in the configuration of “Silicon Lab Multiprotocol addon” i have OTBR Firewall:

if is turned on i have no errors on the logs of Silicon Labs Multiprotocol addon

if it turned on i have this log:

otbr-agent[289]: 00:00:34.081 [W] Platform------: Firewall - failed to update ipsets: Failed
otbr-agent[289]: 00:00:34.128 [W] DuaManager----: Failed to perform next registration: InvalidState
ipset v7.10: The set with the given name does not exist
otbr-agent[289]: 00:00:34.135 [W] Platform------: Firewall - failed to update ipsets: Failed
otbr-agent[289]: [NOTE]-BBA-----: BackboneAgent: Backbone Router becomes Primary!
ipset v7.10: The set with the given name does not exist
otbr-agent[289]: 00:00:34.849 [W] Platform------: Firewall - failed to update ipsets: Failed
otbr-agent[289]: 00:00:35.132 [W] DuaManager----: Failed to perform next registration: NotFound
ipset v7.10: The set with the given name does not exist
otbr-agent[289]: 00:00:35.771 [W] Platform------: Firewall - failed to update ipsets: Failed
otbr-agent[289]: 00:00:36.130 [W] DuaManager----: Failed to perform next registration: NotFound
ipset v7.10: The set with the given name does not exist
otbr-agent[289]: 00:00:46.963 [W] Platform------: Firewall - failed to update ipsets: Failed
otbr-agent[289]: 00:00:47.125 [W] DuaManager----: Failed to perform next registration: NotFound

i have disabled ipv6 on HA and on the Router as humingchun told to me

Matter Server Configuration:

in the WebUI of Matter Server add-on the Commission new WiFi device option and Commission new Thread device option are both gray

On the Configuration page of Matter Server add-on appear this screen:

After Click “Modify in YAML” compare this screen:

and actually nothing appears regarding the Bluetooth adapter device

I added “bluetooth_adaper_id: 0” to the YAML configuration of the addon

And Now in the WebUI of Matter Server add-on the Commission new WiFi device option and Commission new Thread device option are both dark and available

Now how can I add a Matter Device? if it is possible?

if i click on: “Commission new WIFI device” compare this screen:

if i click on: “Commission new Thread device” compare this screen:

Matter Server addon Errors on Registry

i restart the Matter Addon and i have the same error two times distanced in the logs:

2025-08-02 19:52:26.061 (MainThread) CHIP_ERROR [chip.native.DIS] Failed to advertise records: src/inet/UDPEndPointImplSockets.cpp:421: OS Error 0x02000065: Network is unreachable

2025-08-02 19:52:34.724 (Dummy-2) CHIP_ERROR [chip.native.DIS] Failed to advertise records: src/inet/UDPEndPointImplSockets.cpp:421: OS Error 0x02000065: Network is unreachable

Getting Updated all the Components

How can i get updated all the components?:

• Silicon Lab Multiprotocol addon
• Matter Server Addon
• Open Thread Border Router Integration
• Thread Integration

i think if i update the Silicon Lab Multiprotocol addon it updates also the Open Thread Border Router Integration and Thread Integration. what do you think?

But i dont know how to update the Silicon Lab Multiprotocol addon and as well the Matter Server Addon

[giafranzoni (Gian)]

i download HA from Here:

Generic x86-64

at the official link:

i read somewhare x64 on the logs… Can you confirm to me if this image is a 64Bit or a 32Bit? in case, where should I download the 64Bit HA image?

[ShadowFist]

You are already running the 64-bit version as confirmed here.

I have a feeling that your issue is that you are trying to run Multiprotocol firmware inside HA , which is discouraged by the HA devs, but encouraged by Sonoff.

If you don’t really need Matter right now, as evidenced by your post, then hold off and don’t install it:

@giafranzoni

This is my first HA installation and i’m a newbie. i’m trying to understand the best solution to install ZigBeeToMQTT possibly with the future option to install Matter, Thread or Wifi

Flash your coordinator with Zigbee only if you need it right now. If, in the future you really need Matter, then either get a separate dongle or get a dongle with 2 radios, like the SMLight MR1/3. Maybe by the time you actually need it HA will have re-implemented stable support for Multiprotocol, and you won’t need 2 separate radios.

Essenzialmente, ti stai sparando ai piedi per niente, mi pare.

[giafranzoni (Gian)]

you are right ! it’s just that I was stubborn and I like to make things work.

i Think i keep the multipan firmware on the dongle and for now use only ZigBee… i tried… it seems that work well… Without install OTBR and Thread made and autoconfigured by SIlicon Lab Protocol.

I think I’ll do this because, correct me if I’m wrong, if I use the firmware now to run only the ZigBee network, I can’t change it to multi-pan in the future unless I redo the entire network from scratch.

How to Use MultiPAN in Home Assistant with SONOFF ZBDongle-E

Multiprotocol is Not Dead — ZBDongle-E revives Zigbee + Thread potential

I’ll let you know how the ZigBee network only goes with the multi-pan firmware and without installing OBTR and “Thread”. So far, it’s working fine…

but if you reccomand to use ember firmware, ZigBee and stop… I’ll do as you say…

Probably I bought the wrong Dongle

Thanks to all. Very interesting topic. Maybe someone will pick it up later on

[ShadowFist]

@giafranzoni

I think I’ll do this because, correct me if I’m wrong, if I use the firmware now to run only the ZigBee network, I can’t change it to multi-pan in the future unless I redo the entire network from scratch.

Well, you could always get a cheap coordinator and dedicate that to Matter only.
Either that, or get a dual radio coordinator like I mentioned and set up your separate networks now. God knows what random issues you might encounter by running multipan on a zigbee coordinator, especially when the HA devs are still discouraging it.
Do you really wanna set yourself up for a possible future failure when you just admitted you’re just starting out?

[WallyR (Wally)]

You can not commision a device directly from the Matter addon web page unless your HA server have a bluetooth adapter connected exclusively for Matter, ie. it can not be used for other stuff.

[humingchun (Michael Hu)]

Congratulations, you are ready to go. Just add Matter over Wi-Fi and Matter over Thread devices by following the instructions on the Matter Server WebUI.

When you commission Matter over Wi-Fi devices, you need to tell the device your Wi-Fi SSID and Password, right? That’s why you must specify them on the Matter Server WebUI.

The same goes to Thread dataset when you commission Matter over Thread devices. You can get the Thread dataset from Settings -> Devices & services -> Thread integration -> Configure button -> Thread network information button of Preferred network.

The rest is a standard pairing process: Input Matter Pairing Code, etc.

[humingchun (Michael Hu)]

@WallyR

You can, but you need to get the credentials on the phone.
If HA can see the network, then the companion app can copy them in.
If HA can not see them, then you need to find another way to get them in.

Have you really tried that? I did, many times, it didn’t work.

Goto Settings -> Companion app -> Troubleshooting on your Home Assistant Companion App, and click Sync Thread credentials, you can sync the Thread credentials. You can also click SEND CREDENTIALS TO HOME ASSISTANT button on Settings -> Devices & services -> Thread integration -> Configure button page.

But as I mentioned before, Home Assistant Companion App will use Google’s Thread network on Android phone, and use Apple’s Thread network on iPhone, not the Thread network provided by Multiprotocol add-on.

[giafranzoni (Gian)]

@ShadowFist

God knows what random issues you might encounter by running multipan on a zigbee coordinator, especially when the HA devs are still discouraging it.
Do you really wanna set yourself up for a possible future failure when you just admitted you’re just starting out?

The installation process is on the official page of SonOff:

How to Use MultiPAN in Home Assistant with SONOFF ZBDongle-E

Just a last question very important:

can i update the SIlicon Lab Multiprotocol addon?