My first matter devices - do I really need all this software?

Configuration Matter/Thread
1

I have an SLZB-MR1 which I want to use, to connect a couple of MYGGBETT to Home Assistant Core, using Matter over Thread. ← Reading this makes me feel we’re over-complicating things.

This is my first attempt to use Matter, all my current IoT devices use Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and IR. ← The classic, old school, solid protocols.

So after some in-depth :rofl: investigation (ChatGPT) I found out that I need:

  • a matter server
  • open thread boarder router integration
  • matter integration
  • SMLIGHT SLZB integration

The SLZB-MR1 antennas have already been configured to use matter over thread and I’ve installed the Open Home Foundation Matter Server as a docker container. I’m having trouble adding it to Home Assistant, but I’ll figure it out.

I just wanted someone with more expericen than me, to confirm that this is really the path to go, and that I really need all this software / configuration to use Matter.

It feels like Matter complicates things instead of making them more straight forward. I know I can use an Apple TV, or a Homepod, but I already have the SLZB-MR1 so I might as well use it, right?

Thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge.

2

You don’t need this.

definitely.

3

Plug-n-pray?
I’m sad you’ve been bitten too many times to just try it and see.

4

So why Matter? In my IT days, I always found it was helpful to define the problem, before getting too deep into building possible solutions.

If it’s just to play with it and learn a bit, go for it! I’ll never tell anyone not to tinker. But I share your observation that it seems a pretty tall stack just to gain functionality we already have. And then there are the privacy concerns which have been raised (but admittedly, not 100% confirmed in the wild.)

5

Even though I’m not impressed by Mater (so far), I can’t ignore it. Too many big companies endorsed it, so I need the basic knowledge to at least set it up with a few IoT devices.

This way I’ll be able to compare it with the existing technologies and decide if I want to recommend it or not.

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6

Matter is modular built, so you have the Matter server that handles the Matter fabric, but Matter can use WiFi, Thread and Bluetooth as transport medium, so if you want to use Thread, then you need a Thread Border Router (TBR).
If you want to use WiFi, then you probably already have an access point, which is what a TBR is equivalent to in a Thread network.

The Matter server is a standalone software and can run without HA and you can use other Matter servers, like the ones built into Google, Amazon and Apple products instead.

HA need to install the Matter integration to communicate with the Matter server and also the Thread integration to communicate with a Thread network.
These two integrations make it possible for HA to present a polished UI to handle Matter and Thread devices, but it could probably also be done directly in the Matter server and the Thread Border Router.

Thread is, like Zigbee and Z-wave, a mesh network that are made up of devices with a somewhat weak radio, so the network range is expanded by adding router devices and the more you add the more resilient the network becomes.
Router devices are most of the mains power devices, but the MYGGBETT sensors are not mains powered and therefore end devices, which means you might need your Thread antenna pretty close to the sensors for it to work or you need to add router devices, like Thread plugs or Thread light bulbs.

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