So I've been running Home Assistant as a Docker container on a home server for a while now and its been fine for basic stuff. Recently picked up some IKEA Matter-over-Thread devices (Grillplats plugs, Bilresa switches, Timmerflotte temp/humidity sensor from thier new range) and started going down the rabbit hole of getting Thread working.
Long story short, after a lot of reading I realised the complexity of adding OpenThread Border Router and python-matter-server to a Docker setup is alot more involved than I expected. My server has a direct WAN IP, a macvlan-based IoT VLAN setup for HA, and existing firewall rules that I care about. Things like no onboard bluetooth for commissioning, IPv6 footprint across my VLANs, and the fact that basically all the reference material online assumes your running HAOS rather than HA Container. After going through it all I'm probably returning the IKEA kit but it got me thinking about how to approach this properly.
Three options I'm considering:
1. Return everything and stick to Zigbee
I've already got a SONOFF ZBDongle-E running Zigbee2MQTT. The IKEA devices apparently have a Zigbee mode but my experience of toggling it was pretty poor... they're clearly designed for Matter. Would probably just look at dedicated Zigbee alternatives (Aqara, older IKEA Tradfri stuff, etc). Boring but might be the right call.
2. A bridge device
Would something like the IKEA Dirigera, or an Apple HomePod mini (which has a Thread border router built in) let me offload the Thread side to a hub and just have HA talk to that? Or does HA still need python-matter-server somewhere regardless? Not totally clear to me how this works if your delegating the Thread stuff to a separate device.
3. Move HA to dedicated hardware
Get a Pi 5 or HA Green running proper HAOS, migrate off the Docker server, plug the dongles in, and let the add-ons handle everything. The Pi 5 appeals because it has onboard Bluetooth which would solve the commissioning problem. From what I can see the OTBR and Matter Server add-ons are properly supported on HAOS in a way they just arent on HA Container.
The migration would take some work (reasonably configured HA install with a few custom integrations, HACS, some automations) but I'd probably end up with a cleaner setup overall.
Has anyone gone through a similar decision? Wondering if the dedicated hardware route is genuinely the path of least resistence or whether I'm overcomplicating it. Also curious whether the bridge approach actually works cleanly with HA or whether it still requires running matter-server locally.