With my Zigbee network, if I need to extend the mesh to reach some distant battery-powered device, I just buy one or two zigbee smart plugs to act as repeaters. What do I do in a Thread network?
Smart plugs that support Matter are all (?) wifi devices.
I can’t see Thread replacing Zigbee until cheap Thread mesh extenders become widely available. Meanwhile companies like Ikea are replacing their Zigbee devices with cheap Thread devices - but their smart sockets are wifi.
They have announced the GRILLPLATS which is a socket. Their other smart sockets are Zigbee, not wifi.
I see no evidence that these are Thread devices. I assume that they are Matter over Wifi and therefore will not act as Thread mesh extenders.
I bought 7 new IKEA Matter devices, only the Alpstuga shows up as routing end device.
The new bulbs named Kajplats show up as end device:
Everything I can find online points to the GRILLPLATS being thread.
Very strange, looks like it is exactly the same bulb … the big one …
Correct, it’s the big one.
What you do is forget every hack and limitation of Zigbee and Z-Wave when deploying Thread! It was built from the ground up to support multiple Thread border routers, and more consumer wifi devices are being released daily with built-in Thread border routers that can be clustered in HA for redundancy and to increase Thread coverage. I have two Apple HomePod mini’s in a Thread cluster, and they have worked fine without a single hiccup for months now…
This sounds good !
In the case of Zigbee I can buy a mesh extender in the form of a Nous smart socket/adapter for about 14 euros. Please help me by giving an example of a Thread mesh extender (router?) that I can buy.
I generally do not recommend adding border routers to extend your mesh; it adds sufficient complexity that some people report even more problems.
You’re on the right path looking for routing end devices, i.e. mains-powered Thread devices. I usually refer to this page which has a listing of certified and announced Matter products. There you’ll see at least two current (Eve and Onvis), and a few upcoming (Aqara and LG), Thread smart plugs (at least for the US, but I don’t know where you are located).
I’m not sure if I would even worry about this for now. Thread feels like infant stage right now compared to zigbee for affordable devices. If you want a smart home that doesn’t cost a fortune right now you’re going to deal with zigbee most likely.
I’m using Eve Energy plugs as thread routers, haven’t had any issues.
Eve Energy cost 40 euros which is more than twice what a Zigbee equivalent costs.
It seems clear that most manufacturers of smart plugs will use Matter over Wifi, keeping prices low for these, and the smaller market for Matter over Thread could keep prices high for these.
I have just ordered a couple of Onvis Matter Connected Plugs (at 20 euros each - a price which somewhat undermines my simple market analysis above).
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All new Ikea devices are Thread devices - Grillplats too.
You could also use Eve Energy plugs. They are Thread based, well maintained and robust. You can find them used for € 20 on second hand platforms.
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I forgot to mention earlier there are more affordable options for Thread range extension — a esp32-h2 or esp32-c6 devboard flashed with a basic esphome image can serve as a thread repeater node for as little as $5-10.
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This is strange! Exact same bulb, I have to of them and both are listed as end device. I also have a 470lm version and that one is Routing end device, that one was added first.
From my understanding, in Thread there is a device type called “FTD (Full Thread Device)” and although a FTD can be a router, it may start out as an End device and it will be up to another Thread node called the Thread “Leader” that will decide whether the FTD gets promoted to be a Router. So it is probably the case that the Leader promoted one bulb to be a Router, but not the other one.
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This is my understanding too. From https://www.smarthomeperfected.com/thread/
Router-eligible End Devices (REEDs)
REEDs can serve as both end devices and routers, depending on the network’s needs.
When the network requires additional routers to improve connectivity or provide redundancy, a REED can upgrade itself to a full router role.
When functioning as an end device, a REED can communicate with other devices within the network and also route data if necessary. Examples of REEDs include smart light bulbs and smart plugs.