Ladies and Gentlemen:
The SituationI am quite new to HA, so please bear with me. I’ve ordered a HA Green to replace one I gave away, along with a ZBT-1. As Nabu Kasa is not directly answering my question as to when the ZBT-1 will actually work as a Thread dongle, I thought of an idea and want to know if any of you have done this, or if it is possible.
The Question: If I have a Thread border router (in this case an Echo Dot) on the same network as my HA, will the HA let me use that border router functionality, or am I stuck with using a physical dongle?
Thanks in advance for any help or advice you provide.
You don’t need to build your own Thread Border Router if you already have one. The Echo** should work, with the only caveat that it may require you to use the Alexa app to add new devices to your Thread network. But the idea is that once a device is on your Thread network it’s like being on your WiFi network — it can communicate with anything with an IP address.
** UPDATE: as noted below Echo Dot is not a thread border router, only Echo 4th gen, Echo Plus 2nd gen, Echo Show 8 and 10, and Echo Studio
So, once set up in the Dot, HA will “see” it and be able to control it? As I said, I am the newbie’s newbie at HA,
HA will see it, and can send/receive IP packets from it, but HA will not be able to “control” it the same way HA cannot control your WiFI router.
What exactly are you trying to control?
Thread Matter smart plugs.
HA can control your smart plugs by sending Matter commands over the TCP/IP network. The Thread Border Router doesn’t participate in the control of devices, just their connectivity by routing packets based on their IP address.
Perhaps because the answer to that is right on the product page.
The Echo Dot is not a Thread border router.
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