How to get started?

Homey Self-Hosted Server
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1

I’m a mostly Apple household but I also run Proxmox for my servers. So far my smart home foray has been Hue and a bunch of lights, and an Aqara camera.

I’m interested in getting more thread devices in the rest of the house but don’t know where to start.

Obviously SHS is attractive but I’d also need a thread gateway/border router. Does it make sense to get something like an Apple TV 4K (the thread version)? Will SHS manage/talk to thread devices connected to the Apple TV? Or does SHS only work with the Homey Bridge? Or should I just go for a Pro 2026 box?

2

Homey Bridge does not support Thread.

You might be able to integrate the Apple TV with Homey via HomeKit, but I have no experience with Apple devices.

You can also use the Tuya Matter/Thread hub, that should also be supported in Homey via the “Unknown device” in the Tuya Homey app, though I don’t have experience with Matter/Thread.

3

Here’s a howto and mention of popular Tread Border Routers:
https://support.homey.app/hc/en-us/articles/24629602740892-Using-Matter-over-Thread-with-Homey-Self-Hosted-Server

4

Yes it does work with thread enabled apple Tv’s or HomePod minis. That is what I use.

1 Like
5

That’s super useful, thanks!

So I think getting an Apple TV for the thread border router is a good step for us.

6

Oh, you’re right! That’s odd, but it does simplify my options.

7

It was released before any Homey had onboard Thread support.
It would be cool if an upgraded Bridge gets published one day, with both Thread and ethernet as additional features.
Ánd it should be a 100% local device: not needing to contact the Athom cloud when powering up, as it currently does

8

A newer Bridge really ought to support Ethernet OOTB like the Pro Mini.

9

But that would mean it gets more expensive, and AFAIK the Bridge is meant as a cheap antenna for Homey Cloud and with Matter/Thread, it would need a full Linux system with lots of RAM since that’s required to connect to Matter devices. At that point, it basically becomes a Homey Pro so there’s no point in upgrading the Homey Bridge.

I don’t understand what you mean. Obviously the Bridge needs to connect to Homey Cloud instances (that’s what it was originally designed for anyways), so I get that it requires the cloud (even on SHS, since the cloud dependency is likely based on internal decisions Athom made while developing the Bridge’s original firmware, since it was only meant for Homey Cloud back then)