Hello,
I’m also considering using the Dongle Max.
With two antennas (Zigbee/TBR).
I have two questions:
TBR: How can I integrate the Thread Border Router into SHS?
MQTT: In the Dongle Max management dashboard, there’s an option to configure a direct connection between the dongle and the MQTT server on the SHS. Is Zigbee2MQTT also required?
Which “the” Thread Border Router do you mean? The Dongle Max doesn’t run an TBR, does it?
Yes.
homey needs to know which thread network should be integrated, for example when I learn new matter over thread devices. how do I do that?
I would like to use the dongle max as a multipan (zigbee & thread) and assign the Homey to the thread network of the dongle.
You need to be running a Thread border router (like OTBR), the dongle just provides a Thread radio.
I’m also interested to make a thread border router with the Sonoff Dongle Max, but I did not succeed to make it work. It times out everytime I start it. But I cannot find what I do wrong.
I want to buy the Homey bridge and also use the Sonoff dongle with it to support Thread and other protocols.
Thinking about this some more, I don’t think this is going to be possible, at least not at the moment.
Homey doesn’t have support for external border routers at all. It only supports pairing with Matter-over-Thread devices through its own border router, or Matter-over-WiFi devices, or devices that have already been commissioned through an external Matter controller.
Which means that not only do you need to be running your own border router, you will also need to be running your own Matter controller. And you will need to find a way to be able to commission devices with that controller, which Homey doesn’t provide any support for. So you will either need to find some sort of app that handles the particular Matter controller that you’re running, or you have to do the commissioning (“pairing a device”) manually.
Even with Home Assistant, which does support external border routers and Matter servers, setup isn’t exactly trivial. That’s why officially, it only supports the OTBR and Matter addons that come with HAOS, because those are fully under control of HA. External setups will work, but are unsupported, and a PITA to set up.
I think it might be possible, because someone from Homey already does that. That’s why I bought it.
Here is the comment: 🤓 What's up, Nerds? — Introducing Homey Self-Hosted Server - #96 by Doekse
If there’s no technical solution for integrating the future technology “Matter over Thread” into SHS, then the software solution offers absolutely no added value.
At least HA offers the OTBR add-on, which I can install natively and assign to newly added devices using the border router (dongle).
The official SHS press releases stated that it is indeed possible to integrate external TBRs via the settings.
If I’m mistaken, I would appreciate a brief guide on how to use my external TBR with SHS.
Yeah @Doekse posted he was using one within his setup. I bought one but not tried it out as of yet.
A guide would be appreciated.
I have a Dongle Max running Zigbee-only firmware as a Zigbee coordinator in Zigbee2MQTT, I don’t use it as a Thread Border Router at the same time
But you were running OTBR with it? And that worked with Homey?
I did indeed also try it with the OpenThread Border Router firmware which also worked great.
I haven’t tried the multiprotocol firmware yet
Really interesting.
I configure the RCP mode (Thread) via the Dongle Max firmware and integrate the dongle into my network. But how do I now connect the dongle to Homey so that Homey knows which Thread network the devices are using?
Homey will choose the preferred Thread network based on your phones preference. So you’ll need to make sure it’s the preferred network there.
Did you use the default Sonoff Dongle Max firmware for Thread or you flashed other firmware?
There’s specific firmware available from Sonoff to use it as an antenna for OpenThread Border Router
For my Dongle-M I have only one type of firmware available. Could you please tell where did you get that firmware and what guide did you use?
So I found out that I needed to use a baud rate of 115200
Is there a guide on how to install OTBR on a Proxmox VM? Unfortunately, I can’t find the corresponding image.
I think the SHS solution currently doesn’t deliver the full benefits of a lifetime license. Its current advantages are the good app and user-friendliness. However, compared to Home Assistant (HA), there are technical limitations, such as the inability to directly connect external Matter/Thread devices to SHS. Many users would benefit if, similar to Home Assistant, Google’s free, open-source solution “Open Thread Border Router” and the “Thread” add-on integration for selecting the primary network were added to the App Store.
Zigbee is similar: the MQTT broker and the Z2MQTT add-on are available in the store, but the Z2MQTT server still needs to be run manually with a dongle (unless you forgo the Homey’s built-in bridge).
I’m really curious to see if Homey will improve on these points in the future.
