# SHS and 3rd Party Thread Boarder Router (like Open TBR) **URL:** \ **Category:** Homey Self-Hosted Server\ **Tags:** thread, homey-shs\ **Created:** [December 25, 2025, 10:26am UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/shs-and-3rd-party-thread-boarder-router-like-open-tbr/148043 "2025-12-25T10:26:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Patrick0](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/patrick0/32/125500_2.png) [@Patrick0](https://community.homey.app/u/Patrick0)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2026, 6:18am UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/shs-and-3rd-party-thread-boarder-router-like-open-tbr/148043/63 "2026-04-01T06:18:08Z")
Thanks for the link. I read it before but it was beneficial to read it again 👍 Still curious what others have worked out as a solution, because I don’t really need another Google display in my home 😅 ---
**Author:** ![EdP](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/edp/32/42069_2.png) [@EdP](https://community.homey.app/u/EdP)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2026, 7:51am UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/shs-and-3rd-party-thread-boarder-router-like-open-tbr/148043/64 "2026-04-01T07:51:02Z")
I’m running SHS on a Synology NAS. Tried to setup thread using my Google Nest Hub, but I couldn’t make it stable enough. Besides, I don’t want Google tech in the mix. I ended up creating my own border router using OTBR on the same Synology, in combination with a Sonoff Dongle Max in RCP mode. In OTBR I created my own thread network. When trying to commission IKEA and Aqara devices using Homey SHS nothing worked. Error: no border router found. I ended up using Home Assistant only for adding devices to my thread network. Then sharing them with Homey, using multi-admin. Homey then adds them to the Homey Fabric. After that I can shut down home assistant again. Not ideal, but it’s working. It’s stable for two weeks now. ---
**Author:** ![deejayreissue](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/deejayreissue/32/81912_2.png) [@deejayreissue](https://community.homey.app/u/deejayreissue)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2026, 7:28pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/shs-and-3rd-party-thread-boarder-router-like-open-tbr/148043/65 "2026-04-01T19:28:25Z")
Interesting. I tried setting it up on my dad’s Synology over Christmas but had no luck. I’d love to see a step by step guide if you ever have time. No rush! I plan on giving it go using Docker over the next few weeks as I now have SHS running on an Asus NUC ---
**Author:** ![Welshsmarthome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@Welshsmarthome](https://community.homey.app/u/Welshsmarthome)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 3:00pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/shs-and-3rd-party-thread-boarder-router-like-open-tbr/148043/66 "2026-04-02T15:00:58Z")
Thread has been terrible on the SHS. Ive tried a few TBR now. Proved they all work well but I either cant get Thread Matter devices into Homey, or when i do they drop off a day or so later and are impossible to repair. I too have had to bridge them using Home Assistant. Not ideal but works I had a ticket open with Homey about the issue ans also the issue surrounding the red warning banner that id seen when you try to select thread in the menu with SHS. The ticket went un-answered and closed. I chased up a reply in another open ticket They have told me the warning is erroneous and will be removed in time. Today they replied to say that they cant help me more with Thread and to ask the community. I have replied to say that some on the community are facing similar issues and that Thread / matter really isnt working as it should. Bottom line, thread and matter just are not ready and it needs work. Id have more respect for them if they just said “ye your right, we will aim to fix it” The irony is, many are having to use or have started using home assistant more. SHS could lead to a situation for Homey where many eventually jump ship and that the inception of SHS opens the door to HA for more people and less people will buy a lifetime license. Especially now HA has better dashboards and is getting easier. Dont get me wrong. I really love homey, its flows, apps the community the whole lot. Id just rather they admitted its not quite right with thread now but it will be, washing their hands of it is not really acceptable but maybe im wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Jason\_Edwards](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/jason_edwards/32/80450_2.png) [@Jason\_Edwards](https://community.homey.app/u/Jason_Edwards)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 7:19pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/shs-and-3rd-party-thread-boarder-router-like-open-tbr/148043/67 "2026-04-02T19:19:35Z")
I recently had 2 Thread devices become unavailable overnight in Home Assistant after months of working fine so Homey is not alone when it comes to issues with Thread devices. ---
**Author:** ![Welshsmarthome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@Welshsmarthome](https://community.homey.app/u/Welshsmarthome)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2026, 8:00am UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/shs-and-3rd-party-thread-boarder-router-like-open-tbr/148043/68 "2026-04-03T08:00:43Z")
No I agree but I bet you could add them back quickly - pairing is near instant and you can actually see the thread network HA is using. A feature thats missing on the SHS and apparently wont be fixed! Ive tried Apple (most success) Aqara, Ikea and smartthings as my TBR. All work exceptionally in their own environment and for sharing to other services except homey. Homey just wont pair to thread/matter devices for hours, days sometimes and then suddenly it does work without any change or reason. Its so frustrating. But within a day or so, they are offline in homey but still working in HA or by their native controller. Either way Ive given up and after the reply from support saying they cant help me with Thread any more, i kind of feel like they just not interested in improving it ---
**Author:** ![Jason\_Edwards](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/jason_edwards/32/80450_2.png) [@Jason\_Edwards](https://community.homey.app/u/Jason_Edwards)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2026, 1:00pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/shs-and-3rd-party-thread-boarder-router-like-open-tbr/148043/69 "2026-04-03T13:00:21Z")
Actually I can’t get them to pair again with HA. I even tried adding them to my AppleTV (which went fine) and then sharing to HA and nothing. I am using a ZBT-1 as my Thread antenna in HA so maybe I will delete it and start over since I only have 2 devices. I am also thinking of switching the ZBT-1 back to Zigbee and installing the Z2M and Homey SHS addons to play around with. ---
**Author:** ![robertklep](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/robertklep/32/160628_2.png) [@robertklep](https://community.homey.app/u/robertklep)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2026, 1:16pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/shs-and-3rd-party-thread-boarder-router-like-open-tbr/148043/70 "2026-04-03T13:16:53Z")
Multi-admin is done over Matter, not over Thread, so if you can pair a Thread device with your ATV and then share it with HA, the ZBT-1 isn’t getting involved in any way. The Thread radio in the ATV handles the Thread part, and the sharing is done over the network using Matter. Which would suggest a Matter issue between the ATV and HA. You could try rebooting the ATV and try sharing the device with HA again. ---
**Author:** ![Jason\_Edwards](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/jason_edwards/32/80450_2.png) [@Jason\_Edwards](https://community.homey.app/u/Jason_Edwards)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2026, 2:36pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/shs-and-3rd-party-thread-boarder-router-like-open-tbr/148043/71 "2026-04-03T14:36:40Z")
I understand all that. I did a bad job of explaining. The reason I thought it was a Thread issue with HA is because my WiFi Matter devices are working just fine in HA. I don’t normally use the ATV for anything related to Matter or Thread. I thought I would give the ATV a try to see if I could get the devices working again in HA. The fact that they will not pair directly with HA or from the ATV is confusing to me. ---
**Author:** ![Marius\_Stoian](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/marius_stoian/32/99069_2.png) [@Marius\_Stoian](https://community.homey.app/u/Marius_Stoian)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2026, 2:58pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/shs-and-3rd-party-thread-boarder-router-like-open-tbr/148043/72 "2026-05-01T14:58:35Z")
Hi, I tried to use Sonoff Dongle-M ( Max) in Multi-Pan with Homey SHS. This is how far I went and where I got stuck: 1. **Physical/Network Layer (Wireless/LAN):** 2. **Transport Layer (Socat):** 3. **Multiprotocol Layer (CPCD):** 4. **Zigbee Protocol Layer (Zigbeed):** 5. **Application Layer (Zigbee2MQTT):** ### Where the chain breaks: The connection currently fails at **Step 4**. Although the `zigbeed` process starts and “sees” CPCD, it fails to finalize the handshake with the Dongle due to network latency (the `Wait for response timeout` errors). Because of this, it never successfully opens port **9999** , causing Zigbee2MQTT (Step 5) to crash because it cannot find an active adapter. Any ideas? THX ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Kawa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/peter_kawa/32/173848_2.png) [@Peter\_Kawa](https://community.homey.app/u/Peter_Kawa)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2026, 6:38pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/shs-and-3rd-party-thread-boarder-router-like-open-tbr/148043/73 "2026-05-01T18:38:42Z")
FWIW: Utilising Multi-PAN is not recommended for a few years already.. How about configure it as zigbee first? I’d say start simple, expand later on (with a separate Thread dongle). ---
**Author:** ![deejayreissue](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/deejayreissue/32/81912_2.png) [@deejayreissue](https://community.homey.app/u/deejayreissue)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 6:53pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/shs-and-3rd-party-thread-boarder-router-like-open-tbr/148043/74 "2026-05-03T18:53:32Z")
Which hardware and OS do you use for Homey SHS to get the Dongle M working with Thread? ---
**Author:** ![Gerritv](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/gerritv/32/121892_2.png) [@Gerritv](https://community.homey.app/u/Gerritv)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 3:18pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/shs-and-3rd-party-thread-boarder-router-like-open-tbr/148043/75 "2026-05-04T15:18:52Z")
If you want Thread to work with SHS then you need to buy the Homey Bridge, it has the Thread radio. And works with the built-in border router. Otherwise you have an external border router and it is perfectly fair for Homey to say they can’t help you since there are a bunch of commercial and also hobby ones based on OpenThread BR. When you say you have tried Apple, Aqara, Ikea and Smarthings, are those physical TBR’s with actual radios or just commissioning apps that use BLE? My experience so far (I don’t have any commercial Thread/Matter devcies yet) using esp32H2’s built as FTD or MTD lights and light switches is that Matter Commissioning is very finicky regardless of the commissioning app used, as well as Homey SHS and HA as end goals. I can’t even get those paired to HA’s OTBR thread network, let alone Matter fabric. As well if there is anything wrong with your IPV6 setup in your network, there will be issues. ---
**Author:** ![robertklep](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/robertklep/32/160628_2.png) [@robertklep](https://community.homey.app/u/robertklep)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 3:20pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/shs-and-3rd-party-thread-boarder-router-like-open-tbr/148043/76 "2026-05-04T15:20:25Z")
> [@Gerritv](#): > > If you want Thread to work with SHS then you need to buy the Homey Bridge, it has the Thread radio The Bridge has no Thread hardware. ---
**Author:** ![Gerritv](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/gerritv/32/121892_2.png) [@Gerritv](https://community.homey.app/u/Gerritv)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 3:43pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/shs-and-3rd-party-thread-boarder-router-like-open-tbr/148043/77 "2026-05-04T15:43:59Z")
my bad, still learning. Even more reason why Homey can’t help with Thread issues on SHS. I’m building my own Thread tools to help me sort things out. Not ready for prime time yey but here is the teaser link: [GitHub - gerritv/MeshBench: An oscilloscope for your Matter + Thread network. · GitHub](https://github.com/gerritv/MeshBench) Still needs some more work on the Thread portion (getting IP{ addresses, TLV etc), then adding Matter stuff. It assumes that you have access to the OTBR with ot-ctl. It already shows fun details like Child timer running out, and then rejoining. (ESP32H2 Light example from esp-matter) ---
**Author:** ![Marius\_Stoian](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/marius_stoian/32/99069_2.png) [@Marius\_Stoian](https://community.homey.app/u/Marius_Stoian)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 10:15pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/shs-and-3rd-party-thread-boarder-router-like-open-tbr/148043/80 "2026-05-05T22:15:50Z")
I tried because on Sonoff’s website it says that the Multi-Pan works. As a Zigbee Coordinator is working great with Z2MQTT. I wanted to replace my Google Nest Hub as a Thread Coordinator because it’s not that great. ---
**Author:** ![Marius\_Stoian](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/marius_stoian/32/99069_2.png) [@Marius\_Stoian](https://community.homey.app/u/Marius_Stoian)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 10:17pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/shs-and-3rd-party-thread-boarder-router-like-open-tbr/148043/81 "2026-05-05T22:17:48Z")
I am using the Dongke M as a Zigbee Coordinator, tried Multi-Pan, didn’t work. Haven’t tried Thread only. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Kawa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/peter_kawa/32/173848_2.png) [@Peter\_Kawa](https://community.homey.app/u/Peter_Kawa)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 11:24pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/shs-and-3rd-party-thread-boarder-router-like-open-tbr/148043/82 "2026-05-05T23:24:28Z")
> [@Marius\_Stoian](#): > > Sonoff’s website it says that the Multi-Pan works Yeah, but, as they build/sell devices using this technology, they should state it works to sell any of it. “it works” is of course not a lie, but the chance of getting it to work without all kinds of issues is much lower than using separate devices for both Thread and zigbee. ---
**Author:** ![JMDPC](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/jmdpc/32/121098_2.png) [@JMDPC](https://community.homey.app/u/JMDPC)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 11:31pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/shs-and-3rd-party-thread-boarder-router-like-open-tbr/148043/83 "2026-05-05T23:31:41Z")
Use apple and stick to it for thread once you have enough devices it will work with SHS, but it takes many more repeaters than you think. I always pair with Apple Home 1st then with Homey. Since I started doing that I used 5 on vise thread plugs to strengthen my thread network my issues have cleared up. ---
**Author:** ![deejayreissue](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/deejayreissue/32/81912_2.png) [@deejayreissue](https://community.homey.app/u/deejayreissue)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 6:32pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/shs-and-3rd-party-thread-boarder-router-like-open-tbr/148043/84 "2026-05-06T18:32:48Z")
What about trying a second Dongle M for Thread? [Previous page](https://community.homey.app/t/shs-and-3rd-party-thread-boarder-router-like-open-tbr/148043.md?page=3) [Next page](https://community.homey.app/t/shs-and-3rd-party-thread-boarder-router-like-open-tbr/148043.md?page=5)