vlans have their own broadcast domains, so mdns which is used many times to find devices does not traverse vlans by design. its not a wrong vlan design. btw to overcome this with remote locations, i am configuring mikrotik eoip tunnel , so streched vlan over internet (azure to onprem), not easy btw.
an then thread, maybe its the rumoured homey bridge update ‘zoney’, with thread who knows…..
and if you are in a hurry, buy a homey-mini (it has thread) and link it with shs using homeylink.
or use a ha with thread radio dongle and link that to shs using ha app. (i am looking to that route)
No, but people often set up VLAN’s and have no idea what they’re doing. Then come asking here why Homey can’t find their devices, often leaving out that their devices live in a VLAN, and community members spend a lot of time on trying to fix the issue only to find out after days of going back and forth that OP is using a VLAN
Totally agree with @robertklep. I come from a 2019 Homey Pro and migrated to Homey SHS in the past weeks. The docker setup on Synology was easy, just like the manual that Athom provides. But after that first setup, it’s my responsibility if something using my own hardware isn’t working.
So I have a lot of issues adding Matter over thread devices, using my Google Nest Hub as TBR. At first I was frustrated, because during the setup process Homey SHS seemed to be the culprit. Once you dig into it further, you quickly discover that your own systems are actually the source of the problem. Matter is using my hardware and my network, not the Homey Bridge’s.
But figuring out how to get it working is exactly the challenge that makes me enjoy self-hosting these kinds of setups. It helps me better understand my own systems and how to use them to their full potential. But you should be willing to invest the time and effort.
For what I know now, thread is being blocked by my Docker setup. My Docker setup, so it’s my responsibility. Challenge accepted.
Getting my Google Nest Hub (2nd generation) to talk to Homey for commissioning devices was a giant PITA. Multiple evenings of tweaking network, Docker, and DSM settings still weren’t enough to get it working.
Eventually, I bought a Sonoff Dongle Max and installed OpenThread Border Router as a Docker container. The Sonoff Dongle Max is connected via TCP using a USB bridge and is running in Thread RCP mode.
To allow OTBR to join the Nest Hub’s Thread network, I installed Home Assistant solely to export the Thread credentials. Using these credentials, I let OTBR join the Google Thread network. Now, when I commission a new Matter-over-Thread device using the Google Home app, I can share this commissioned device (multi-admin) with Homey.
I can confirm that Matter does indeed work but initially it was a bit counterintuitive (to me at least) to get devices added. I suppose that it does now make sense, there were hints along the way as to what to do, but sometimes understanding comes slowly at an advanced age
Nothing worked until I decided to add my Samsung A56 as a Matter device to SHS. Prior, any attempt using the Android app to add a Matter device would result in Connecting to …. followed by Can’t Find errors. Once my phone was in SHS as a Matter device, pairing worked fine.
I come from a prior abandoned HA setup (fed up with tinkering), and most of my devices run Tasmota. Attempts to add them to SHS as Tasmota devices failed, the Tasmota app kept crashing, likely because of too many devices ((adding 2 worked, adding more at one time failed).
Moving to Matter, I flashed an ESP32 S2 with Tasmota 15 and added it to SHS using the phone app. Then added older non-Matter Tasmotas to the ESP32 and magically they show up in SHS.
Once Ikea releases their new Matter-Thread devices in Canada, then I will try out Thread. I have 5 Echo Dot 4th Gen so Thread is present in the house already.
Then I will pay for a lifetime license, in the meantime it will be monthly after the trial period.
I’m trying to use my existing Homey Pro as a border router and I still run into problems. I was able to share a Wifi based Matter device from the Homey Pro to SHS without much of a problem. But when I try Thread it always fails with this in the logs.
Homey [log][ManagerMatterLocal] [Pairing:0xfcc08407] Starting pairing with payload
Homey [log][ManagerMatterLocal] [Pairing:0xfcc08407] Pairing to device...
Homey [log][ManagerApiLocal] IO homey:manager:drivers:emitPairingHeartbeat
Homey [log][ManagerApiLocal] IO homey:manager:drivers:emitPairingHeartbeat → Success 204
[...]
Homey [err][ManagerMatterLocal] [Pairing:0xfcc08407] Finished with error: Could not pair node (Matter code: TIMEOUT (0x0032))
Homey [err][ManagerMatterLocal] [Pairing:0xfcc08407] Failed: Could not pair node (Matter code: TIMEOUT (0x0032)) (at stage: unknown)
But I was able to share the same matter device from my Homey Pro to Home Assistant running on the same machine as SHS without a problem. But HA doesn’t use the iOS system dialog to add the matter device. Why does Homey need to go through the system pairing for devices already connected to a controller?
Either way I’m also getting the error many people have complained about on the Thread settings screen. I’m really at my wits end with this, I’m able to ping my Thread devices from the SHS docker container so I’m certain the network connection is working.
EDIT: I was able to add the Homey Pro as the preferred Thread network to Home Assistant after a bit of troubleshooting, but SHS still gives me an error on the settings and is not able to add devices.
No. Support told me to check I had an active thread network and to add my preferred thread network.
Thats as far as they got so far and its been a month! I hope this is sorted soon.
Has anyone figured out the perfect way to get a Thread Border Router working with Homey (Apple excluded)?
From what I’ve learned so far, it seems the solution is to get a Google Nest Hub, add the devices to that, and then connect the Nest Hub to Homey (Matter over Wi‑Fi?).
But are there any other options? For example, what about the Aqara M100 hub?
My goal is to be able to add devices that rely solely on Matter over Thread to my Homey SHS.
Honestly, I’m still a bit confused about what’s possible, and how well everything works when another hub handles commissioning.
Thanks to anyone who wants to share their knowledge
