Matter’s main issue right now is why thread

How to Set up a Thread-Powered Smart Plug or Smart Light Bulb? A Case Study with the Thread Group and the CSA at the 2022 Launch Event

You may have heard about the new smart home standard, Matter, which will make it easier to set up connected gadgets. Not only that, but those gadgets should now work with any phone, voice assistant, or smart speaker, using any smart home platform — Apple Home, Google Home, Amazon Alexa, Samsung SmartThings, or any other Matter-compatible option. If you got excited and went out and bought a new smart plug or smart light bulb to give this a whirl, you may have picked up one that uses Thread, one of the two wireless protocols Matter uses (the other is Wi-Fi). So, now what?

Everyone is working on this, according to my interviews for the article. But that’s also what most of them told me back in 2022 at the Matter launch event. This problem is still here and is about to get bigger as more Thread devices launch and people invest in border routers to set up these devices.

The Thread infrastructure is currently not in a good state, as Thread devices need to connect to the internet and other networks. Buying Thread- powered gadgets is complicated because there are only relatively few available and some platforms only halfheartedly support the protocol.

This failure isn’t just technical, it’s political. The CSA and Thread Group, the protocol’s governing body, have left it up to the platforms and device manufacturers to figure out how to share this powerful new network in your home.

This is turning what should be an open network for IoT into yet another opportunity for walled gardens and special partnerships — exactly the situations Matter was advertised to prevent.

He does point out that “for most users, this may never be an issue given Thread’s inherent range and responsiveness.” The ideal state is one mesh love-in where all your border routers are supported by each other. If someone unplugged your border router, it would fail like the Zigbee and Z-Wave meshes do.

Next, the border routers have to share credentials like using a password to join a wireless network. The Thread Group decided to make their network self-configurable to keep password sharing out of the hands of users.

If one border routers fails, another can pick up the slack and keep your network running. Also, more border routers mean a broader reach for your network and less latency because devices have shorter pathways, Thread Group’s Hui tells me.

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(Amazon’s lone Alexa border router — the Echo fourth-gen smart speaker — is still on 1.1. The speaker supports all Thread features, but it isn’t a Matter device and doesn’t require Thread certification for controllers.

When a new Thread device shows up in your house, it needs to give you credentials to connect to the network. Thread gadgets can be plucked from a phone you have set them up with. To do this, Apple and Google created keychain APIs for their phone OS, through iOS for an iPhone or Google Play services for Android.

Apple has to work with several companies; Amazon has to work with several companies, and so on. While this is happening, it’s been very slow. The manufacturer can either choose to join the Thread network created by its competitor or start its own network in your home.

Rice says that the company plans to fix this soon, and it is currently previewing an API with developers for Thread credentials sharing that will allow the device maker to read them. When it arrives, this Skill will allow Amazon’s Echo smart speakers to join existing networks, as well as allow border routers from other manufacturers to join an Amazon Thread network.

Important note, if you use an apple thread border router, you have to use an apple thread network phone If you’re using an Android phone, you can’t use an Apple border router unless you also have an iPhone, so choose a border router from any of the other platforms.

A border router you set up using iOS won’t see or talk to those you set up with Android unless you first set it up with iOS. And this only works if the platform or device has both an Android and iOS app.

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Kevin Po told me that it is difficult to change network configurations over the air. “The Thread Group is working with the industry on best practices for identifying when a given network should change its configuration and how to enable users to easily do so without disruption to their existing setup,” he said.

The two platforms that have things set up best right now are Google and Apple. It helps that they use Thread for a few years and that they control the OSes where credentials are shared.

Google’s Po tells me that “Apple and Google Thread border routers can share the same Thread network by leveraging the iOS Thread network APIs.” You could have the Apple TV join a single Thread network with the help of an apple device.

There is no app for iPad or Apple TV that will set up the device, and because of that, the same thing is not true in reverse.

The CSA and Thread Group need to put their collective foot down hard and either tell “the industry” that it needs to come together on this or provide a clear path for executing it. The green bubble blue platform fight is so bad that we do not need it in our homes.

The disadvantage is these tend to be a bit more expensive. The cheapest one you can get right now is Samsung’s SmartThings Station ($60), but most start at around $100.

If you already have a Thread device set up on your primary Matter platform, you can use it with any other Matter platform, using Matter’s multi- admin feature. This means your device can also work with any Matter-compatible ecosystem and with its app and voice assistant. You will need a separate Matter controller from that platform if you want to do this.

The same is true if you used an Eero Wi-Fi router as a Thread border router to add a device to Alexa; you could then use a Google Nest Mini smart speaker (a Matter controller) to add the same device to Google Home, and so on.

You can buy a lot of Matter controllers for as little as $40. These can be cheaper than combined Matter / Thread devices, which might be something you already have. Over-the-air updates allow for the upgrade of smart speakers to Matter controllers. Here is a complete list of Matter controllers.

There are still some growing pains regarding the smart home, and Matter is supposed to make it easier. To help you set up Matter-over-Thread smart plug, smart shades, or smart light switch correctly, here is a rundown on what you have to do.