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Comment by ncallaway | Hacker News Reader

This is the biggest reason why I look for Matter-compatible smart home devices. It means I can put them on a locked down network, with no internet access, and I know at least the Matter supported compatibility will function offline.

I think it would be smart for Matter to lean into the "offline local control" aspect of their branding and certification requirements.

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How easy is it to commission a Matter device onto a specific WiFi network? And how easy is it to set up a Thread network without Internet access?

I haven't actually tried this, but:

- The Home Assistant Matter commissioning tool doesn't have any documentation at all about how the network is selected AFAICS.

- The Thread organization seems extremely proud of how Thread devices can access the Internet. Apple TV doesn't seem friendly at all to preventing its Thread Border Router from forwarding to the Internet. Home Assistant's OTBR add-on has no useful configuration whatsoever AFAICS. The easiest way to get it right would seem to be to buy something like a Sonoff POE-capable Thread dongle and sticking it on a VLAN, except that those, for some reason, seem to support Thread RCP but not being a Border Router themselves, and then you're back to managing your own OTBR installation.

Thread as i see it currently is a locked ecosystem that cannot be breached. so far, all the Thread devices I have been interested in will only accept their own manufacturers' thread border router.

I'm pretty sure "all the Thread devices I have been interested in will only accept their own manufacturers' thread border router." that device won't get thread/matter certified.

Are you sure this isn't a case of different matter version support? In which case, in my experience, thread border router works just fine, but the controller needs to support such devices.

I can only speak to my experience, certified devices by the largest firms will mostly not interoperate (fails around authN).

Apple: Keeps Thread credentials locked to HomeKit's border routers.

Google: Shares some credentials, but only within Google Account environment.

Amazon: TBD, but their Matter implementation is mostly cloud-tied.

Samsung: Hybrid approach; still best when used inside SmartThings, their 1.4 update seems to support for joining existing Thread networks. Still have to test it.

So, even though Thread theoretically allows full interoperability, no vendor wants to be reduced to a dumb router in someone else’s ecosystem.

there is no easy way to bridge Apple Thread to Home Assistant or Google Thread, even though it is theoretically supposed to be possible from a protocol standpoint.

If you have such solutions, let me know, because I would take full advantage of it, and will regale your contributions in multiple home automation threads.

> Apple: Keeps Thread credentials locked to HomeKit's border routers.

The Home Assistant iOS app can extract the Thread credentials from Apple’s border routers and send them to Home Assistant. The documentation for what happens thereafter is not amazing.

I have every thread device I own in both Apple Home and Google Home and it seems to be just working fine? I even remember adding some devices to google and some to apple and then sharing between them. I have border routers from both tho, maybe that's why it works?

This is one of two things I require when looking at a smart device:

1. Must work offline on my local network (like Matter through Home Assistant)

2. Must have a physical button for operation when there is no network available or someone doesn't want/have a phone.

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