Adding new Matter over Thread devices to my established network is now failing...

[hard musk]

I'm having new issues setting up new Matter devices, when 4 months ago, they connected just fine. Has there been some sort of Matter integration change?

I have 11 other Matter devices over Thread that are working great on the HA on my RaspPi 4, using the SkyConnect in only Thread mode, which is on an ethernet "IoT" VLAN. These include several Eve Energy smart plugs, and several Aqara motion and light sensor P2s. They all continue to work great!

I have 2 new "arre Smart Buttons" that I'm trying to connect. They both fail at the "checking network connectivity" stage of adoption. I've reset these buttons to factory default. Nothing seems to work.

I think there's a new issue with the Matter Android side of things...some thing that has popped up in the last 4 months, as my other devices were previously being added/adopted just fine.

Of note, I had issues with connecting the Eve and Aqara sensors the first time around, about 4 months ago. I determined it was the IPv6 that I didn't have setup on the UniFi Dream Machine Pro (UDMPro) that I'm running. So, once I enabled the IPv6 on the VLAN that these devices are on, once I made sure my Android phone using the HA companion app was on that same network over WiFi, and once I made sure I had the proper Matter credentials setup on my Google account on my phone (had to delete my credentials/settings in my Google account so the new credentials would no conflict with some other default Matter credentials), the Eve and Aqara devices were easily setting up fine.

Now, my new "arre Smart Buttons" don't seem to connect, because it says my phone isn't "connected to the network".....even though it is connected to the same VLAN network as my HA (which is ethernet connected).

I'm on the correct WiFI network (same network as the HA RaspberryPi 4). It has IPv6 setup. I've tried all the possible settings on and off for the IPv6 network settings in the UDMPro: mDNS on/off, IGMP Snooping on/off, DHCPv6 vs SLAAC. I've made sure Router Advertisement (RA) is on, High priority. I've tired using the RaspPi on both the LAN and the Wifi, all with IPv6 working fine. Tried multiple settings in the UDMPro for the Wifi, including turning on/off Multicast Enhancement.

Does anyone have the "proper" UniFi UDMPro network IPv4 and IPv6 and WiFi settings that we need to run in order for the Matter installer to properly work on the HA companion app on my android smartphone? Is there some other setting I need on my Galaxy S23 smartphone for Matter to work correctly? I've even tried this before, during, and after I have had Google Home installed on my phone.

Finally, I'm unwilling to reset all of my HA Matter settings or devices, as I don't want to have my current 11 Matter over Thread devices fail a re-install. They're working great now, and I don't want to chance having new difficulty setting these back up, since it seems that the installation process is all jacked up.

In fact, during troubleshooing yesterday, I "disconnected" one of my working Eve Energy smart plugs to see if it was the Arre Smart Buttons causing the issue, or if it a network issue with IPv6, etc. (Basically, I disconnected/reset one device that currently works, and then attempted to re-adopt it). So, after doing that, the Eve device that normally was working is now NOT able to connect. I'm getting the same issue as the Arre/Tuo Smart Button: The Matter adoption fails at the "Checking network connectivity" step, and then times out, saying "Can't reach device. Make sure your phone is connected to WiFi".

So, it seems there's an issue with my phone's Matter adoption and/or an issue with my UDMPro's network settings for IPv6.

Any suggestion as to what settings I need to have on for the VLAN/network and WiFi? I'm assuming there's been some sort of UniFi or Matter update on HA or on Android that's messing me up now. (Like I said, 4 months ago, it was working great for adopting/adding my initial 11 devices.)

additional steps taken:
Here are the UDMPro settings I've tried changing (either on to off, or off to on), and am still having issues with the Matter adoption "Checking Network Connectivity" step:

Settings/WiFi: With each change below, I made sure to reboot my Android smartphone.
BSS Transition: on to off.
Security Protocol: WPA2/WPA3 changed to WPA2 (which also changes PMF from Optional to Disabled).
Multicast Enhancement: from off, to on.

Settings/Network: With each change below, I made sure to reboot my HA.

IPv4 Settings:
IGMP Snooping: from off to on.
Left on IGMP snooping, and changed DNS servers to my default Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 servers.
Turned off Ping Conflict Detection (which appears to me to be a new setting).

IPv6 Settings:
Client Address Assignment : from DHCPv6 to SLAAC, router Advertisement (RA) is on.
Went to Settings/Internet, and also changed IPv6 Configuration to SLAAC;
Changed DNS Server: Cloudflare: from 2606:4700:4700:0:0:0:0:1113 and 2606:4700:4700:0:0:0:0:1003, to 2606:4700:4700::1113 and 2606:4700:4700::1003. Also tried the basic non-filtering DNS servers for Cloudflare: 2606:4700:4700::1111 and 2606:4700:4700::1001

Still getting nowhere. What am I missing? My router is showing a public IP address for both IPv4 and IPv6. So, I know my ISP/cable modem is working on the IPv6 side of things. (I notice that I get an IPv6 address only when it's on DHCPv6, and not on SLAAC. So, I put it back on DHCPv6 mode for my Internet settings, and for my Network IPv6 settings.)

Any help would be much appreciated. I've tried the UniFi community.ui.com site, and have had no luck on the UniFi troubleshooting side. I've tried the HA github area, too. Hoping someone here has some suggestions.

Thanks.

[forest swan]

Start with the Matter + Thread documentation on home-assistant.io

But this one is also a great source of info, and has tips for setting up Unifi.

https://www.derekseaman.com/2023/10/part-1-smart-home-matter-and-thread-deep-dive.html

[hard musk]

Thanks, again. Tried all of these.

Something with Matter or HA likely has changed. I was fine with adopting/adding Matter deivces 4 months ago. Now, I can't. I changed nothing on my end. There's a bug somewhere, but I would have no idea how to find it.

[forest swan]

Maybe try another phone ?
Also try syncing the thread credentials: on the HA companion app go to settings , companion app, troubleshooting --> sync thread credentials

[hard musk]

Thanks. I'll a different phone soon.

I've synced the thread credentials successfully before a couple times. Didn't seem to help.

[hard musk]

Well, tried another phone. This was a great idea. I first successfully imported the Matter credentials. Then tried to add the device to my Matter devices....

But...... Still not working. Still stuck at the "checking network connectivity" part for several minutes before it times out and says "Can't reach device. Make sure your phone is connected to Wi-Fi." I'm on the same WiFi that I used to connect to the HA via the app. It's the same VLAN as the HA RaspPi Device.

This is very frustrating. The same thing is still happening. Is it Matter that's the problem?

[hard musk]

Anyone else having new Matter over Thread connectivity issues? Anyone want to try to "delete" a device and try to re-install it to see if it still adopts correctly? Would love to hear what the results are for you!

[forest swan]

It works fine for most people. Exceptions we see are with people with (semi)professional network gear or non -HAOS installs. We do have an annoying issue under invetigation regarding multiple Apple BRs and TREL but that has nothing to do with your issue.

Did you test an iPhone or Android device again ?

While commissioning, is the device in close range to both your phone (bluetooth) and your HA server (Thread) ?

[bold stratus]

So, you separated your devices into an IoT VLAN and your HA Raspberry in the same VLAN. When you try to pair a Most device via your Android phone, your phone is in the same IoT VLAN?

I also have a unifi setup. But my 7 Apple Thread Border Router, MoT devices and HA are in the Main VLAN, where also our iPhones and iPads reside. mDNS and IGMP Snooping are disabled. Which firmware versions are you using? They really did a lot of changes with the latest beta versions regarding IGMP Snooping. Which equipment do you have exactly?

Multicast Enhancements is also off here.

I am an Apple user. So I can’t help you with Google or Android. But I definitely paired some devices some days ago. So, it works here.

You wrote that you are not willing remove the complete Matter setup. Did you try to delete one of your already working devices re-add it? Did that work?

[hard musk]

Yes, I'm very close to my phone and my HA RaspPi SkyConnect boarder router when doing this. Used an old wiped android smartphone, used a different google account on it, imported the thread credentials, and got to the same issue.

[hard musk]

Yes, I "deleted" a perfectly working Eve Energy Smart Plug, and I get the same issue with re-adopting/adding it back to the Matter over Thread ecosystem. Same issues. So, I'm worried if I delete my entire Matter network and start from scratch, I may not be able to add any new devices, ever, and my 13 devices would be paperweights.

I use a UniFi Dream Machine Pro. I've tried a lot of different network and WiFi settings. Most things are disabled to make it work as simple as possible. I use a VLAN for the IoT stuff. RaspPi 4 HA is on the VLAN via ethernet. Phone is on that VLAN via Wifi. This setup worked fine 4 months ago. Now, it's not working. UniFI Network 8.4.62.

[bold stratus]

What was the HA Matter server log, when you try to pair a MoT device?

Did you try a reboot of all involved devices inkl. all your network equipment?

How many TBRs do you have? Only the HA OTBR?

[hard musk]

I'll try to find the server log. Is it easy to find in the Matter Integration section? Do I just enable the Matter "debug logging", try to add the item, then save it?

I rebooted everything, including all networking stuff.

The NabuCasa SkyConnect is the OTBR connected to the RaspPi 4 HA. I have 5 Eve Energy Smart Plugs, which act as a Routing end device for the thread network.

Weird. I did the debug for Matter integration. There were no error messages in the time frame when my phone was timing out. I must be doing the debug wrong. I'm only seeing timeouts from WiFi wemo devices before the time I tried to add the MoT device.

Where do I get the Matter logs?

For my Matter log, I'm getting timeouts for WeMo devices that I have hooked up via WiFi, and they are integrated via the WeMo Integration in HA. These are older devices. I don't think they are Matter compatible. This wouldn't have anything to do with the Matter failures, would it?

2024-10-04 07:44:03.776 WARNING (SyncWorker_4) [urllib3.connectionpool] Retrying (Retry(total=5, connect=None, read=None, redirect=None, status=None)) after connection broken by 'ReadTimeoutError("HTTPConnectionPool(host='192.168.40.146', port=49152): Read timed out. (read timeout=3.0)")': /upnp/control/basicevent1
2024-10-04 07:48:36.748 WARNING (SyncWorker_46) [urllib3.connectionpool] Retrying (Retry(total=5, connect=None, read=None, redirect=None, status=None)) after connection broken by 'ConnectTimeoutError(<urllib3.connection.HTTPConnection object at 0x7f5fe32e40>, 'Connection to 192.168.40.146 timed out. (connect timeout=3.0)')': /upnp/control/basicevent1
2024-10-04 07:50:18.584 WARNING (SyncWorker_56) [urllib3.connectionpool] Retrying (Retry(total=5, connect=None, read=None, redirect=None, status=None)) after connection broken by 'ConnectTimeoutError(<urllib3.connection.HTTPConnection object at 0x7f5fbaf2f0>, 'Connection to 192.168.40.198 timed out. (connect timeout=3.0)')': /upnp/control/basicevent1

[hard musk]

Ok. I'm super frustrated right now.

I really want it to work again, so I can add new MoT devices. So, (against my better judgment) I just deleted all of my MoT devices, deleted the Thread, OTBR, Matter integrations and re-installed the SkyConnect Thread dongle for HA.

Guess what?!? It still DOESN'T work!!! Same issue. Stuck at "checking network connectivity"!!!

How can I troubleshoot if it's my network causing the issue, or if there's something wrong with Matter on my phone (via google/android) or on the HA???

[hard musk]

Still not working, even after deleting all of my Matter/Thread/SkyConnect integrations/add-ons and re-installing.

It's either Matter/HA vs my UniFi UDMPro settings. Something changed in the past 4 months. Anyone else with Unifi having such issues?\

[bold stratus]

SSH into your HAOS and execute the following command:

ha host logs --identifier addon_core_matter_server -n 1000

This command shows you the last 1000 lines of your Matter server logs. Debug is not needed. The following configuration should show some messages, when you pair a device:

• Matter server log level: info
• Matter SDK log level: error

Ideally you can upload your complete log from the last Matter server start to a service like this:

https://dpaste.org

When you are a HAOS user, you need to install and configure the following Home Assistant Community Add-on:

Advanced SSH & Web Terminal

https://github.com/hassio-addons/addon-ssh

Read the warning:

https://github.com/hassio-addons/addon-ssh?tab=readme-ov-file#warning

disable the protection mode and configure a username/password or ssh keys

If you feel insecure, disable the addon, when you do not not need it.

Alternatively you can go to:

Settings > Add-ons > Matter Server > Logs

Here you will see the last 50 log lines.

[bold stratus]

Yeah, this is frustrating. Can you show me a screenshot of your Thread integration please? How many Thread networks do you see now?

This is how it looks, when you have 7 Apple Thread Border Routers in one preferred Thread network:

[hard musk]

Thanks. I'll try these. (I'm going to try to connect using a rasppi OpenWRT router, first, to see if it's my UniFi router causing the issue.

[bold stratus]

As already said, I am a Unifi user:

My Environment:

• udm-se: 4.0.6
  • network application: 8.5.6
  • protect application: 5.0.35
• switches:
  • 1x usw-pro-aggregation: 7.1.26
  • 1x usw-pro-max-48-poe: 7.1.26
  • 1x usw-pro-max-16-poe: 7.1.26
• access points:
  • 2x u6-pro: 6.7.6
  • 4x u7-pro: 7.0.69

Everything works fine in my network. When I have issues it’s mostly an unstable MoT device.

[hard musk]

I only have 1 Thread Border router in the house.

[bold stratus]

How far away is your Thread Border Router from your devices?

[hard musk]

When I'm trying to add them, I'm right next to it, a few feet away.

I have end rounding devices that make the thread mesh go elsewhere in the house (Eve Energy Smart Plugs)

[bold stratus]

Ok, so your SkyConnect is not installed in your network rack?

[hard musk]

it is in the rack, zip tied on the front. I'm standing right next to it when I'm trying to do the matter device adding.

What network settings are you using for IPv4 and IPv6 network settings? And what do you have clicked on the wifi settings?

These for WiFI vLAN

[bold stratus]

Ok, that can be an issue. Now, where you start fresh, place your rPI where your devices are. Reset all your Thread devices. Add one Thread Router device (EVE Energy) and show us the logs.

[hard musk]

I changed it to WPA2, and Disabled PMF

Network tab for the IoT VLAN: IPv4 side

[bold stratus]

So, you pair your device next to your rack and then go elsewhere to install the MoT device. Even though the pairing procedure should work in th your scenario, it doesn’t mean that the MoT device can reach the TBR, where you install it.

[hard musk]

No, not quite. I'm trying to pair/adopt the MoT device right next to the HA rasppi. Figure it would be closest to the main Boarder Router and get the best chance for adoption. It generates Matter credentials just fine. It just gets stuck at the Verifying netowork connectivity and times out, saying my phone is not connected to WiFi. But it is connected to the WiFi that is connected to the VLAN that the HA is on.

Thinking my UDMPro is giving me issues with connecting to the HA which is trying to verify IPv6 connection with the Matter device....

[bold stratus]

Wifi settings are mostly irrelevant for a working Thread network. The following WiFi settings should be disabled:

• Proxy ARP
• Multicast Enhancements
• Multicast & Broadcast Control

[hard musk]

Ok, thanks.

What about the IPv6 and IPv4 settings? IGMP snooping? mDNS?

Router ADervitesment (RA) in IPv6?

[bold stratus]

One moment. I will make some Screenshots of my settings in some minutes.

[hard musk]

Thanks!

[bold stratus]

My iPhones/iPads and Macs are connected via a WPA3-Enterprise SSID:

My HomePods and AppleTVs are Thread Border Routers.

My HomePods (WiFi) only are connected via WPA2 PPSK (Private Pre-Shared Key) SSID:

My AppleTVs are connected via Ethernet.

My global network settings look as follows:

[hard musk]

Thanks. I'll have some more things to try. (I've never used Jumbo Frames, Flow Control, 802.1x control.) Not sure if that's what's needed, though.

[bold stratus]

Here are the IPv4 network settings of the VLAN where my HAOS, all AppleTVs, HomePods, iPhones, iPads, Macs and all my Matter devices reside:

And here the IPv6 settings for the same VLAN:

[bold stratus]

No, thats all not relevant for Matter (over Thread).

[hard musk]

Thanks. My settings are mostly the same. Will try to use SLAAC for advanced IPv6, as that's the only real difference I have compared to yours. But, you're also running different hardware. I have older APs, etc.

[bold stratus]

What about interference? Which channel is used by your Thread network and which channel is used by your 2.4GHz WiFi?

This is a good article: https://www.metageek.com/training/resources/zigbee-wifi-coexistence/

Thread and ZigBee use the same channel naming scheme.

[hard musk]

My AP firmwares are 6.6.77 and 6.6.78.

That's a good question, about the Thread channel. I'll check on that. I have mine on auto. i may need to change these.

[bold stratus]

I cant say anything about different hardware. But I would expect that the issue is not your hardware and not your firmware, if everything is uptodate.

[hard musk]

Yeah. I'll know more once I get my OpenWRT router up and running later this evening. I was going to see if a very simple network would fix things.

[bold stratus]

Configure your WiFi 2.4GHz to use only channel 1 and 6 and your Thread network to use channel 25.

[hard musk]

always good to have an emergency backup for my home internet, if the UDMPro fails.....

[bold stratus]

Can you show me a Screenshot of your Thread integration, please? How many Thread networks do you see?

[hard musk]

weird. It's not letting me change my channel:

when i change to 25, it jiggles the screen and nothing is saved. goes back to the 15 channel it was on by default.

[bold stratus]

Thread channel 15 interferes with side lobes of WiFi 2.4GHz channel 1 and 6. 15 is not a good decision.

[hard musk]

Makes sense. But it's not letting me change the channel number at all! I've tried 25, 20, and 11. Can't get it to change.

[bold stratus]

With that I can't help you. I do not use HA OTBR, Apple TBRs only here. Even though I have a HA Yellow and my Thread credentials are properly in sync with my OTBR. It's still disabled. Every now and then I try my luck. But after some days I always had some bad issues, because my OTBR used wrong Thread routing or similiar. I never investigated much time. I always disabled the OTBR immediately and everything was fine again. Its a known issue, when you have a lot of Apple Thread Border Routers. But a single HA OTBR should work ootb.

[hard musk]

Yeah. I tried googling it right now, but didn't find anything to help.

I'll try a simple OpenWRT router soon. Maybe my HomeAssistant with the OTBR is very picky, and when I try to set it up, something in the UniFi Network envirnoment is messing up the communication. Once everything is paired in MoT, I think it should stay good. My previous thread network was working fine with channel 15, as far as I could tell.

[bold stratus]

Yeah, but maybe your APs next to your OTBR SkyConnect radio now use channel 1 or 6, while they used channel 11 in the past, when your are on auto configuration.

However... You should definitely see something in the logs, even though there are interferences.

[hard musk]

Thanks for your advice. I don't think it's a UniFi issue.

I tried adoption of a couple MoT devices using an OpenWrt router connected to the internet, with only the HA device and my smartphone devices on the network. IPv6 was enabled. And, it still wouldn't connect.

So, I'm guessing it's a HA/Matter integration issue.

I'm going to try to get the Matter logs soon and share them here.

[hard musk]

Here are some logs:

---

Add-on: Matter Server
Matter WebSocket Server for Home Assistant Matter support.

Add-on version: 6.5.1
You are running the latest version of this add-on.
System: Home Assistant OS 13.1 (aarch64 / raspberrypi4-64)
Home Assistant Core: 2024.10.1
Home Assistant Supervisor: 2024.09.1

The latest time I tried to add on a MoT device (from 2101 hours till 2106 hours), it again was trying to add the device, generated Matter credentials, and the was stuck on "checking internet connectivity" for about 5 minutes. It then timed out and again said "Can't reach device. Make sure your phone is connecte to Wi-Fi".

Here are the logs from that time period: (I changed the Matter Servo Log Level to "debug":

[forest swan]

Your Matter Server log does not even mention an inclusion attempt, meaning that step 1 of the commissioning process is already failing, making this a phone or networking issue so we'll have to dive into those logs

[hard musk]

Where do I find the logs for Matter on my android device?

[soft mirage]

It is in the regular app logs (Settings -> Companion App -> Troubleshooting (towards the end) -> Show and share logs

[forest swan]

@hard musk I checked your logs and there is really nothing useful in there regarding the matter commissioning so I'm afraid its really failing at the Android level. Do you have the Google Home app on the phone ? Maybe try to onboard a device there to see if matter commissioning works at all on your android phone

[hard musk]

Thanks for checking. I think you're right with the Android level failure. It also is failing on a different phone, using a different Google account. I think the Matter integration on android is currently buggy, but I have no way to prove this. Hoping a future update fixes this.

[hard musk]

It's quite frustrating. I've tried many things to get this to work:
I reset the Matter Server after deleting all my MoT devices, factory reset all the MoT devices I've tired to add/re-adopt, tried using an older factory reset Android Samsung Galaxy smartphone using a newly created Google account, made sure Google Home was installed on that phone, made sure the Matter credentials were updated on that phone (and they were successfully updated), and even put the HA on a lone OpenWrt router connected to my internet, with my phone connected to the WiFi of that router with IPv6 successfully turned on. I can't believe that the Google/Android side of things is just utterly failing to "verify network connectivity".

What am I missing? I'm thinking there's some boneheaded thing that I forgot to do, but I've gotten nowhere! Could it be my Internet Service Provider????

Any other suggestions? Have you heard anyone else having this issue recently?

[fast ether]

all i can say is that "verifying network connectivity" means that it's trying to connect from your phone to the thread device. For that to work, your phone has to be receiving ipv6 router announcements from your thread border router, and be able to resolve mdns queries that are answered by the thread border router.

if the wifi your phone is connected to is not on the same l2 network as your thread border router, this is unlikely to work.

[bold stratus]

Yes, but in the opening post he wrote that all devices are in the same VLAN, including HA and all Matter devices. He also seems to be aware, that that the phone must be in the same VLAN.

[fast ether]

some proactive things that could be done might be to connect a laptop to the wifi and run some ipv6 and mdns testing tools - like run radvdump and make sure it's receiving the RAs from the thread border router; ensure that avahi-discover-standalone or some other mdns tool returns the _meshcop._udp entry for otbr, and any registered services for matter/thread devices.

[hard musk]

hoppel118 is correct. I'm making sure I'm on the same VLAN.

The most frustrating thing is that it was working fine 4 months ago. Then, something changed (not under my control....my network settings and HA settings have been the same). Now, the Android Matter app/integration tool seems to fritz out on the network connectivity check . It doesn't even work when I go directly off my cable modem with a basic OpenWrt router with no VLANs. Only my HA and my phone.

I'm blaming Google right now. Maybe they messed something up with a recent update?

I was able to add my devices to an Amazon echo at my father-in-law's house. So, I know my devices are working properly.

[hard musk]

I'll look into these. I'm not familiar with these commands, but I'll see what I can find.

[noble gyro]

Hi jazzman, i've been able to connect my first device. Do you have a complex password on your Wifi? I've created a non complex WPA password for a new Wifi SSID and now i could connect my first eve motion device .....jehhha

HA has already found am update for my device....i've got been able to get a second Eve Montion device connected

[hard musk]

Ok, good. My password isn't too complex. I just use WPA. I could try a simple password with only alphabetical characters to see if that matters. Was it the password itself, or the type of encryption on the wifi????

This is odd. 4 months ago, I didn't have this issue. My password for the wifi is the same. Not sure why it would matter now. I'll give it a try, soon. Thanks!

[noble gyro]

hi Jazzman, i've tried my original Wifi 2.4Ghz. Than i've created a new Wifi just with alphabetical character and numbers. after that i could get them connected. Perhaps there has been an update which changed there something. Who knows...

[hard musk]

I tried this, making a new WiFi SSID linked to my IoT VLAN. I used WPA2. Only lowercase alphabetical characters for a password that was 13 characters long. Still not working for me.

[noble gyro]

oh mannnnnnn.....i'm sorry. I've really hoped it would work for you too

[forest swan]

Do you, by any chance, have a possibility of trying it with an iPhone ? We have much more control over the thread credentials and matter commissioning on iOS than in Android. Also Android has several bugs on its own regarding these flows.

Its surprising, I know. You kind of expect it the other way around.

As a last resort, we can always try direct commisisoning from the matter server itself. All you need is a dedicated bluetooth stick. Such as the Asus BT500 stick of about $10

[hard musk]

I was thinking of that. I'm going to try my wife's ipad tomorrow am.

Otherwise, i'll try the direct commissioning. I tried it already, but I didn't add another bluetooth USB stick. (I just tried by turning off the bluetooth app for the rasppi built in bluetooth, but then turning it on for the Matter server. I got some sort of error from adding it. but I'll have to try it again. Is there a good instruction set out there for the web-based commissioning?

Also, do I need to "reset" all of the other MoT devices I have around the house? They were deleted off the original thread network, and I then changed the thread network. Was just wondering if that was causing some issues....

[slate pendant]

i spent hours today trying to add an inovelli lightswitch via android and had absolutely no luck. in the past it has been tricky, but i eventually could add devices.

tried it on an ipad and it worked the second time. incredibly frustrating, but i'm glad i saw the suggestion to try ios (and glad we only recently got an ios device!). seems like the android commissioning is fully broken at the moment

[forest swan]

Well, the Android flow is not as flexible as the iOS flow as it only allows sending the default credentials (whatever they may be) and we cant overwrite them so if those credentials are wrong.. you're basiclaly screwed...

There is a way to get out of that state but that is rather painful. It involved resetting the full play services storage (which means also things like your wallet etc get reset) - once you do that and completely reinstall the HA companion app, you should be able to re-sync the credentials

[slate pendant]

that's super interesting if that could be the reason. how could i end up with the wrong credentials? i only have one thread/matter network, only BR is skyconnect

[hard musk]

I tried iOS using an iPad pro. I've made sure to have the Thread credentials updated in the Companion app settings on the iOS device. It thinks for a while, but then I get the message: "Unable to Add Accessory. Pairing Failed"

Should I reset all my other devices? Are they interfering with the setup? (They are on the old thread network settings, which I have since deleted in the HA settings.)

[hard musk]

I'm super frustrated this doens't work anymore. I could try the iOS device and HA on a different router, but I'm not sure my Unifi settings are really to blame.

Would someone please give me good instructions on how to add devices using the Matter server web interface? I'm getting that ASUS BT500 stick tomorrow. Thanks, again, for all of your help, marcelveldt!

[forest swan]

Can you post a screenshot of your Thread config page (HA setings --> Integrations --> Thread --> Configure)
Also check if the thread credentials are correctly synced:

• On Android you can go to compaion app settings --> troubleshooting --> Thread credentials --> sync --> it should give a message back that the device is using the home assistant credentials.

• On iOS you can actually see exactly what credentials it got from HA in the companion app settings, troubleshooting and even delete incorrect ones. But, by default ths iOS flow nowadays (this has been recently fixed/changed), it will send the Thread network that is marked as preferred in your Thread config panel.

--> So If the correct thread network is selected in your thread config panel and its also failing on iOS, I'm afraid there is something blocking in your network.

[hard musk]

Yeah, thinking network is issue, since both iOS and android are failing. Will try a different router soon, again.

Syncing on the devices, says the device is using the home assistant credentials.

if I double NAT with another router, should that matter for the MoT install? There isns't anything special needed for the internet-side of the router (WAN) connection, is there? I'm guessing something is being blocked in my VLAN, and the devices no longer communicate with each other.

[fast ether]

matter doesn't involve the internet. it's all local communication - your phone and ha are talking directly to matter devices (with packets routed through the thread border router)

[hard musk]

but, it seems to need an internet connection to figure out the names/types of MoT devices. (I tried this once without internet, and I got stuck....)

[fast ether]

(with the caveat that commissioning devices on android uses google play services, which requires that your phone has an internet connection)

[hard musk]

Should I reset all of my other MoT devices? Is there something interfering, since they were previously installed on a different thread network that no longer exists?

[forest swan]

Yeah, unfortunately google/android has that limitation.

[forest swan]

That for sure does not help but this should also work.

For direct commissioning you can assign a direct bluetooth adapter in the (advanced) settings of the the matter add-on

[hard musk]

I see that setting. what value do I use?

[forest swan]

And then in the Matter server's own UI, you can press the commission button where you need to paste the full dataset (you can copy that from the thread panel)

[forest swan]

just 0

unless you have more bluetooth adapters

but... if you are using the bluetooth already for HA, disable that first

otherwise: BOOM!

[hard musk]

oh, ok. So, for rasp pi, there's a built in Bluetooth. So, if I disable that one, I then assign it 0 in the Matter config under Bluetooth Adapter ID?

[forest swan]

Disable the HA Bluetooth integration

And then you can use that adapter for Matter

But the raspi builtin is not known to be very reliable so better get that Aasus stick if you wnat to keep using this

[hard musk]

ok, cool. will try "0". Some other site said to use "1", but that didn't work.

[hard musk]

Thanks. That ASUS one is coming.

[forest swan]

If you add the Asus, it will probably be 1, You will need to check the adapter index.

[hard musk]

where do I see the adpater index values?

[forest swan]

no need, just use 0 now - you only have 1

[hard musk]

Got it to add/commission! Woo hoo!

First time failed. I "factory reseted" the Eve Energy smart plug. 2nd time worked!

So, basically, it's either my IoT VLAN network causing issues, or it's something quirky with the Matter on the handheld devices?

***After I'm done adding the devices, can I take the Bluetooth off of the Matter integration and add it back to HA, if I don't need to add any more devices?

[forest swan]

Yes, just be very careful if you plan to use that single adapter for both because using it at the same time for both will go wrong

I can say with 99% certainty that this is caused by your home/wifi network btw

[hard musk]

I agree. Something weird with the UniFi settings (that I didn't change). Something must have changed with their Network configs, or Intrusion prevention, etc.....

Thanks for your help!!!

[forest swan]

I am working with Thread and Matter all day and I had to replace it. Maybe that gives a hint how I think about Unifi 😉

[hard musk]

So, you don't have UniFi anymore, then?

[forest swan]

Don't get me wrong: there are folks who have it working but I just gave up the battle, especially since I had a couple of other issues with their UDM Pro

[forest swan]

Nope

[hard musk]

Well, good to know. As long as my workaround works well, I guess I won't have to fiddle much more with the UDMPro.

[forest swan]

Until you add additional Border routers 😉

Then this entire dance will start again

[hard musk]

The direct commissioning vie the Matter server avoids the networking issues, correct?

[forest swan]

as long as you only have the single OTBR then yes

because matter server can then directly communicate with that

but if you may ever add another BR such as a homepod or nest hub or whatever it will not work

[hard musk]

Thanks. Good to know. Have a great rest of the day!

[forest swan]

same to you!

[bold stratus]

Glad, that you solved your issue. I am happy with my Unifi network. My 62 Matter over Thread devices are rock solid. I didn’t have any issues since months. 😃

[hard musk]

Yes, I have a feeling I was there 4 months ago. Mine was working great, until I decided I needed to add another MoT device.

Just don't add anymore devices, as I don't think the UniFi Network settings will play nicely with the "network connectivity" check....

[bold stratus]

It's definitely a problem on your end, whatever is going wrong. I paired another bulb via my iPhone just for testing purposes. The pairing process works perfectly.

• udm-se: 4.0.20
• network application: 8.5.6
• u-lte-backup-pro: 6.6.68
• 1x usw-pro-aggregation: 7.1.26
• 1x usw-pro-max-48-poe: 7.1.26
• 1x usw-pro-max-16-poe: 7.1.26
• 2x u7-pro-max: 7.0.69
• 4x u7-pro: 7.0.69
• iPhone 15 Pro Max: iOS 18.0.1

Here is what I see in the logs: https://dpaste.org/nYR07
and here is a video: https://imgur.com/a/pairing-nanoleaf-gu10-mot-to-ha-N6gDQyR