#Matter Setup & Network Topology Feedback & Questions

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

formal crater
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Recently got more into smarthome and decided to go all in on matter.
Coming from an it background i got a heavily locked down network with many vlans (opnsense + mostly unifi)

Already did a lot of research and ended up with the following plan (simplified):
Multi Homing Homeassistant and keeping Matter devices separated into isolated vlans like
101 - Govee Lights
102 - Smart Plugs
103 - All Thread Routers
with Homeassistant (in vm on proxmox) having a native ip in each of them

This would mean each vlan is basically its own matter network.
Will it cause issues that a device in 101 cant directly talk to a device in 102 and each of them can only connect to HA?
I read that Matter devices can also directly communicate with each other without going over a server / coordinator, is this correct?
(Lets say a button connected to 103 is pressed to turn on a light in 102, will this go over HA or directly between them inside of Matter?)
I want to avoid mdns reflection to keep the network clean and would also prefer to keep the vlan segmentation if possible
Also do all thread routers part of the same network need to be in the same vlan?

Any input / suggestions on that setup?
Thx 🙂

sinful jacinth
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i highly recommend putting all of your matter devices, thread border routers, and home assistant, into a single network link. keep in mind also that you'll need to be able to connect a mobile device to this network link as well to do matter pairing, and if you're using an android device it will need to have internet access

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if you do what you're saying, you are just making extra work for yourself, and you'll be on your own for figuring out what's going wrong when it breaks.

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and yeah, different thread border routers on the same thread network connected to different subnets is not recommended.

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it's not just mdns; in order for things to talk to thread devices they also need to be able to receive the ipv6 router announcements from the thread border routers and have two-way routing to the ipv6 subnet used on the thread network.

empty apex
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Also, don't go all in on Matter, just dip your toes in. Use Zigbee for things that absolutely need to work, and tinker with matter/thread for things that you (and most importantly the other people you live with) don't mind breaking down occasionally.

formal crater
formal crater
# sinful jacinth i highly recommend putting all of your matter devices, thread border routers, an...

thx, yeah i know, i am trying to find a compromise which doesnt require major changes in my existing network design
what my question is now, does Homeassistant support being part multiple matter networks, so each vlan being basically its own independent matter network and all communication / actions between matter devices run through HA?
also after reading several docs i couldnt find a clear topology of matter, do different matter iot devices communicate directly with each other (ether via broadcast or direct / direct), or must each action (like switch light on) go through a controller?
(in a setup where all automatizations are configured on the controller which would be HA in my case)

rare fiber
minor vessel
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???

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happy llm then 😉

sinful jacinth
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Most matter communication happens between the matter controller and the devices, either directly or routed via thread border routers. However, with binding (still a bit of WIP in home assistant), devices can communicate directly with each other, which means that appropriate ip routes need to be in place.

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Also, all discovery is via mDNS, so you need to ensure that matter devices (or thread border routers, for thread) can all resolve mdns queries made by each other. this normally requires that they're on the same network link

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also, for commissioning with a mobile device, your mobile device needs to be able to resolve mdns and route traffic to both the matter controller and the matter device, this normally requires that the mobile device be on the same network link as the matter device (or thread border router)

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anyways, if you want things to work, put all matter devices and thread border routers on the same network link, ensure that network link has a wifi ap you can use for a mobile device for provisioning, ensure home assistant has a network interface connected to this network link, and if you're using an android device for provisioning, make sure internet traffic is permitted