ZBT2 and IPv6. | Home Assistant | Page 1

hardy pecan Nov 20, 2025, 10:05 PM

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I was trying to go into Matter over Thread with some ESP32 boards, but ran into issues since some of my network wasn't doing IPv6 (since my ISP didn't support it). Does the ZBT2 make Matter + Thread work regardless of IPv6 on the Network? I am still doing IPv4 only since IPv6 is still getting traction (10+ years in the deployment)

raw atlas Nov 20, 2025, 11:17 PM

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My understanding is that you don’t need the isp to support ipv6 since it’s the thread mesh that communicates over ipv6

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Your home network has nothing to do with thread

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Thread is its own network which happens to route using ipv6 local addresses generated by your tbr

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To answer your question in more detail, the ZBT2 just acts as the RCP, basically a fancy antenna that knows how to send and receive thread packets

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But the actual processing happens on a separate device (typically a HA instance with the OTBR addon)

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So yes, it’ll work without isp support for ipv4 (since they’re not really related) but so would your esp32 solution if configured correctly

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It’s just a little more plug and play with HA compared to setting up a whole third-party TBR on an esp32

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Another analogy to explain better, the esp32 solution is probably more like making your own Apple HomePod (a thread border router), the zbt2 is a addon to HA that makes HA the TBR

hardy pecan Nov 20, 2025, 11:52 PM

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@raw atlas yea, I kept having issues reprovisioning the ESP32s3 as TBR and it wouldn't I kept having issues because of the IPv6 on Wifi requirement because my routers had it disabled internally. Tried to get it working, but the IPv6 from my cell on wifi to TBR to then get the device to pair to the TBR was a pain and I kept running into road blocks that I just gave up on and went back to Zigbee on the last few devices I ordered.

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Does the ZBT2 have a different functionality than the ZBT1 or is it identical functionality* , just better hardware?

raw atlas Nov 20, 2025, 11:56 PM

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Interesting, I’m reading the esp32 OTBR setup and it seems like they set up IPv6 connectivity so devices on both the WiFi and thread networks can communicate

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Without needing translation

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I guess that’s the “ideal” setup for a TBR since you can abstract away the transport layer and pretend everything can communicate using a single interface

hardy pecan Nov 20, 2025, 11:57 PM

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I hate IPv6. I have to learn it one of these days, just not today :D.

raw atlas Nov 20, 2025, 11:57 PM

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But I also don’t know any thread devices that actually

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Would need to communicate with anything else on your network

hardy pecan Nov 20, 2025, 11:58 PM

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Right? I mean Matter over Thread should be self contained and only need IPv4/6 or USB to the TBR devices from HA and thats it.

raw atlas Nov 20, 2025, 11:58 PM

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should

hardy pecan Nov 20, 2025, 11:58 PM

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I loath that word.....

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😄

raw atlas Nov 20, 2025, 11:59 PM

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I really can’t think of a good use case for this

hardy pecan Nov 21, 2025, 12:00 AM

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I mean Zigbee will be around for at least 5 years, zWave probably too.

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Hubitat gateway (what I setup at the time) does the magic there so it just works then imports into HA.

raw atlas Nov 21, 2025, 12:00 AM

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I mean the IPv6 network joined with your WiFi network

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When do you ever need a WiFi device to communicate with one of your smart home devices without going through HA

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This is just me trying to figure out why they insist on IPv6 setup lol

hardy pecan Nov 21, 2025, 12:01 AM

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yea, dual stack IP addressing has so few limited use cases. and everything does IPv4 to IPv6 translation on the internet.

raw atlas Nov 21, 2025, 12:01 AM

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hardy pecan Does the ZBT2 have a different functionality than the ZBT1 or is it identical fu...

But yeah my understanding is they’re the same

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The zbt2 is just more optimized on the hardware side

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But I don’t think the changes make a huge difference for most people

hardy pecan Nov 21, 2025, 12:02 AM

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I mean some ISPs need it because they are running out of IPv4 addresses, but they are still dual stack so its still using both addresses.

raw atlas Nov 21, 2025, 12:02 AM

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raw atlas But I don’t think the changes make a huge difference for most people

Unless you’re running a ton of devices across a really big house

hardy pecan Nov 21, 2025, 12:02 AM

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Yea, I'll probably wait until a Hubitat for Matter+Thread comes out and stick with that so its contained and backing up - well whenever I do my next upgrade.

raw atlas Nov 21, 2025, 12:03 AM

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And have no zigbee repeaters

hardy pecan Nov 21, 2025, 12:03 AM

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I think I'm up to 40 devices - mostly Zigbee handfull of zwave

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and I'm not doing matter over wifi.

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has to be over thread because I don't want that on my wifi bands

raw atlas Nov 21, 2025, 12:04 AM

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Just curious, what benefit does hubitat have over HA

hardy pecan Nov 21, 2025, 12:05 AM

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I have it doing a backup because at the time I was moving HA between Virtualization stuff and if I mess up home assistant, I can just connect to my Hubitat since it was a hub for both Zigbee + ZWave. I could also place it in a more centralized place away from my server.

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I use it as a dumb hub that I just connect through. probably overkill, but it was a 'throw money at it' solution.

raw atlas Nov 21, 2025, 12:07 AM

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Ah

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Yeah I just put the important stuff on Apple home

hardy pecan Nov 21, 2025, 12:07 AM

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I'm trying to get away from Alexas and Google devices. I don't own anything Apple.

raw atlas Nov 21, 2025, 12:07 AM

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Fair

hardy pecan Nov 21, 2025, 12:08 AM

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so Open Source or bust

raw atlas Nov 21, 2025, 12:08 AM

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Difficult these days to entirely get away from them tho

hardy pecan Nov 21, 2025, 12:09 AM

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I'm mostly there. Custom HA Voice Speaker - test case currently that I need to finish tuning then I will be 95% ready to kick the major companies out. no more data mining here 😄

raw atlas Nov 21, 2025, 12:09 AM

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I’m nowhere close to HA voice yet

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Though it would be nice to have set up

hardy pecan Nov 21, 2025, 12:10 AM

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The HA Voice Previews aren't bad, but I didn't like the built in speaker and I wanted something cleaner than an external speaker attached to it.

raw atlas Nov 21, 2025, 12:10 AM

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I’ve been thinking of

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Whole home audio

hardy pecan Nov 21, 2025, 12:10 AM

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But Sonos - who I WAS going to use, all has Alexa now....

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so they are off my list.

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I can do some custom creative stuff with this - https://docs.futureproofhomes.net/satellite1-squircle-enclosures/#choose-a-speaker-and-enclosure-size
Just need to finish testing

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I built one and the audio quality is decent.

raw atlas Nov 21, 2025, 12:11 AM

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I rent though, so difficult to justify investing effort + money when I have to take it all out next time I move lol

hardy pecan Nov 21, 2025, 12:11 AM

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Agreed there. Plug in outlets get old.

raw atlas Nov 21, 2025, 12:12 AM

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If I get a home it’ll be Shelly’s in every outlet

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That or smart outlets

hardy pecan Nov 21, 2025, 12:12 AM

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Ive started replacing some light switches, but I'm done renting.
Looking at smart outlets, but can't find ones I like.

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The Eve thread ones looked good, but noooo only on Matter+Thread

raw atlas Nov 21, 2025, 12:12 AM

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Maybe in 5 years everything will have m/t support

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😂

hardy pecan Nov 21, 2025, 12:13 AM

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Yea.... maybe.

raw atlas Nov 21, 2025, 12:13 AM

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Tbf it’s not like zigbee is bad tho

hardy pecan Nov 21, 2025, 12:13 AM

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yea. Zigbee works. Does energy measurement + reliable.

raw atlas Nov 21, 2025, 12:13 AM

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The only real downside is single point of failure

hardy pecan Nov 21, 2025, 12:13 AM

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Just seems like Thread+Matter is where things are heading.

raw atlas Nov 21, 2025, 12:15 AM

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Hoping that we get a few years of dual zigbee/matter over thread

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As much as matter over thread is cool, it’s also been a pain to get working

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I’d rather have devices on zigbee for now

hardy pecan Nov 21, 2025, 12:15 AM

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yep. I spent probably 20 hours a few weeks ago on it and just gave up.

raw atlas Nov 21, 2025, 12:16 AM

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I got it working after about that same amt of time but it’s not the most reliable

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All my devices stop working for 30 min after a power cycle

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Been thinking of getting an Apple TBR since that’s been the most reliable based on online forums

hardy pecan Nov 21, 2025, 12:17 AM

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o o o The thing I forgot

raw atlas Nov 21, 2025, 12:17 AM

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But I wouldn’t use any of the other functionality so feels like a waste of money

hardy pecan Nov 21, 2025, 12:17 AM

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They need to just do Matter + THread as a standard DONE. Not Matter over wifi + Matter over Thread

raw atlas Nov 21, 2025, 12:17 AM

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Oh agreed

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Matter over WiFi is dumb

hardy pecan Nov 21, 2025, 12:17 AM

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Yes..

raw atlas Nov 21, 2025, 12:17 AM

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Espc I have some devices fhat are

hardy pecan Nov 21, 2025, 12:17 AM

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And I REFUSE

raw atlas Nov 21, 2025, 12:17 AM

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Matter over WiFi and no zigbee

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Don’t know who decided that was a good idea

hardy pecan Nov 21, 2025, 12:18 AM

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They may need to be taken out back.....

raw atlas Nov 21, 2025, 12:19 AM

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I get the advantage of separating the transport layer and everything

hardy pecan Nov 21, 2025, 12:19 AM

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Someone is a Network engineer 😄

raw atlas Nov 21, 2025, 12:19 AM

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But really matter over WiFi feels like a downgrade

hardy pecan Nov 21, 2025, 12:19 AM

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"Transport Layer" - Gotta be in IT and Networking support lol

raw atlas Nov 21, 2025, 12:20 AM

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Close 😂

hardy pecan Nov 21, 2025, 12:20 AM

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I'm a cloud Architect with the history in on-prem tech.

raw atlas Nov 21, 2025, 12:22 AM

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I’m just a software engineer

hardy pecan Nov 21, 2025, 12:22 AM

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ooo So you are the reason DNS broke. 🤣

raw atlas Nov 21, 2025, 12:22 AM

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My team works on networking infra tho

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But it’s several layers of abstraction away since everything is cloud these days lol

torpid silo Nov 21, 2025, 3:23 PM

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hardy pecan ooo So you are the reason DNS broke. 🤣

that was me...

#ZBT2 and IPv6.