Hello, I'm helping a friend set up a Home Assistant instance for a remote cabin that does not have internet or cell coverage. We have power and a wifi router but no outside connection, the router is just there to allow the friend's devices to connect to and control Home Assistant while at the cabin.
We have some Thread devices and a ZBT-2, have gotten the ZBT-2 set up and are moving onto adding the devices. When trying to add the devices in HA, it takes me to the Google Play Services add device interstitial and when I scan the code it just says "No Wi-Fi Connection". Based on my research that seems like either a lie or intentional misrepresentation because the phone is absolutely connected to WiFi, just not internet.
Is there a way to add these Thread devices to HA without internet when using an Android device? We do not have an iPhone but do have a laptop (though Home Assistant on the laptop just says to use a phone).
#Add Matter device **without internet** on Android
jade merlin
hollow scaffold
Well, depending on the router if you could connect it to the android where the Android is a Hot Spot, you'd have internet access -- this is highly router dependent.
As for the misrepresentation 98% of the world thinks WiFi means the Internet, which is frustratingly wrong.
abstract kernel
That assumes the android device has a cell connection to share over WiFi, which is often not the case at remote cabins
If we go with no cell connection for the android device, is there a way to set up matter devices with absolutely no connection to the outside world? Is it as simple as needing to run an NTP server on this hyper local network or as complicated as needing remote access to some sort of credential/api server out there?
jade merlin
Yeah, we've got plain nothing for internet out there. All I've ever heard is that Matter talks locally but if it takes internet to set it up that's not great.
cobalt mortar
Does the router assign an IPV6 address to clients in the fc00::/7 range?
Matter uses IPV6. Router defaults often use the WAN-side to determine the LAN-side IPV6 range (prefix delegation), and require manual config to some ULA range if this isn't available due to being air gapped or on an IPV4 only ISP.
hardy rover
@jade merlin , You could use a (USB) Bluetooth adapter with Home Assistant, and then commission your matter device directly from the matter server dashboard instead of using a phone. Of course, the matter device would have to be placed near the Bluetooth dongle during commissioning. That should give you internet-less commissioning.