Matter - smart home connectivity standard (formerly Project CHIP)

I backread a bit but I might have missed it. I have an aqara M3 but I didn’t know you could add third-party zigbee devices to it. Is there any other info on this?

Thanks. I looked at your posts. Glad to hear it is improving and at least a few of the items I would want to add are Tuya based so that’s good. Will probably need it to expand further though before it fits my needs.

Sure would be nice if ST would just update their hub to be a Matter Hub. Not too big an ask, right!!

Also. On the subject of tuya, I’m surprised none of these random tuya companies have made a Matter bridge for their existing wifi devices. I realize it seems silly to have to connect your wifi devices to another wifi device but I sure do prefer the idea of backwards compatibility for my old stuff, rather than having to buy all new stuff.

I only have 2 tuya wifi devices: a tower fan and one of those galaxy projectors. Neither of them are ST compatible though :frowning: (but both would function as currently supported Matter device types, with at least limited functionality)

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Aqara themselves just say it’s in beta.

Various bloggers have detailed some of the third-party devices they’ve been able to add, including adding the Hue Bridge as a matter bridge, which lets it bring in a lot of the devices connected to it into the aqara app.

Note that third-party devices are connected to the M3 using matter. So at the time of this writing, you can’t add a third-party Zigbee device in most cases. But you can add a third-party matter over thread or matter over Wi-Fi or matter over bridge.

I haven’t seen a comprehensive list anywhere, hopefully if someone knows of one they’ll post it. And aqara has been pushing out frequent updates for the M 3, so it is a moving target right now.

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SmartThings hubs are actually Matter hubs. You can add and use Matter devices with a ST hub.

EDIT: What there are not is Matter Bridges. You can NOT export devices via Matter to other systems.

Lots of confusing terms.

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Ah, I have been using hub and bridge interchangeably and controller for the other one.

Ok yeah I’m already using the M3 that way. Thanks.

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To the best of my knowledge there is no such thing as a WiFi over Matter Bridge. @JDRoberts would be the one to answer that question.

If you want a partial integration of you Tuya WiFi devices you can do the following:

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This might help

FAQ: What do I need to add a Matter device to the SmartThings app? Do I need a bridge router device?

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It wouldn’t be called a “Wi-Fi over matter bridge.“ The options at the time of this posting are

Matter over WiFi
Matter over Thread
Matter over Bridge

But the interesting thing is that once you go to matter over bridge, the child devices can be using any protocol at all that the bridge manufacturer wants. For example, SwitchBot devices use Bluetooth to the SwitchBot hub that acts as a matter bridge. The Hue Bridge uses Zigbee for its child devices. There are a couple of systems in Europe which have proprietary communications to the bridge. This is also how Lutron would do it once they get around to creating a matter bridge.

So…there’s nothing in the specification that says a matter bridge couldn’t be connected to child devices via Wi-Fi. And maybe using a proprietary messaging system to talk to them. So if tuya or aqara want to go that way, they can. But they haven’t yet. :thinking:

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Yeah all I’m saying is the way random tuya stuff is constantly getting churned out, I’m surprised no one has tried it yet.

It is something I badly wish govee would do for their older stuff since they don’t seem to be interested in partnering with SmartThings or homeassistant, but I know it’ll never happen.

Hmm I had forgotten about sonoff iHost. Wonder if that could be my answer.

Might have to do some research.

I lot of problems noted on the eWeLink forum. @Johnnybegoode has one.

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The Tapo H100 would be a “Matter over WiFi Bridge” - and a hub, because it can run local “routines” (actions).

Regarding Matter over WiFi, wouldn’t it be more correct to call it Matter over LAN (i.e., WiFi and/or Ethernet)? Or is it really restricted to WiFi?

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Matter is always over the local IP network (except for bluetooth for discovery and comissioning), be it WiFi, Thread or Ethernet.

Those three are the only types of connectivity that can be certified for a Matter device and the Matter protocol has specific features for those methods, like diagnostics, relevant link statistics and, of course, exchanging credentials for WiFi or Thread so the device can join the wireless network.

Technically, there’s only Matter over WiFi, Matter over Thread and Matter over Ethernet.

Then there are the so called “Matter over bridge” devices, which is just a marketing term because they are not Matter devices. The only Matter device there is the bridge, which usually connects via WiFi or Ethernet to the local IP network.

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Great explanation. I’ve been wondering about this for a while and now I understand. Thank you!

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@sdaltons

If you wanted to comment the pros and cons of this device I started a thread some time back Experience with Smartthings using the Sonoff iHost
Post there to avoid hijacking this thread, and as @Paul_Oliver very correctly points out there has been a fairly negative feedback on the eWelink forum, but that needs putting in perspective.
Cheers

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The Tapo H100 is a hub which is also a “Matter Bridge.” There’s no such thing as a “matter over Wi-Fi bridge.”

I’m seeing a lot of confusion in this thread about the difference between a “matter controller” (Which can bring matter certified devices into its own app) and a “matter bridge” (Which can bring non-matter certified devices out to a different platform’s matter controller).

Under the independent third-party specification, there’s no such thing as a “matter hub.“ There are some individual device manufacturers who are describing their own hub as “matter hub“ if that hub is a matter controller, a matter bridge, or both, but it’s not a term That’s being used consistently.

For now, it will be less confusing for everybody if you stick with the standard terms: “matter controller“ and “matter bridge.“ Neither of these should have the “over Wi-Fi” phrase attached.

Individually certified end devices like sensors and light switches will be “matter over Wi-Fi” “matter over thread” or “matter over bridge.”

The FAQ explains how these terms apply in a SmartThings context:

FAQ: What do I need to add a Matter device to the SmartThings app? Do I need a bridge router device?

@Paul_Oliver

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It’s not just a marketing term because “matter bridge“ is defined in the matter specification. Matter over bridge end devices are not themselves individually certified for matter, but they are connecting to a “matter bridge“ device, which is individually certified for matter and bridges them out according to the specification. So it has a valid technical meaning which is the same for all devices and is covered by the third-party specification.

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