Sorry, but as a network engineer, this is the dumbest thing Iâve seen in a long time that wasnât written by AI. (Or maybe it was written by AI?)
Just think about this for a secondâŚ
However, when the Matter devices are on the guest network, isolated from each other and the devices they need to communicate with, such as a smart TV or smart speakers (often acting as controllers) that are on the primary network, this communication is blocked.
When matter devices are on the guest network, they are not âisolated from each otherâ just because theyâre all on the guest network.
Same thing with any matter controller. If the controller is on the guest network, itâs not isolated from the devices on the guest network.
I donât know who wrote this article, but clearly they donât understand anything about setting up communication networks.
You choose the devices that you want to be local to each other, and you combine all of those on one network.
Itâs fine if thatâs the âguest networkâ or any other network you set up. You just want all of the ones that are going to communicate locally with each other to be on the same network.
Thereâs no rule that says your smart television or your matter controller has to be on your âprimaryâ Wi-Fi network. You decide which network theyâre going to be on and which combination of devices are going to be on that same network.
All of my Home Automation devices, including my smart speakers, are on one network. Our laptops and anything with super sensitive information are on a different network. My security system and medical monitoring equipment are on a third network. And our gaming devices and video streamers are on yet another network so that they wonât crash anything else.
This isnât hard to do, it just takes planning. And of course, some knowledge. 
Letâs seeâŚ
When matter devices are on the guest network, they are not âisolated from each otherâ as long as theyâre all on the guest network.
Same thing with any matter controller. If the controller is on the guest network, itâs not isolated from the devices on the guest network.
⌠until client isolation is enabled:
⌠and thatâs the default setting on a lot of routers.
And of course, some knowledge.
YepâŚ
(Former ânetwork engineerâ here, DE-CIX)
Good point!
But also, as you note, itâs a setting thatâs easily changed.
It wouldâve been better to write the article to educate people on when it makes sense to have a second network and things like this setting to look out for.
In my case, it all comes back to that medical monitoring equipment. It needs a Wi-Fi connection, but I also need to make sure that nothing else is going to crash it. 
Guest networks are designed to isolate visitor devices from the main network and often from each other.
Those five words are doing an extraordinary amount of heavy lifting considering they are the key to the article making any sense.
That was my thought when I saw it.
Do you already know when it will be available?
Iâll add one other nit. The article indicates " Some routers enable users to separate their 2.4GHz, 5GHz, or 6GHz networks into different SSIDs (network names). However, it is best to ensure these are set up using a single SSID, to improve setup and reliability." Iâve actually had to do exactly the opposite of this. Most of the Wifi matter devices use 2.4 GHZ and unless your phone is set to the 2.4 GHZ band, you cannot setup these devices. Thus, I changed my network naming from being the same so that I could force my phone onto the 2.4 GHZ band to set up matter wifi devices and I can then later move my phone back to the 5 GHZ band for general use.
Yep, that makes sense if your phone doesnât have a way to force itself onto the 2.4Ghz network. My router merges both frequencies, but offers a way for a device to be connected via 2.4Ghz vs 5Ghz (what it calls IOT mode).
It usually depends on your wifi router. I for example have never had any problems onboarding with Google WiFi.
Interesting- so I checked my router and it has a âsmart connectâ mode (unchecked), which says it allows each of the wireless bands to use the same wireless settings and it manages bandwidth and assigns devices to the optimum band. Is this what your IOT mode is? If I set it and my wireless bands are configured differently name and different security, will this work? How will 2.4 GHZ devices not get paired with the 5 GHZ band?
Most routers I have had over the last 10 years or so could do this. I find, though, that I always have a couple of devices that donât play nice with this managed setup and refuse to connect. They are always 2.4GHz only. They are fine if I split the frequencies.
Remember our discussions about Aqara misleading customers selling products âwith Matterâ when they were Zigbee and required an Aqara bridge?
Well, it has scalated!
The TLDR is that someone ranted about this practice, the Marketing chair for the Matter Work Group stopped by the post and said that they should not say âwith Matterâ if they are not Matter⌠It has reached Aqara and they are going to review all Amazon listings to be more clear.
Two new features coming to Matter are designed to make setting up smart gadgets easier. Multi-device QR codes and a tap-to-pair onboarding via NFC are new options for adding devices like smart lights, plugs, locks, and more to a Matter home network. The updates are part of the new 1.4.1 specification for Matter announced today by the Connectivity Standards Alliance
Shelly 1 Gen3 as Matter Device
I canât myself do tap to pair most of the time (not enough hand function), but itâs easy to tell someone else how to do it. Iâm always happy to see that option because it just eliminates a lot of the potential issues with on boarding.
I thought Matter has had NFC onboarding as an option since the beginning?
They had it that was exactly the same as the original QR code.
But now with this new release, the QR code capabilities have been expanded to include, for example, terms and conditions from the manufacturer so the user can give permission through a third-party app.
That same expansion now applies to NFC commissioning.
That makes sense. A lot of blogs seem to think itâs totally new.