SmartThings Station if you already have a V2/V3 hub?

Really interested to know if it can load any drivers, or what could be seen for example in the API browser. Good luck!

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First review I’d trust is out. As suspected, you CAN run multiple hubs in one location, but there is no local hub-to-hub communication.

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Very good article. :sunglasses:

As useful of a multipurpose device as it is, the Station’s extra functions are geared toward Samsung smartphones, making this only worth considering if you or someone in your house uses a Galaxy device. If you already have a SmartThings hub that supports Zigbee and Matter, then there’s no need to get this for the hub portion.

I would have to disAgree with the conclusion in the final paragraph that smartthings looks to have the widest compatibility of any of the mainstream platforms, even after matter is widely deployed. I think we still have to wait and see on that one, and in particular, what happens once appliances are added to matter via the HCA. I think even now it’s Alexa that has the widest compatibility, and that may continue to be true, because of the number of standalone devices that do provide Alexa integration even if they don’t talk to anything else, but again, we will see. :thinking:

I have a fridge with the Family Hub set up (2018 model). I can see and control devices that are paired with my physical hub. If I add the dongle, I could support Zigbee devices with the fridge. No Matter support yet and the firmware is quite behind at 42.7.

I’m one of those people who only uses the Smartthings app and don’t own a hub. The only reason I finally created a ST account in the first place was because I had to in order to use Samsung’s SmartTag. But now that I’ve been using it for a while, I really like the options.

I’ve been doing smart home stuff for the past few years now but most stuff I have requires the cloud. That being said I’m interested in getting this Smartthings Station because I want to move towards local control and get something to act as a thread border router.The lack of Z-Wave has absolutely no affect for people like me who typically own mostly Wifi devices.

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I have a 2015 V2 SmartThings Hub so I understand that it is does not have a tread radio. So I get that I need a Tread Border Router.

Here is an article that list “Off the Shelf Border Routers”. The article specifies:

  • The Eero Pro access point, which combines Thread, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth in a small, easy-to-install device.
  • The Tridonic Net4More PoEBorder Router, which bridges the Thread network to the corporate network using ethernet and does not require an additional power source as it is powered via PoE (Power-over-Ethernet).
  • The Thread Backbone Border Router from Kirale. This compactly designed border router contains everything that is needed to connect a Thread network to an IPv4 or IPv6 network, and is optimized for the latest Thread 1.2 functionalities.

Another article states that the following pieces of smart home hardware already have Thread border routers built into them:

The article then concludes “If you already own any of the above devices, then congratulations. As soon as Matter goes live, you’re ready to go because you have a Thread border router already installed on your local network.”

Here is a list of “Thread Certified Products”. I am assuming that all devices which are listed as “Thread Group Certified Products and Components” and which include the label “Thread Border Router”, may be used to give the V2 SmartThings Hub the ability to connect to matter devices. Is this true?

So here is my question, if I purchase any of the specified hubs or said devices with “a Thread border router already installed”, will any/all of the listed hubs or devices with give my SmartThings V2 hub the ability to connect to matter compatible devices?

If the answer is in the affirmative, then I must ask whether are all thread boarder router devices or hubs created equally. Should I just purchase the least expensive device to obtain the ability to connect matter devices to my V2 Hub? Many of the above listed hubs that I priced seem much more expensive then the SmartThings Station. So even though I do not have any Android devices perhaps it is more practical to go with the Station??

Here is a SmartThings article that list the requirements for matter integration…

No.

Prior to mid 2022, thread border routers did not have to be interoperable. So you could get one from one company and it wouldn’t necessarily work with the thread Network from another company.

The thread standard was updated in mid 2022 to say that going forward, thread border routers would be interoperable, but if you get an older model, it may not be even though it is still “thread certified.”

And remember that thread and matter are two different things, just like Wi-Fi and matter are two different things. Matter is in the application layer, which runs over the transport layer, where Wi-Fi and thread are operating.

So what all that means is that it’s entirely possible to get a thread device which doesn’t support matter.

So… you want to only get a thread border router which is also certified for matter. All of those will also meet the new inter-operability standard.

It’s easiest to just not go crazy on this. Choose a thread border router which was designed for home automation, not commercial installations, and which is matter certified. :sunglasses:

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So should I just go with the SmartThings Station?

The station is a good candidate for many people. But I suspect most will use one of these smart speakers from Google or Amazon or Apple that will also be thread border routers. Up to you.

Agreed. Many people will have devices like:

  • Apple TV 4K Wi-Fi + Ethernet (2022 version)
  • Apple TV 4K (2021 version)
  • Echo (4th-gen)

that will be TBRs and won’t need to buy something else.

My Samsung fridge Family Hub was just updated and it is now a Matter over Wi-Fi controller. The Hub dongle that now supports Zigbee is supposed to get an update to support Thread in March at which time it should become a TBR as well.

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What about the SmartThings Hub Dongle for Zigbee Devices?

I believe that I read somewhere that it was going to be given the update to be used as a thread border router. At $34.99 on Amazon, it would be an inexpensive option if a one would want to buy several to strengthen the network.

As I understand it, the Hub Dongle is only intended for TVs and the fridge Family hub.

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Apparently Bruce answered my question. Thanks h0ckeysk8er

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A thread border router doesn’t actually strengthen the thread fabric. Think of it like a Philips Hue bridge. There are lots of other mains powered devices that can act as repeaters, and that’s what strengthens the mesh. The thread border router is just used to link the fabric to Wi-Fi or the Internet to connect to other platforms, including apps.

Thread calls its repeaters “mesh extenders.” Again, note that that’s a different network role than the thread border router.

For example, the Eve smart plug will be a thread mesh extender. But not a thread border router.

If you have several Samsung smart televisions or the Samsung family hub refrigerator and you want to stick a dongle on each one, you could, but it shouldn’t really be needed for most people.

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Thanks JDRoberts, that was a very helpful answer. :smile:

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Maybe JD mentioned it somewhere else, but the other piece of being able to combine these disparate Thread Boarder Routers into one Thread network is the UI to do so. Nobody has that built yet as far as I’m aware. You can’t even combine two SmartThings boarder routers into one network yet :upside_down_face:My Station and V3 hub shows two separate Thread network IDs.

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I bought a station out of curiosity. It seems to be using cloud execution and cloud dth for execution. Anyone that has this notice the same or got it to run edge drivers?

Mine is running standard and custom edge drivers. Maybe it’s the specific device you paired to it?

I have firmware P9500XXU1AWB1 (000.046.00008) on the station. I tried connecting a sengled zigbee switch to it and it seems to be pairing as a cloud device. It pairs to my v2 hub with edge drivers. I might be missing a step to enroll the station with edge driver support. It’s been a while since I’ve played around with my hub.