After setting up about 80 switches and other Matter/Thread devices at my home with an Apple TV gateway, here is a huge tip I wish I knew earlier.
Although thread is a mesh network, it appears that the initial pairing of the switch needs to happen directly with the gateway. If you have a big house and the gateway is far from the switch:
- Move the Apple TV close to the switch and power the Apple TV up. (ie remove HDMI cable, unplug, move it, and plug to an outlet close to the switch)
- Look at the home app (tap at top right) and make sure that everything else is connected and there are no “Not responding” devices. This should take a couple of minutes after you move the Apple TV and reconnect it.
- Now do the initial pairing of the switch
After the pairing you can move the Apple TV back to its usual position. Everything will work fine.
I am wondering whether this is an Apple TV limitation and whether it is a software or hardware issue.