I have the issue with the same 3 switches over and over as far as timing out. Others will fall off regularly and then rejoin without issue.
Probably pure coincidence but my stability seemed to significantly improve once I changed the channel thread was running on.
Originally I thought I solved it by adding more switches to improve coverage but none of my automations would run despite matter saying the devices were still connected. I’d also see a flood of chip errors in my logs.
But then I did a scan to see what all wifi networks were running near me and double checking what channel I had my wifi running on (1 & 6 btw). Next double checked what channel I had Hue (zigbee) running on (15). Then I saw Thread was set to 15 as well. But after changing the channel to 20 all of the error logs in my matter controller disappeared and everything appears to be running smoothly (for now at least).
So maybe just check to see if you have any other nearby thread/zigbee networks and see if changing the channel to something less congested helps.
Maybe? I have thread on channel 25, zigbee on channel 11 and wifi on channel 7 40 mhz. I have channel monitor running as well and basically the entire spectrum is dead except channel 18-22
Linking my post from the main bug/feature request thread, since it’s related to discussion here:
With this is sounds like we may have two issues that exacerbate each other.
- Is seemingly poor range out of sky connect/nrf52840/otbr/ dimmer switches. This is preventing a proper network from forming fully leading to odd topologies and incomplete maps that allow packets occasionally but not Always
- Something with HA matter system that doesn’t requery or talk to devices after some setup period on boot
I don’t feel the causes are connected but the outcomes certainly affect each other
So I have now tried a esp32 border bridge over Ethernet and it hasn’t changed the reliability. Same issues persist especially with signal strength. Is this an Open Thread problem or a innovelli issue ?
EDIT: I believe my instability was less related to signal color, and more due to other issues. I hope the beta firmware fixes this.
OLD: This may or may not help, as I haven’t spent a lot of time on figuring out the “why”.
I was having yellow and red signal indications, and at one point I deleted all my switches from my controller, Google Home, and then re-commissioned them to Home Assistant through Google’s radios, and signal strengths did show improvement. BUT, I also learned signal color had little to do with my disconnect issues.
I fixed that by unplugging my Google Hub 2nd generation, and leaving only one thread radio in my Google Hub Max. I am still in the process of figuring out the “why” this worked, after a week of being stable. Possibly 2 thread radios interfering with each other due to separate fabrics/thread revision/ software glitch? Maybe I need to turn on ipv6.
Anyway, I’ll keep playing with it.
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All I have is home assistant within the house so not sure this helps
I’m having an issue where ALL of my switches thread network status are flashing red, except for the switches that are within 5 feet of my hub. One of those is yellow, and the other 4 are green. Are there any guidelines on keeping good signal with Thread/Matter? My understanding is the devices form their own mesh network that should cover my whole house as long as I have switches everywhere.
For anybody still struggling with this issue — I went back and forth with @EricM_Inovelli many weeks back to talk about signal strength issues, and he had their firmware engineer roughly double (I think?) the radio transmit level in a firmware update that I tested across all of my switches. It was a massive improvement, to the point that I do not have drop-offs any longer.
If you’re having this issue, I would encourage you to reach out to him and ask how to get the beta firmware, assuming it’s going to still be a while until they have it certified and released publically.
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I still have issue and I assume a recent Matter update on home assistant broke some persistence so 90% of my switches are currently offline. A beta firmware would be nice
I spent weeks banging my head against the wall trying to figure out why even with the new 1.0.5 firmware I could have three switches next to one another, with a matter border router (apple homepod mini) 1 feet away, and one of the three switches would flash red.
And then I read this article which solved most, BUT NOT ALL of my problems. It helped me understand that (1) Matter over Thread is not as robust as I would like it to be, I must adjust the network environment to optimize (2) Some of the anger against Inovelli may be misplaced, albeit I haven’t yet ruled out faulty devices.
https://www.derekseaman.com/2024/09/essential-tips-for-a-stable-matter-over-thread-network.html
The solution: Change the wireless network configuration to stop using Channel 11. Instead use channel 6 or 1. Matter over Thread and Channel 11 on the 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi spectrum do not get along, its in your best interest to avoid using this channel - for me it instantly made all my problems go away once I changed then network, and then deleted the devices in Homekit, factory reset the devices, and then added them back to Homekit.
Spectrum Allocation and Overlap
Thread channels predominantly occupy the same frequency range as 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi. This overlap can lead to signal interference, with the severity depending on various factors, including the proximity and signal strength of nearby Wi-Fi access points.
The 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi spectrum is typically divided into three primary non-overlapping channels:
- Channel 1 (2.412 GHz)
- Channel 6 (2.437 GHz)
- Channel 11 (2.462 GHz)
Thread, on the other hand, utilizes multiple channels within this same spectrum. Of particular note is Thread Channel 25, which is commonly used by Apple Thread Border Routers. This channel overlaps significantly with Wi-Fi Channel 11.
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