Does the aqara m100 also do Edge like the M3?
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@arturofernandez05 The question pertains to whether the Aqara Hub M100 has Edge computing capabilities similar to the Aqara Hub M3.
Based on the reference information, the Aqara Hub M3 is noted for its Edge computing capabilities, which allow it to focus on local control and automations. However, there is no specific mention of the Aqara Hub M100 having similar Edge computing capabilities in the provided reference.
It appears that the M3 stands out with its Edge Hub features, while the M100 does not have this feature explicitly highlighted. If you are considering the M3 for its Edge computing benefits, it seems this would be a unique advantage over the M100.
Feel free to share your experiences or any additional insights you might have on this, as community discussions can often shed light on features and usage scenarios!
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It does do Edge it but there a lot of caveats. I bought an M100 to act as a matter edge controller, but it did not do what it was supposed to do, but that was mainly because I did not understand Thread and its current limitations. Then thinking the M100 did not act as a matter edge controller, I then bought a M3 hub and to my surprise, it did not fix anything. It then turned out that my HomePod Mini internal edge controller was causing problems, but both the M100 and M3 were also not working correctly in regards to matter devices and I ended up reconfiguring my H2 switches to Zigbee and then they finally worked worked (more or less).
The problem was that the Matter H2 switches would always connect to my HomePod mini when connected using the Apple Home app, but then 2 problems occurred:
- They could not be connected to the Aqara app because the HomePod mini Thread network could not bee seen by Aqara.
- The HomePod Mini Thread network was unreliable and Matter devices would be disconnected anytime between the same day or 3-4 days later and only a HomePod mini full restart would fix it.
So the fix was to remove the HomePod mini completely, and have only Aqara hubs because adding the first M3 hub seems to work, but then adding an additional M100 hub to another room did not seem to work. And then I made everything Zigbee and it works for now (I still needed multiple hubs due to the way my apartment is constructed). I have 1 M3 hub and 2 M100 hubs, with the M3 configured as the master. What I did not realise at the beginning, is that all 3 hubs created separate Thread networks. When I noticed all 3 had created separate matter networks, I could at first not figure out how to combine them into 1 network. I tried by making the M3 the primary matter controller, but that had no real effect. Then, by accident, I went to M100 Hub > Network Information > Thread Network Management and have it join the M3 hub. And suddenly I have the 2 hubs on the same Thread network. Did the same for the second M100 hub and suddenly all 3 are on the same network. It is not foolproof because later one M100 dropped off and created a new network again and I don’t know why. I have no Thread Matter devices at the moment as I made them all Zigbee but soon I will try to have one H2 switch to be reconfigured back to Matter / Thread and see what happens. I had an Arre Matter switch but that could not be reconfigured at all and I got rid of it.
It is a Thread problem, not a Matter problem. I have one Tapa Matter Smart Plug which connects through Wifi and that has been rock solid through all my fights with the Thread Network. I am hoping that Thread 1.4 will fix problems. The HomePod mini should get that in September, but not sure when Aqara will support that. Until then, my HomePod mini stays on ice and I have no Siri voice control to control my smart home.
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Awesome contribution, thank you. I have had successes and failures with Aqara Thread devices. The motion sensors seem to work fine but the contact sensor I purchased would disconnect after a couple days. I eventually settled on the cheaper zigbee contacts sensors everywhere and I’ve been happy. My other issue was with the U200 which has now thankfully been resolved with the latest Beta update.
It’s funny that you need multiple Aqara hubs in an apartment. I thought for sure that a single M3 would work everywhere but then I tried to put a contact sensor in my garage and it won’t stay connected. I’ll probably get a M100 like you did. Who knows, maybe that’ll solve some of the random dropping some of my devices have been experiencing.
I did an experiment today and it was a complete failure: I took one of my H2 switches and converted it back to Matter/Thread. First I connected it to Aqara and that worked: it showed it was properly connected to the Aqara single Thread network. Then I connected the H2 switch to HomeKit through the “connect” option in Aqara. It appeared in Apple Home and seemed to work at first and then completely stopped working. Then I disconnected that switch from both Apple Home and Aqara, and tried to reconnect to the apple Home ecosystem first and that failed by informing that I have no border router at all in the system, even though 1 M3 hub and 2 M100 hubs are connected. So back to zigbee it was.
Then while writing this reply, I suddenly remember to use the Keychain Access app and inspect the Thread settings. This showed something weird: the 3 hubs were listed with one Thread network name, but the default was an older one which no longer exists: the first thread network seems to be locked in as preferred network (and used by Home App) and once you start messing around with it, the hub network names are changed, but this preferred setting does not. So that is why the Home App reports no Border controller.
I deleted that Preferred network entry, but sill could not connect and no new preferred network entry could be created. I tried various options(resetting hub, removing and adding back the hub from Apple Home) but nothing worked. I then deleted every single Thread related entry from Keychain and after that all settings were recreated and now Home detects the border controller and the H2 switch could be added as Matter device and works in Apple Home. However the device could not be added to the Aqara App.
Removed it from Home App and tried to connect to Aqara: it works as long as you select Hub Cluster lead hub. But then it could not be added to HomeKit.
I have gone back to the device being connected to Home App via matter and not connected to Aqara at all. My advice, use Zigbee for now as Matter is still unreliable in the Aqara ecosystem (for example, I can not add my Tapo switchable plug to Aqara while it has been rock solid at the Home App side).
But Thread is a work in progress in both ecosystems and not yet ready for the general public.
It’s funny that you need multiple Aqara hubs in an apartment. I thought for sure that a single M3 would work everywhere but then I tried to put a contact sensor in my garage and it won’t stay connected. I’ll probably get a M100 like you did. Who knows, maybe that’ll solve some of the random dropping some of my devices have been experiencing.
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I live in a high-rise apartment block where all walls are steel reinforced concrete. Even my WiFi mesh has a wired backbone with 5 access points and still some corners of the house have a weak signal. I can see that one Zigbee sensor is only 3 meters from the M3 hub, but the signal shows “poor” as there is a concrete wall in-between.
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