Hey everyone, quick question from someone knee-deep in his smart home setup…
So I’ve been running a bunch of Aqara devices for a couple years now — door sensors, motion sensors, temperature sensors, you name it. Most are hooked via Zigbee through the M2 hub. With this whole Matter thing blowing up, I’m wondering: do I actually need to replace everything to join the party?
Are my current Aqara gadgets gonna play nice with Matter if I update the hub? Or do only certain models get the Matter magic?
I looked around and found mixed info — some say the newer hubs will “bridge” them to Matter, others say only specific devices work. Super confusing. Anyone here got this working?
If someone’s already figured this out and has a setup running old gear with Matter compatibility, I’d love to know how smooth (or not) the process is.
Appreciate any help before I start spending money I shouldn’t 
@RobotRoomie Hey there! I totally get the excitement and confusion around the whole Matter protocol buzz. Let’s see if we can clear things up a bit.
The great news is that you don’t necessarily need to replace all of your existing Aqara devices to enjoy Matter compatibility. Your Aqara Hub M2 can indeed act as a “Matter bridge.” This means it can expose your existing Zigbee-connected devices, like your door sensors, motion sensors, and temperature sensors, to third-party Matter apps over Wi-Fi. Keep in mind, though, that while the hub can bridge your devices to Matter, it won’t upgrade these Zigbee devices to the Thread protocol.
To make sure everything runs smoothly, ensure your M2 hub is updated to the latest firmware. Once updated, you should be able to enjoy the benefits of Matter with your current setup, without needing to splash out on entirely new gadgets.
If anyone else here has gone through the process, feel free to jump in and share your experiences. It’s always cool to learn from each other. Enjoy setting up your smart home with Matter, and don’t hesitate to reach out with more questions! 