I thought I would share my current smart home setup and break down how all the layers work together and what my experience has been like.
Here’s my stack:
Network Layer:
eero PoE Gateway with a couple of eero PoE wireless access points throughout the house
Thread Border Routers:
3 x Apple TV 4K devices
eero PoE access points (also function as Thread border routers)
Matter Devices:
Aqara U400 (with UWB) on my front door
Aqara U100 on my back/basement door
Aqara M3 hub (PoE-powered)
Aqara Thermostat Hub W200 (to be added once available)
Additional PoE Devices:
Ring doorbell at the front door
How the Stack Works Together:
The eero access points and Apple TVs all act as Thread border routers, creating a mesh network with multiple connection points. My U400 and U100 locks connect via Thread and communicate through Matter allowing Apple Home to control them directly.
Performance Note:
Coming from a previous WiFi-based smart home setup, the difference in responsiveness with Matter over Thread has been night and day. Commands execute almost instantly - no more waiting for devices to wake up or respond. The Thread mesh is just so much faster and more reliable than my old WiFi devices ever were.
About the M3 Hub:
The M3 isn’t strictly necessary for the locks since I already have plenty of Thread border routers. However, it adds:
Another Thread border router for even more mesh density
Zigbee bridge for any future Aqara Zigbee devices
IR control capability for traditional devices
Potential Aqara-specific features or faster firmware updates
The PoE Advantage:
The eero PoE Gateway powers my M3 hub, Ring doorbell, and all the eero access points - clean installation with no power adapters cluttering things up.
Would love to hear what others are doing and how many of you have made the move to Matter and what your journey has been like.
Thanks for your insight in your Smarthome system at home! Mine is built up similar… Just one point could be improved! Replace the Ring doorbell with an Aqara G410 or G400
You sure won’t regret
Thanks. I did look in to the Aqara doorbell cameras. The G410 seems to be the better of the two but does not support Ethernet/PoE. The G400 does but does not appear to be available in North America.
I have switched off Thread on the Eero though as I’d read that it creates its own Thread network. I know they have Thread 1.4, but Apple is still painfully using Thread 1.3 (Even though they beta tested 1.4 in 26.0)
Have you not had any issues with Eero and Apple using different networks?
Apple Home and Eero can end up running separate Thread networks because they don’t share Thread credentials. If everything is commissioned through Apple Home, the Eero Thread mesh may effectively be unused. Reliability issues tend to show up when using Matter multi-admin across ecosystems that each maintain their own Thread network. So OP can likely disable thread on eero with no impact.
So do I read correctly that your M3 joined the Eero thread mesh? Your M3 is not the TBR?
I didn’t even know our Eero router and extenders had Thread until I was troubleshooting our weak Thread mesh that is all commissioned on the M3 as TBR.
I disabled the separate Thread mesh on the Eero app, as a web search suggested that a separate Thread mesh might be the cause of my problems, which are likely due to the brick construction of our house and having entirely Thread lightbulbs and sleepy battery switches in the mesh.
I have no intention of using the Eero or Amazon devices to commission devices, or integrate Alexa, however we need a stronger Thread mesh…
I have 4 Grillplats Thread smart plugs due to be delivered this weekend.
The M3 can join an existing Thread network and still operate as a Thread Border Router. The issues typically arise when different smart-home ecosystems create separate Thread networks rather than sharing a single mesh. Matter multi-admin itself isn’t the problem. A device can be added to both Apple Home and Alexa via Matter. The challenge is that a Thread end device can only participate in one Thread mesh at a time. If Apple, Alexa, SmartThings, or Aqara are each running separate Thread networks, connectivity and reliability issues can occur, particularly with battery-powered Thread devices. Newer Thread 1.4 implementations are designed to address this by allowing border routers to join and share a common Thread network.
I think enabling the Eero’s won’t benefit you because they won’t join in another thread network but instead create their own.
What is your primary ecosystem? You might be better off getting some powered routers like smart plugs to strengthen your system.
You can’t do multi-admin across multiple Thread networks. by definition, for a device to be administered by multiple controllers, those controllers must be on the same network.
Correct that a Thread device can only join one Thread mesh at a time (I even said that), but it can be commissioned into multiple Matter fabrics (multi-admin). Matter multi-admin does not require controllers to share a Thread network; it only requires IP connectivity to the device via a Thread Border Router.
But the core of the question I was answering was “will enabling thread on my Eero’s strengthen my thread network” (paraphrased) - and the answer still at this time is “no”.
Makes perfect sense now. I’ll leave the Eero Thread disabled.
The Aqara M3 is my TBR and does all the automations - I have Aqara ZigBee devices too. I launch Home Assistant in a virtual machine only when I need to update 3rd party firmware.
I have four Matter over Thread smart plugs being delivered on Saturday. These should fill the gaps in the mesh.
All the Thread bulbs are in adjoining rooms and multiple bulbs per room, always powered on. One bulb (the room above the M3) has weak connections confirmed by Home Assistant Matter Server Web UI. Unscrewing that one bulb caused a number of bulbs to drop out of the mesh.
