You won't be the only one! Those complaining about Matter probably don't have large Z-wave networks with a 700 or 800 series controller which has a known firmware bug (documented by Silicon Labs for a couple of years now, and still no fix) causing the controller to stop working for several seconds at a time. I get this error at least once a day. Yeah, Matter has its startup problems, but the multi-vendor open-source SDK development on github shows a lot of action to correct and improve, while I'm still seeing the same old Z-wave bugs.
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I hope so. it's getting annoying having them slowly and randomly dropping off.
I don't have a "large" Z-wave network, about 40 z wave devices on a C8 (previously a C7). I have never had this issue. Not saying the bug doesn't exist, just havent seen it myself. I won't be rushing out to replace all my z wave with matter, but it will at least be a consideration in the future. For the record I was one of those that was convinced that matter was all hype. Still not convinced that it hasnt been over hyped, but I'm not totally against it anymore either.
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And that's why I wrote "on paper" 
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Blaming Matter is like blaming the road for not going around the tree while you were texting. I converted my home to Matter since the launch day when Hue first released Matter. It worked exactly as it was intended. It has been solid on every fabric that wants Matter to work. That said, Amazon and Hubitat are my only two problematic fabrics. 80+ zigbee lights on two Hue bridges, a dozen Matter over Wifi bulbs work incredibly well on most platforms. Hubitat still doesnt work with Bridged devices. Amazon and Nanoleaf do not play nicely together while a dozen other Thread devices from Mujoy, Aqara, Onvis and Eve are reliable. I bet most people with problems with Matter are experiencing environmental issues, network infrastructure, no IPV6, or just not enough thread devices in their mesh.
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When you say "problematic" you are referring to missing some features like drivers for bridges and inability to commission devices directly, but not reliability issues with connected devices, right?
As I understand it (or think I do), thread Border Routers provide the Matter IPV6 connectivity, not your existing router (which can, of course, have its own IPV6 support). Or did I fall asleep in class (again)? 
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Wouldn't they have to ask for an IPV6 address from the main router in the normal way they would have to for IPV4? I mean otherwise you could have clashing IPV6 addresses on your network.
I'll need others to chime in on this, I've only lightly dabbled in Matter, but my memory is that The thread border routers handle the IPV6 needs...
IPV6 is not required for Matter to run in your home environment and is not necessary for the router to have turned on. A Matter fabric will create a link-local IPV6 to communicate with each other, but this does not require that the router give out an IPV6 address. Matter via Wifi devices can be given IPV4 and/or IPV6 addresses and work fine.
This is correct. Thread devices are cousins to Zigbee devices is the best way to think about them within a smart home environment. A thread boarder router will connect a thread device to the link-local IPV6 Matter fabric; however, a thread device does not get a traditional IP address at the Wifi router level. Thread devices do not communicate out similar to Zigbee devices.
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What he said... 
Thanks for filling in the many blanks I left behind, @JB10.
Oh, and what's your daily rate for following me around here and correcting or explaining my posts? 
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So, I commission my matter-over-wifi smart plug with Google via my Nest Hub Max, and then use a sharing code to make that plug available to Hubitat to control. Presumably Hubitat is communicating with it directly by using its IP address, whether IPV4 or 6. Hopefully that IP address will have been allocated by my main router? Hubitat's not talking to it via Google I assume? I have enabled IPV6 on my router, will it use that range for Matter devices rather than the IPV4 where it can?
This is correct. A Nest Hub Max is both a Matter Commissioner and a Thread Boarder Router. This would be the correct process if you want to bring in either a Matter via Wifi or a Matter via Thread device into Hubitat.
No. Hubitat and Google create independent Matter Fabrics (see What is a Matter Fabric? | Know-how | matter-smarthome as a good explainer). This is the link-local IPV6. They are two completely separate fabrics and do not talk to each.
Yes. Once you add a Matter via WiFi device, if your router has the capabilities, you should be able to see them on your IP registry.
Theoretically, yes. I'm not running IPV6 at home with my Nest WiFi Pros so I can't verify. Everything just works.
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But if you remove the Matter over WiFi device from Google, it will also break the hubitat communication to the device, at least thats my experience.
Correct. That's because Google has not implemented local control via the Google Home app when the internet is out. It works if you use Apple Home to initially commission and then remove it.
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I wasn't expecting that! I mean yes with matter over thread but I assumed matter over wifi would have an independent existence to some extent. 
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As @JB10 notes - it's a Google issue, not a Matter issue. Matter is still very new, and vendors are (hopefully) going to improve/extend their support, like Google enabling local control like Apple already has.
There are improvements coming in 2024...for example a Thread update is coming:
Ok I may be talking about something different then. I was thinking about a matter over WiFi device commissioned on Google, shared with hubitat that still works when the internet is disconnected, ie not relying on Google's cloud features for local control by hubitat. Which I think I tested but I'll give it another go at the weekend. I would have expected that I could destroy all my nest hubs after sharing with hubitat and Alexa and it wouldn't stop the plug working
From what I gathered in my experience (tell me if I'm wrong): Matter wifi device will always get an IPV4 address from the router and will self configured a LinkLocal or ULA IPV6 address. IPV6 is not required to be enable on the router.
As for Google, once it is commissioned, the wifi device will work locally (from Hubitat) even if there is no internet. The same is true when the commissionning Nest device is not present on the network. But the GH app is like anything Google: no internet = no data collecting = screw you (oups, can I say that here?)
So, what are examples of Thread Border routers? I have two Apple TV's, i know one of them is a boarder router. I don't even have HomeKit set up on the other. is it still being used? Do i need to consider repeaters? is there such an animal in Matter? I only have 3 matter devices currently. Nanoleaf Essentials bulbs. in three different areas. Not exactly problematic, but not set it and forget it either. Overall my home is about 96% zwave which just work.
Which exact models of Apple TV devices do you have? Not every model contains a Thread radio.
In the "Apple Home" platform, devices can be connected that are "HomeKit over WiFi", "HomeKit over Thread", "Matter over WiFi", and "Matter over Thread". It is important to understand the distinction between these different types of devices.
It is my understanding that the same Thread radio in an Apple TV (model that support Thread), an Apple HomePod Mini (all support Thread), or an Apple HomePod (only the new model supports Thread) is used for both "HomeKit over Thread" and "Matter over Thread" communications.
Now, all of these devices can act as an "Apple Home Hub", which is what allows one to run Apple Home Automations as also allows remote access to one's "Apple Home" when away from the house. The user does not get to choose which of their Apple devices will be the "Apple Home Hub", as that choice is done automagically by an Apple algorithm behind the scenes. (Note: This is true assuming all of the devices are logged into the same iCloud account.) This allows for added resiliency when you power down the currently elected "Apple Home Hub" device for some reason (reboot, firmware upgrade, etc...) as another device will simply take its place.
The "Matter Thread Border Router" functionality is handled in the same way amongst Apple devices that support Thread. In addition, having multiple Apple Thread Border routers in you house does result in a more robust Thread Mesh network. There are many roles within a Matter Thread mesh network, that each device capable of being a Thread Border Router can take on, and share the workload. Also, just like the "Apple Home Hub" functionality, TBRs on the same Thread network will automatically take over the roles that other TBRs had when they are powered down.
I hope the above makes sense... Now we come to the messy part. If you have TBR capable devices from multiple manufacturers (e.g. an Apple TBR, a Google TBR and an Amazon TBR), TODAY each of these creates its own Thread Mesh network. Thread Mesh networks from different vendors do NOT currently work together to create a single, large, resilient Thread mesh network. This is supposedly coming soon, however today it is best to choose one vendor and build out that platform to create a large, robust Thread mesh network.
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