So I'd like to mess with matter a bit... any suggestions for a cheap device that alexa can provision?
Do you want a thread device or wifi? Do any of your alexa echo devices offer a thread border router?
If you want WiFi devices the Third Reality plug and night light are working fairly well. I'd consider most Matter devices to be beta. The first firmware versions of the Third Reality devices were not reliable. The newest ones are much better. As I type this I see there are more updates. Which I consider good. The manufacturer seems to be interested in making the device work well.
I have some matter over wifi Kasa (Tapo) plugs and switches (commissioned with google). they work well. I have had a few of the switches dropouts lately (the plugs never drop off) . Three of them dropped from the hub last night when i migrated to the Pro. Usually a reboot fixes it.
For tests, I would go with a cheap Matter WiFi bulb like this :
https://www.amazon.com/Linkind-Google-SmartThings-Changing-Integration/dp/B0BHS1X2G7/?th=1
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Ha I just ordered that exact thing about 3 hours ago. They will be here tomorrow.
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Yes - I've also tested those bulbs for Matter over Wifi.. - And also did some Tapo plugs (like @jasonbalsor) - See: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BXMNJDW3?th=1 @ 3x for $25 they are rather inexpensive. Both the bulbs and plugs are much faster than the Zwave devices they replaced, and seem to work fine.
And finally, to actually replace a failed Jasco Z-wave inline switch, I went with a Leviton WiFi switch - See: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08RSM1KYN - This was somewhat of a pain to update firmware to get Matter enabled, but following along on some HA forums, it ultimately got provisioned. This was WAY overpriced, but I wanted to keep the same "paddle" look as a bunch of existing Zooz's in the same gang box, yet try a Matter in wall switch which didn't look like a Kasa
I've commissioned them all from an Apple iPad, and shared to HE as a secondary controller - All have worked well, and seem to be very fast (I would expect that on a WiFi LAN) - no real problems with any of them for about a month now, being controlled by a C8.
I'm debating the next step to Matter over Thread, as I have a iPod mini TBR, but haven't gone that far yet. - IMHO, Matter over Wifi - is generally much easier to provision that Z-Wave, no hassle to exclude devices (just delete/remove them like ZigBee), no ghosts or odd mesh hops. - If you have good WiFi coverage, the multi-admin function is great
Like I said, YMMV if/when you toss in thread. - My next interest is using a Matter Bridge, as I would love full local control over some long range YoLink devices (waiting on their next hub for matter support, and HE to ultimately support bridged devices).
So come on in, the water's warm!
PS - This may be helpful, depending on what devices your looking for: Every device that works with Matter (October 2023) - The Verge
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I get this once in a while in hubitat even tho I can still control them from google home which I used to commission them. This has only happened with the Kasa matter switches , not the plugs. Maybe a firmware update will fix but not sure how to troubleshoot it.
No idea... how can you check for that?
I got ton of wifi devices already.
This page will tell you which Echo devices can act as thread border routers for connecting matter over thread devices: https://www.amazon.co.uk/b?ie=UTF8&node=63710514031
When I said Wifi I should have clarified "matter over wifi". The device would have to specifically say it was matter compatible. Any you have had for a long time probably won't be. I believe you can commission a matter over wifi device with any echo device it doesn't need to be one of their thread-capable devices
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My other recommendation, is whatever device that you use to commission a matter device, that you continue to use the same device for adding latter matter endpoints. - If you start mixing, Apple, Amazon, Android for initial commissioning of new devices, your like going to get multipe seperate networks with differenet security credentials, and getting that to "share nicely" is sort of a know Matter weak point (to be fixed in next matter version 1.4?) -
Anyways, it depends if you have a "mixed" vendor environment, but to keep things simple to start with, I would stick with using the same device (whatever it is) for commissioning, just to make sure everything ends up in the same sandbox. Then share things out to HE for multi-admin (as HE can't do commissioning, at least yet). - How to get that additional provisioning code (for HE) is somewhat different between each of the Apple/Amazon/Google platforms
YMMV but KISS - at least in the beginning
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