THREAD on hubitat

Hi
I saw that c8 is going to be Matter compatible.
Will it also supprt THREAD ?

Yep, it will! :smiley:

1 Like

eta?

They don’t typically disclose roadmaps publicly.

2 Likes

I'm guessing that Thread will follow Matter support. Many users will already have Thread border routers (its in recent Apple TVs, Google Home Hubs (2nd. gen or later), Amazon Echos, etc.), so for many users, there will already be ways for Thread devices to connect, and Hubitat's Matter implementation will need to work with external border routers, so it would seem an obvious first step / resource prioritization to start by implementing the Matter layer so that at least those with external Thread Border Routers can start using / testing that implementation.

On the other hand, if Thread were implemented first, there wouldn't really be anything you could do with it. Plus, Matter doesn't require Thread (it can be WiFi or Ethernet connected) since it sees devices as TCP/IP (UDP) connections.

8 Likes

The C-8 hub contains only one 802.15.4 compatible radio. This is the radio used for Zigbee currently.

The radio Hubitat selected is capable of running Zigbee OR Thread...and there is even a chance that they could run both protocols on the one radio at the same time... However, many are skeptical as to whether or not trying to run a single 802.15.4 radio with both Zigbee and Thread at the same time will be reliable, robust, or performant. We'll have to wait and see.

Thus, right now, I am not sure what Hubitat has planned for Thread support on the C-8. Matter is based on IPv6, and thus they can easily implement Matter support via the existing LAN connection.

7 Likes

Yes... But wifi is so 90's....
Hopefully THREAD will be the way to go with Hubitat

Thread for low-power, low bandwidth devices.

Wifi - Higher power higher bandwidth.

Ethernet - highest bandwidth, etc.

The advantage of matter is it doesn't really care - you can mix different physical layers as long as they support TCP/IP (UDP) -- just like you can mix WiFi and Ethernet into the same Matter network - and its still the same matter protocol.

5 Likes

True.
But the advantages you pointed out for THREAD is why i am waiting for it on Hubitat especially for sensors, switches etc

Those advantages already exist for zigbee, and when Hubitat adds Matter compatibility, Hubitat-paired zigbee devices can "interact" with other Matter devices (irrespective of the underlying wireless protocol).

So I am not sure what advantage Thread offers that makes it desirable to "wait for it on Hubitat".

6 Likes

From devops and other good resources I see clear and strong advantages:

"... Thread is a self-healing mesh network, it offers many benefits. One is avoidance of a single point of failure. That is, if any router in the network fails, another router automatically takes its place. Unlike ZigBee, for example, Thread devices can be linked to multiple border routers, making the network more reliable. Another advantage is that, being mesh, the Thread network is highly scalable. Each Thread network can scale to hundreds of devices. Thread also benefits from being built on IPv6 to take advantage of end-to-end routing and addressability. Any two IPv6 endpoints, whether on the same Thread mesh or across networks, can communicate, end-to-end, with easy and well-understood internet routing mechanisms moving packets from one endpoint to the other....."

So is zigbee.

This is how zigbee works.

So is zigbee. Up to about 65000 devices/nodes.

About the only advantage that thread has (in theory) over zigbee is that thread devices aren’t bound to a single coordinator. But they are still dependent on a Matter controller (akin to zigbee devices being dependent to a coordinator).

6 Likes

I’m no zigbee expert, but I think most or all of those statements with respect to mesh networking actually do apply to zigbee (not IPv6 of course).

5 Likes

For sure. And zigbee offers some things that Thread does not. Like device binding.

4 Likes

Not exactly... Zigbee is self healing and can make use of multiple Zigbee repeater devices. If one fails, devices will find another repeater to communicate through. However, Zigbee can only have one Zigbee Coordinator. It that fails, the mesh is down.

Thread, on the other hand, has the advantage of being designed to accommodate multiple Thread Border Routers (TBR), each of which can take over for the others when they go offline. Thus, if your Thread mesh has an AppleTV 4K, an Amazon Echo 4, and an Apple Homepod Mini, any of these could be taken down for a firmware upgrade, while the others step in and take over any TBR duties that one device may have been performing.

The TBRs are what bridges the Matter over Thread devices to the Matter over Ethernet/WiFi devices, and thus to the Matter Controller devices. Matter also allows for multiple Matter Controllers within the same Matter network.

4 Likes

Exactly ....
This is what I am aiming to - high redundancy. No single point of failure.

Therefore I asked why the new c8 does not have it on the roadmap (or maybe it does...).

Well, the good news is that for high redundancy in a Thread network, Hubitat really does not need to add Thread support to their hub. As I mentioned, users will probably end up with multiple devices in their homes that can act as a Thread Border Router.

Hubitat really only needs to implement the Matter Controller portion, in order to communication with the Matter Thread Border Routers on the home network.

Of course, this does mean that Matter is pretty dependent on one's choice of home networking equipment. If your TBR connects via WiFi to a single WiFi Access Point, then that AP becomes the single point of failure. Or, if it connects via Ethernet, the network switch can become the single point of failure.

Matter is an interesting architecture. However, for it to succeed, all vendors must adhere to the standards and get their devices properly certified for cross-platform interoperability for everything to actually work as envisioned by the committee that created it.

Right now, I am very happy with my Zigbee mesh network hosted by my Hubitat hub. It is simple, reliable, and very performant. I believe it will take a few more years to see what becomes of Matter/Thread.

8 Likes

I mentioned they don’t publicly discuss roadmaps, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have one internally.

I think it’s unlikely we’ll hear too much about Matter or Thread capabilities in the C8 (or future hardware revisions) until they decide to move things forward publicly.

4 Likes

Yep, my bad… I see now reading through Hubitats release post that it’s said to be Thread capble. Not that it’ll automaticly get thread.

2 Likes

In my opinion, even though the Zigbee radio on the C-8 supports Thread, since they have to split time, I think it's gonna be best to have a separate Thread border router and mesh it with Hubitat through Matter, than having Thread devices directly on Hubitat. Especially since the Zigbee implementation is just flaky recently. Hopefully that gets resolved by then, but still, I'm not sure I would trust a single radio on the C-8 to handle both Zigbee and Thread reliably... and my Zigbee devices aren't going anywhere any time soon.

Therefore, whenever Hubitat supports Matter, I think the best route will be to add a Thread border router of some sort to your network and bridge your thread devices to Hubitat through it.

1 Like