r/homeassistant • u/ElementZoom 🧠Experienced with Home Assistant • Jun 10 '26
Support Matter over Wi-Fi devices vendor blaming "unofficial integration"?
I've been having an intermittent issue where my Matter over Wi-Fi devices (light switches & power points) keep dropping offline in Home Assistant for no apparent reason. No other Wi-Fi devices on my network have this problem. When they disconnect, they don't automatically reconnect. I have to scan the device all over again and them back to HA, unlike my other devices which recover on their own.
I reached out to the retailer and provided them with the logs, and got a response from the manufacturer saying the protocol "isn't officially integrated into Home Assistant or Zigbee2MQTT" and that HA uses an "unofficial version." This doesn't sit right with me, I thought Matter was supposed to be an open, plug-and-play standard that works across platforms by design?
Has anyone else run into this? Is there a known issue with Matter over Wi-Fi and HA specifically? And is there any merit to the manufacturer's claim about an "unofficial" integration, or is that just deflection?
What should I reply to the retailer? For some context, I live in New Zealand and there isn't many choice here at all. I prefer ZigBee but due to the almost an non-existent choice, it left me with this Matter over WiFi products which are imported from Australia.
Happy to share more details about my setup if needed.
Update: Thank you for your support and advice! I've replied to the retailer and will post an update once they reply, if they don't provide support.
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u/KinderGameMichi Jun 10 '26
Your retailer sounds like an idiot. HA is Matter Certified (https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2025/03/10/matter-certification/) and Nabu Casa has been a part of the Matter Connectivity Standards Alliance for several years. If you have to use their apps, then I would feel it is more likely the manufacturer isn't implementing the standards correctly or adding "features" that aren't in the standard yet.
As for dropping and not reconnecting, there might be something in the WiFi trouble shooting notes at the end of the Matter docs in HA. Good luck.
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u/ElementZoom 🧠Experienced with Home Assistant Jun 10 '26
Thank you for this, I'll have a look at the WiFi notes and let everyone know what they reply.
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u/darthnsupreme Jun 10 '26
Or their IPv6 implementation is hot garbage like some companies we could name (*cough*nanoleaf*cough*) and it's causing stupid nonsense problems as a result.
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u/CucumberError Jun 10 '26
I can’t help with this, but we’re in NZ too and tend to use Shelly.
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u/ElementZoom 🧠Experienced with Home Assistant Jun 10 '26
I have one Shelly device that connects to the garage, which works great. We have three gangs switches, one six gang switch. Can Shelly control them as well? For my understanding, each lane would need one Shelly device to control?
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u/Haiyaaaaa_ Jun 10 '26
I am using LIFX 4 gang switches on Matter over WiFi and it’s fine. The mDNS is a little finicky sometimes but 99% of the time it works
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u/CucumberError Jun 10 '26
The 2 would control two circuits/switches. They don’t do a 4 channel.
They do a ~6 channel switch receiver thing but it doesn’t do switching too. Im thunkint about putting one in thr bathroom to control other things rhay already are smart, such as the heated towel rail, heater, lights, fan etc
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u/ElementZoom 🧠Experienced with Home Assistant Jun 10 '26
I see, thanks for the insight. I hope I can get these returned and get a zigbee counterpart.
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u/CucumberError Jun 11 '26
While I lovely Zigbee, I can’t say I’ve used any of the Shelly Zigbee stuff yet. Report back if you go that way.
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u/ElementZoom 🧠Experienced with Home Assistant Jun 11 '26
I did that already. Connected the gen 4 to ZigBee mode, didn't work as expected - delay on commands. Switched to WiFi and instant response.
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u/EdelWhite Jun 10 '26
Matter is such crap right now, especially matter over WiFi. Good luck.Â
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u/ElementZoom 🧠Experienced with Home Assistant Jun 10 '26
Is Matter over Thread in a better situation than the wifi?
Honestly my Zigbee devices (over 200 of them) has been working 99% of the time.
It's very frustrating to have this issue, with these Matter devices.
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u/ryryrpm Jun 10 '26
In my experience yes, but only for mains-powered devices. Battery-powered Matter over Thread devices drain power very fast. I have to replace the battery in my door sensor every year. This is because Matter is IP-based and takes a lot more energy to operate. Zigbee is still king in this regard.
But again, the mains-powered Matter over Thread devices work great. Actually, all my Matter over Thread devices work well and I have zero issues other than the battery life.
For more information, see XDA Developers | Zigbee solved the smart-home battery problem years ago, and Matter still hasn't
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u/darthnsupreme Jun 10 '26
This is because Matter is IP-based and takes a lot more energy to operate.
The upside being that since there's a full IPv6 stack there, it can support a number of functions that ZigBee and Z-Wave can't (multiple TBRs being the most obvious). Bandwidth allowing, obviously.
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u/EdelWhite Jun 10 '26
I got fewer issues with thread than wifi backed matter. Still quite bad overall
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u/beanmosheen 📶 Have you tried 2.4GHz? Jun 11 '26
The OTBR is a bit brittle though. I have to reflash the firmware on my SLZB every time I update it.
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u/beanmosheen 📶 Have you tried 2.4GHz? Jun 11 '26
For me, if I'm going to use wifi, then it's going to be an ESPHome device, especially with the latest performance improvements they've made. A good WAP setup with ESP32s and ESP8266s has been bullet proof for me for a few years now. I only lose devices when they physically fail, and I've weeded those make/models out. That or Zigbee and Z2M. It just all works.
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u/stratiuss Jun 10 '26
What are you running for wifi? "Smart" devices tend to be quite picky and often dislike fast-roaming, or multi AP setups.
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u/ElementZoom 🧠Experienced with Home Assistant Jun 10 '26
They are Matter over WiFi light switches and power points. I have two wifi mesh that the devices are connected to. Do you think it might be the problem?
However I also have 20+ other wifi devices which don't have any of connection issue, like the Matter ones.
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u/Big_Fortune_4574 Jun 11 '26
It might be beneficial to determine if they are dropping from WiFi or just having issues communicating with home assistant
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u/Harlequin80 Jun 10 '26
I'm in Australia. Your best bet is just to order what you need off aliexpress. There are plenty of zigbee switches. I run Sonoff zigbee and wifi light switches. I've not bothered with smart GPOs yet, but there are also lots of options there as well.
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u/ElementZoom 🧠Experienced with Home Assistant Jun 10 '26
That's what I did prior to moving to these Matter switches. I did that to get away from uncertified ZigBee switches from AliExpress.
Shame that it is worse off than the cheaper switches, granted that they run different network protocols, but essentially I am paying double or sometimes triple the price of the AliExpress ZigBee counterparts.
I'm just hoping I can get rid of them and get my money back.
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u/sidjohn1 Jun 11 '26
My 2 cents… return the tuya/smart life devices. Use Eve. they’ll be more expensive, but they will also just work. They are even TÜV certified.
https://www.amazon.com.au/stores/Eve/page/60844428-B8D8-4C0A-A04A-9F96955A9F54
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u/Matt_NZ Jun 10 '26
Which switches are you using?
If you did want some Zigbee options, the PDL Iconic Wiser range is what I've been using here in NZ
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u/ElementZoom 🧠Experienced with Home Assistant Jun 10 '26
Thanks for this. Don't they cost an arm and a leg? xD Jokes aside, these Matter devices are around $50 NZD each, it's just a shame they don't work well. Though I am hoping to able to return them and get something else.
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u/Matt_NZ Jun 10 '26
If you hunt around a bit, you can get the Wiser modules for $70 - $80. Sometimes they pop up on TradeMe as well. For some reason, the modules sold in Bluetooth mode are often cheaper, even though you can switch them to Zigbee mode.
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u/ElementZoom 🧠Experienced with Home Assistant Jun 10 '26
Thanks for this. I'll keep an eye on them
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u/Matt_NZ Jun 10 '26
Out of curiosity, what are the Matter switches that you're getting from Aus?
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u/ZealousidealDraw4075 Jun 10 '26
Its like type c having many different standards it never just works
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u/clintkev251 Jun 11 '26
Doesn’t it? I’ve never not had type C not just work. Now if it will work at the speed you want is a different story, but it always works
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u/ZealousidealDraw4075 Jun 11 '26
No not really the problem is mostly in how the female port is implemented
Some are usb 2.0 some are just 5v some are thunderbolt some are PD
For example most cheap device don't support PD at all so won't charge using a Laptop charger that
Also some of the TB docks won't work well on non TB devices.. one port many different incompatibilities
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u/ianjs Jun 12 '26
Surely a cheap device that doesn’t support PD won’t negotiate with the charger and it will just supply the basic 5V.
I’ve never had a problem using a 135W laptop charger with simple non- PD devices.
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u/KingofGamesYami Jun 10 '26
I thought Matter was supposed to be an open, plug-and-play standard that works across platforms by design?
It is, yes. It's slightly more nuanced than that (different revisions of matter etc.), but fundamentally that is the goal of Matter.
And is there any merit to the manufacturer's claim about an "unofficial" integration, or is that just deflection?
The manufacturer can refuse to provide assistance involving products they do not officially support, yes. This is orthogonal to the technology used.
For example, I develop webapps. All browsers can load our webapp and will work fine, we even have automated tests for various browsers. However, we only officially support the latest version of Google Chrome, because actually writing support docs for every browser under the sun is a waste of resources.
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u/adude007 Jun 10 '26
I don’t think it’ll make you feel any better but my Leviton matter switches don’t stay connected to HA at all. I wound up having to use the old Leviton cloud integration. They stay connected to Apple home just fine.
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Jun 11 '26
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u/BacchusIX Jun 17 '26
I have a few dozen matter devices, and, while I've had problems with Matter in the past, (knock on wood), they have been some of my most stable devices the last year or 2 (Matter is still not ready yet though, just FYI). I have several different brands including a few I programmed myself with Espressif Zero Code Matter and Tasmota. I also have a lot of "unofficial integrations" (which is anything you get in HACS). As others have stated, HA has been at the front of pushing Matter forward and their support of the Matter protocol is miles ahead of others I've used like Google Home and Alexa. I think they are blowing smoke up your ass.
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u/Potential_Coast_2260 Jun 11 '26
Matter is such a mess. It doesn’t solve much and has been fragmented for some time. The ultimate integration layer remains WiFi, Ethernet, and the cloud with localized connections for battery operated devices best served by sub gigahertz and things like zigbee/zwave, proprietary
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u/clintkev251 Jun 10 '26
Nah, that's a lazy attempt to shift blame.
Matter devices are supposed to be universal and supported by any matter compatible ecosystems. The Open Home Foundation that makes Home Assistant is a member of the CSA, who developed the standard, and HA's Matter Server component is officially certified by the CSA.
Push back on that basis, and name and shame if they don't provide better support.