Hands-On Tech 274 Transcript
Please be advised that this transcript is AI-generated and may not be word-for-word. Time codes refer to the approximate times in the ad-free version of the show.
Mikah Sargent [00:00:00]:
Coming up on Hands-On Tech. Yes, you have gotten into the smart home game and yes, you've got a few questions. If you answered yes to those questions, stay tuned for this episode of Hands-On Tech.=. Hello and welcome to Hands-On Tech. I am Mikah Sargent and today we have a wonderful tech question to answer. If you have tech questions for me, hot@twit.tv is how you get in touch. Today's tech question comes in from Marcus, who writes, Mikah, I'm slowly adding smart home stuff.
Mikah Sargent [00:00:40]:
Some smart bulbs, a couple of plugs, a video doorbell. But I'm nervous about picking the wrong ecosystem. I've already had one gadget brand shut down their app and turn my device into a paperweight. I keep hearing the words matter and thread thrown around as the fix. Are those the answer to future proofing or just more marketing? How should a regular person shop for this stuff so they don't get bur. Marcus from Columbus, Ohio. I love this question because it's a question that I ask myself a lot and it's something that is kind of difficult frankly to figure out. But you're asking exactly the right question, Markus.
Mikah Sargent [00:01:20]:
And your instinct after getting burned makes a hundred percent sense. I get it. I understand. We're going to talk about the marketing fog. Matter and thread. They are real but arguably explained poorly at times and sometimes over explained. Okay. And they don't need to be.
Mikah Sargent [00:01:38]:
So let's talk about what they actually are there. I come up with new metaphors all the time for this, but you can almost think of them this time as two different jobs. Right. Matter is a standard that lets different devices from different brands work together. Okay, so they have. They serve two purposes. Matter lets these different devices speak the same language. It's not hardware, it's not a hub, it's not an app.
Mikah Sargent [00:02:06]:
Right. It is just a communication method and a communication framework. It's rules. It's rules in that way. It's sort of like French. Huh? French has a lot of rules tied to it where some other languages don't. And if everybody plays ball, then they can all talk to each other. Thread is the network that many of the small kind of battery powered devices ride on.
Mikah Sargent [00:02:33]:
Okay, so thread is this low power, self healing mesh network where each device can help to add to the network's range and the network's robustness. So a sensor in the garden can use a plug that's in the garage to get back to the hub that's somewhere in the network. Now, matter is then something that is part of the network in terms of the language, because it runs over your wifi, it lets things like plugs and bulbs talk to each other and be able to communicate. That standard comes from the Connectivity Standards Alliance. CSA is the name of the group and of course we'll include a link in the show notes to the actual site. Now, Matter and Thread are not both necessarily required in order for you to have a more open smart home. Matter is the agreed upon language of different smart devices. And then those smart devices can use whatever networking tools they want to.
Mikah Sargent [00:03:39]:
Bluetooth, WI Fi, Thread, nfc in some cases are all communication protocols or network protocols that exist. And then matter is the common language that they can speak. Now here's the part that fixes your problem. This anti lock in feature is actually called multi Admin. So a single Matter device can be added to multiple ecosystems at once, multiple admins at once. Your lock can then be controlled by Apple Home, if that's the network that you go with Google Home and Alexa, Amazon's Assistant simultaneously. And most Matter devices support up to five ecosystems. So when you pair that with local control, Matter devices will communicate locally, which means that basic functions will even run when your Internet is down.
Mikah Sargent [00:04:34]:
And that way you've got real protection against a vendor pulling the rug out from under you. Even if the network stuff is not, excuse me, the server stuff isn't working anymore. These devices can still run at the local level. And that's important too. Just in a smart home, where if your ISP goes down, being able to have these devices still talk to each other is important. But there are some caveats, okay? And I think those are always going to be there. But the caveats are getting less and less, which is nice. You know, I'm not going to oversell it.
Mikah Sargent [00:05:08]:
No single platform implements the full matter specification today. SmartThings comes close. Samsung SmartThings comes close. Apple uses some of it. And definitely what it uses is very polished. Google has not implemented all of the device types that Matter supports. And then Amazon, well, Amazon has a lot of gaps, but the important thing is that there's a transition that's underway because as of January of this year, there are new thread border routers that need to be Certified to thread 1.4. And the problem is that if you have a mix of older and newer border routers, well then your thread network can be fragmented into separate, separate islands.
Mikah Sargent [00:05:56]:
That's not good because the whole point of Thread is that the more devices you add, the more robust your networking is supposed to get. So it is better than the days of devices really being siloed off. But it isn't quite magic yet. And so there is still some patience that you need to have. But it's we're getting closer and closer to the time where we can finally say make sure it says matter on the box and then you're good to go. But here's kind of how you you're going to shop going forward. Look for the matter logo on the box and then read whether it says matter over thread or matter over WI fi. They do behave differently.
Mikah Sargent [00:06:36]:
And of course if it says matter over thread, then you do need to have a border router of some sort for it to work at all. That is going to depend on the setup that you have at home. So make sure that your own devices include some sort of hub or controller and a thread border router. Now here's the good News. An Apple TV 4K, a HomePod mini, a Google Nest Hub of second generation or newer, most newer Amazon echoes many of the Samsung SmartThings stations can all act as both matter controllers and thread border routers. So you probably already have one. I say personally that it's a good idea to prioritize thread over everything else. And the reason that I say that is because for me, the thread networking is incredibly robust, incredibly fast, incredibly reliable, and it gets a lot of the communication out of WI fi, which with WI fi the issue is for a lot of people, we live near other people who are also sending out WI fi signals and all that stuff's running on the 2.4 GHz, the 2.4 GHz signal, and there's a lot of network confusion and congestion.
Mikah Sargent [00:08:12]:
And so any way that you can get your communication happening elsewhere is a really good idea. So prefer Matter plus thread to work for sensors, locks and things that are outside. Check the packaging to see if it says that it's a border router. So that way you know that you have one. And if you already do have one, then of course you don't need to worry about adding one. And then you could also do the research to see whether a cloud account is mandatory. If it says, you know, yes, you need a cloud account or you need Internet access for this to work well, then you know that that's the lock in that you're trying to avoid. Some people are okay with it.
Mikah Sargent [00:08:52]:
Whether you are is up to you. And then of course, don't get rid of your existing gear because a lot of stuff works as a matter bridge. The Philips Hue hub, the Aqara Hub, M3. These can actually take Zigbee devices and let them talk over talk using matter to more modern devices. So you are then able to connect things in your home. I have found in my home that devices that at one point I could not use with Apple's home kit I'm now able to use. Govee is a great example. Govee makes a lot of wonderful lighting products that are cost effective.
Mikah Sargent [00:09:32]:
And so right now behind me you can see this light that's coming down from the ceiling, right? I have just clicked a button in the home app on my Mac and that turned off the down lights and then I just turned off the bookshelf lights. I'm going to turn those back on. Those lights are able to be turned on and off and controlled because of matter. They are connected via matter to my HomeKit home and before I couldn't use them unless I set them up, specially with my homebridge stuff. But that's a whole another story. So the fact that Matter is here to let these devices communicate made it so that I was able to control those lights without needing extra tech to make it possible. Really love, love, love, love matter, love Thread and love what that is bringing us. But I also Marcus, love your question because it is difficult, but it is.
Mikah Sargent [00:10:33]:
I used to say it's difficult but it's getting easier. You just have to be patient. Now I can say it's difficult but it's getting easier. And I don't have to say the but you just have to be patient part because frankly we are living in it. Now you can buy devices that have that Matter logo. I think it's important to lean on Thread for the small stuff, but frankly as much as possible because of the way that the thread networking works and being able to communicate from distances. And once you've made sure that you've got a border route, you're good to go. Use that multi admin system so that no one company owns your house.
Mikah Sargent [00:11:09]:
Of course it's not flawless. You will still run into some issues from time to time. I need to reset this HomePod mini that I have back here to get everything working again. But once it's working it is glorious. And you know, if it's the first time that you've kind of played around with this, then trust me when I tell you that things used to be a lot worse. And so we're all rejoicing at what Matter and Thread and the CSA have been able to bring together to make the modern smart home possible. So thank you for writing in with your question, Markus. That's going to bring us to the end of this episode of Hands-On Tech.
Mikah Sargent [00:11:54]:
If you would like to ask your question, email us. hot@twit.tv is how you get in touch and I look forward to hearing from you.
