Home Automation

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Discussion about general home automation ideas and projects, home automation protocols like Z-wave, Zigbee, Matter, etc, and home automation software and hubs like HomeSeer, Home Assistant, OpenHAB, Homey.

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Does Matter matter (compared to devices flashed with third-party open source firmware)? (self.homeautomation)

submitted 1 year ago by grue to c/homeautomation

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I'm just getting into home automation, so I don't really know what I'm doing. I care a lot about supporting open standards (which is partly why I never bothered with it until now that Matter is coming out), but I also very much like the idea of having everything I own running Open Source firmware instead of whatever potentially untrustworthy stuff it comes with.

So anyway, I got some TP-Link Kasa smart plugs (KP125MP2), but have since been doing some more research and found that some folks don't think there's actually much, if any, advantage to Matter devices compared to older wi-fi devices that've been flashed with Tasmota or ESPHome. So now I've also got some Sonoff S31 smart plugs and a USB to serial adapter to flash them with, and I'm wondering which set of things I should actually keep.

I kinda feel like I need to try installing and using them to know which I prefer, but I'd also feel bad about returning stuff after it's got provisioning info stored on it (or worse, flashed firmware). So maybe I can decide based on advice y'all give me instead?

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[–] dbaines 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

The answer is entirely on your use-case and your intended infrastructure.

If you intend to use multiple different assistant environments like Google Home, Apple Home, Alexa etc. Then Matter theoretically makes it easier to share devices and have these environments play nicely with each other.

If you're sticking a single environment then it doesn't really add much over things like Zigbee or Tasmota or ESPhome, which already have the benefits of fully local control. If you ever decide to transition to another environment it should make it easy to migrate though.

If you're using something like Home Assistant which can use any of these devices and export them out to google, Alexa, apple etc. then the multi-environment argument doesn't really matter.

The other argument is future proofing. Theoretically everything will eventually move to matter, until a new standard arrives to challenge the status quo again. So being matter-ready at least makes you future proof in that sense.

Another consideration is price. I haven't looked in to it myself but wifi stuff is cheaaaap. And if you have a handle on flashing Tasmota then adding a lot of smart devices can be done on the cheap. I presume matter stuff for now might have a premium on top being new, but that's just my guess. I know Zigbee and zwave are generally a little pricier than wifi devices.

Matter is also pretty new, so it may have some teething problems which may introduce stress and annoyance, but that will iron out soon enough I would think.

My personal opinion is go for local control where you can and if it works for you then no need to make any changes if you're only doing those changes to follow the crowd.

In regards to returning stuff with provisioning info stored in it, these devices should all come with a method to wipe the data. Usually for bulbs it's something like turning it on and off 6 times really fast or something like that. If you flash devices and don't want them any more then I reckon the warranty would be void. Sure the shop you got them from likely won't check and will happily take it back but morally it's a bit questionable. I'm sure you'd be able to flog them on Facebook marketplace or whatever your local equivalent is. Enthusiasts love preflashed devices.

Disclaimer: I have no first hand experience with matter so happy to be corrected if I've been mislead.

[–] grue 3 points 1 year ago

If you’re sticking a single environment then it doesn’t really add much over things like Zigbee or Tasmota or ESPhome, which already have the benefits of fully local control. If you ever decide to transition to another environment it should make it easy to migrate though.

If you’re using something like Home Assistant which can use any of these devices and export them out to google, Alexa, apple etc. then the multi-environment argument doesn’t really matter.

I should've mentioned in my initial post that having any reliance on cloud services whatsoever is an absolute deal-breaker for me. I've just installed Home Assistant OS in a VM on my Proxmox server, but haven't done much with it yet since the only IOT devices I have are these smart plugs and some Govee 433MHz water detectors (that are a subject for a different thread).

The other argument is future proofing. Theoretically everything will eventually move to matter, until a new standard arrives to challenge the status quo again. So being matter-ready at least makes you future proof in that sense.

One idle thought I had was the idea of third-party firmware eventually adding Matter support to devices that didn't originally have it. Is that something the Tasmota and/or ESPHome folks would have any reason to care about doing, and if so, how likely is the possibility?

Another consideration is price. I haven’t looked in to it myself but wifi stuff is cheaaaap.

The Matter smart plugs came in a 2-pack for $30 ($15 each), and the non-Matter ones came in a 4-pack for $33 ($8 each). Obviously I prefer $8 to $15, but neither is outrageous or anything.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Another consideration is price. I haven’t looked in to it myself but wifi stuff is cheaaaap. And if you have a handle on flashing Tasmota then adding a lot of smart devices can be done on the cheap. I presume matter stuff for now might have a premium on top being new, but that’s just my guess. I know Zigbee and zwave are generally a little pricier than wifi devices.

Currently Matter devices are indeed more expensive but they have the potential of being even cheaper. Matter also supports Wifi and Ethernet, not only Thread.

With Matter, device manufacturers can focus entirely on the hardware/firmware and don‘t have to worry about client software like custom apps. They only have to implement a single protocol to support all major ecosystems natively.

In theory this should also lower the bar for entering the market for small companies.