Smart Home Protocols: Thread Explained!

[@myHomeKithome]

What a fantastically precise and not overly technical explanation of Thread! You absolutely nailed this one!

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Thanks my man, appreciate it! Hope you are well!

[@SimplyElectronicsOfficial]

Can you explain Matter?

[@hometechUK]

Great video the most comprehensive Thread video I've ever seen. I actually found a couple of things I did not know about & I've been following Thread for years. Great work thanks. Now roll on Matter release with the Unknown Admin center?????

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Thanks, appreciate the comment!

[@HomeKitAuthority]

Nice video and well explained. I totally agree Thread is still early days. But so far for me it’s been pretty good and stable

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Thank you sir! Glad to hear your experience with it so far

[@junkins]

Thank you! That was a good breakdown of Thread. At least now I have a better understanding of it. 🙂

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Glad you enjoyed it Jamie! Thanks for taking the time to comment

[@dankelley9361]

Very nice explanation, how does Matter fit into this puzzle? Thanks

[@gregzeng]

This video verbally mentions one disadvantage of "Thread": no hardware devices. However, this video does not show this as a CON on the comparison chart. Searching on the internet: > "Drawbacks or disadvantages of Thread Protocol > ➨It does not support very high data rates unlike wifi. > ➨It does not support very long range, unlike cellular wireless technologies. > ➨Maximum number of devices (~ 250) supported are less than zigbee (~65560) . Others comment that Zigbee devices, etc can eventually also work with the Thread protocol & devices. KZbin pointed to one instructional production about Zigbee. However the real wireless range is only about 20-40 meters? Still very confused.

[@dawggy007]

Hi sir. Your explanation video is very detailed and understandable. Thank you for the briefing. Can i know what connectivity is happening between Homepod Mini and Aqara M2 hub since homekit is Thread and Aqara is Zigbee 3.0? Im confused if their connection is through wifi. Thank you

[@rizkyp]

Does Thread support roaming between router for MTD? Like switch that you carry around the house.

[@74357175]

Can thread devices use existing ZigBee hardware (i.e. their radios)?

[@ygreq]

Great presentation like always!

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Appreciate it!

[@alanorourke6140]

Another great video full of useful information

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Thanks, glad it was useful 🙏

[@robinthekidd]

*Pros and *Cons, basic English punctuation isn't difficult, and you seem like a smart guy

[@ONI1013.]

This is helpful video thank you. Have a question: I currently have a SmartThings v2 hub which is my main hub for most of my device automations. The hub is Matter capable, but just not a Thread Border Router. However, I already have 4 active Thread Border Routers (from Apple, Amazon, Google) and all my Matter-over-Thread devices still successfully connected to my ST V2 hub. The SmartThings hub is just not natively utilizing its own Thread network and relying on the one of the other four. Also aware of losing half the memory and processing speed upgrading to ST v3 hub. My question would be if there are any advantages in having ST’s own Thread Border Router and network as I start building my Thread Network? Maybe if it ain’t broke don’t fix??

[@bennylloyd-willner9667]

Great video again, I have just begun with my smart home so I'm still on WiFi only but will get more stuff and expand my life to other protocols. I think for now tho, that I'll let others try Thread. If the availability of Thread devices increases I will reassess my decision.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! There is no rush, take your time and enjoy the process!

[@bennylloyd-willner9667]

@@EverythingSmartHome yeah, I haven't got my lab going yet after rearranging my office. I was too eager to set up my 3D printer so cleaning and setting up the electronics workplace lost the battle for my time😁 My goal is to build some ESP8266/ESP32 gadgets for the smart home. For the mains power control I like the Shellys, but low voltage sensors I think I can build cheaper rather than just buying everything off shelf.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Nice, so much potential with the 3D printer! 😁

[@marlenehod]

Thank you for your information. I wish you would have shown us the actual devices, so we have some visual examples of what you're talking about. In that way, we could see what the different devices looked like as you were talking about them. You explained the information so fast, without prompts, one did not have a chance to digest it. This information could have been two videos, with more detail of the individual processes. Hope this insight helps.

[@JohnSmith-vt8si]

very good explanation of Thread, thank you

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Thank you buddy!

[@keeloraz9452]

Hi new to your channel. Subscribed based on this video, and realised this is a series. Really well explained video. However you mentioned that you will do Matter protocol video. Any idea when will this be release ? looking forward. Thanks.

[@sir_no_name1478]

The Matter video is missing in the playlist. Also few Ideas for other protocols: Infra red, DECT KNX/Hardwired

[@nebhead77]

Great video!! So if there is no coordinator (only a leader which is dynamically defined) how might it interface with your Home Assistant server? I'm assuming there would still need to be a USB dongle or something.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

I'm not sure yet, either you interact with the border router, or in the case of Home Assistant Yellow which has thread built in, then it may potentially act as a router in the network? Time will tell!

[@gg-gn3re]

@@EverythingSmartHome so if I understand the home assistant thread integration correctly it supports "matter" and "homekit" which are two "languages" that tunnel inside of the thread network. So any devices that are "built on thread" and use either matter or homekit to talk will probably work with it?

[@hhectorlector]

excellent video. well done!

[@markloughtonUK]

I'm very much waiting on Thread/Matter. I just hope that it doesn't get delayed again.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Hopefully not!

[@rapjul]

​@@EverythingSmartHome Narrator: It was delayed again. Matter's Final Specification was expected this Summer, as of mid-March 2022 the launch has been rescheduled for Fall 2022. The 0.9 Specification should be out this Summer. We should see devices with Matter at CES 2023.

[@hungryc8658]

I know these is a old video but hopefully someone will see these and try to answer I have about 10 devices in my home that work with wifi and about 9 thread devices including a Apple HomePod as the thread broader router and have three Nanoleaf light and a Eve plug and the rest are thread child devices I turn off my eero 6 router and when my wifi came back I saw that my child devices returned to Bluetooth is the natural and my Nanoleaf and Eve plug turn to full thread less then one minute just wondering if that has happened to other people or do I need to connect a Apple TV so the thread network switches to it ??

[@bruno-wtp]

as a matter of fact, this video is all that matters to understand matter.

[@brandonlamontcooper8141]

thanks for the wisdom!

[@djoeneh]

Hmm, does thread matter if you have zha?

[@pranavdhruve7135]

Can we say Home Assistant is also a protocol in itself? Can you cover explaining the working of Home Assistant pls.

[@nicoladellino8124]

Very nice video, TNX.

[@taranagnew436]

will there be one app to control smart lights,plugs,switches,exe of any brand i.e nanoleaf, google, exe?

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Hard to say at this stage unfortunately!

[@neekster28]

If Thread uses the same radios as Zigbee, is there a possibility that certain Zigbee devices could be migrated to thread through a firmware update?

[@EverythingSmartHome]

I had hoped that would be the case but there doesn't seem to be anyone indicating this to be the case (although I could be wrong I just didn't see anything personally)

[@MarisaClardy]

@@EverythingSmartHome Isn't the zigbee chip on the Home Assistant Yellow also thread capable, and will be enabled for Thread in the future? Honestly, it just sounds like it's a firmware thing, which if a company is willing to support that firmware upgrade or not is the real question. But *shrugs* dunno for sure.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Oh yeah duh, completely forgot about that! 🤦‍♂️ Thanks for reminding me. Then yes at least I couldn't find any manufacturers willing to say they would update their existing products...apart from home assistant ❤️

[@johnpeters4214]

@@MarisaClardy They actually say the chip is forward-compatible with the upcoming Matter smart home connectivity standard. Call me pedantic but it would have been more accurate to reference Thread rather than Matter. But then I could just be bitter as I purchased a Blue ...

[@gg-gn3re]

These and the sonoff ZBDongle-E can now be flashed with a thread supporting, matter speaking firmware. Plenty of tutorials

[@uSlackr]

Since the thread standard is 7 years old, what has hindered adoption up until now?

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Not actually sure to be honest!

[@erivaton]

For manufacturers it's more profitable to not have compatible devices. Manufacturers want consumers to be stuck in their ecosystem. Then when a customer needs a new product, he/she will buy a product from the same brand.

[@uSlackr]

@@erivaton This doesn't account for the success of zwave and zigbeee compatibility

[@erivaton]

@@uSlackr True ... Zigbee however has a lot of compatibility issues. And Z-wave is is not open source.

[@ThePC007]

I’d guess it’s somewhat of a chicken/egg problem. Considering the costs associated with licensing it, perhaps it was seen as too risky to support, considering the number of potential customers is low.

[@miguelgarcia-vg1fh]

Id like to support your work by buying merch.

[@RixtronixLAB]

Nice info, thanks :)

[@arevee9429]

Interesting video. Let's hope Thread devices are reasonably priced when there is a decent selection to chose from. At 20 to 50 USD per pop, I don't think I'll be throwing my existing devices in the bin any time soon.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Thanks, hope they are too!

[@urbatecte7737]

Hi Lewis, very instructive as usual but, I need to confess that during nearly all the video I was focusing on... your moustache ! It become more and more long, take care not to eat it 😂. Even if I know almost everything in your video, it's always a pleasure to watch them 👍. I'm on the starting bloc for your next video on 'matter' but take care, the paint is so fresh 😜.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Haha I just tidied it today don't worry! 😂 Thanks man, appreciate the support!

[@ronm6585]

Thank you.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Thanks Ron!

[@mab06]

What about security? I expected you to discuss that?

[@fahadkhan463]

Awesome video! Can we have a comparison video between the major protocols? Pros and cons of each

[@SolarizeYourLife]

Ok so what matter/thread hub works locally when the Internet goes down??? Google max hub is worthless when the net goes down...

[@TilmanBaumann]

IP sounds great. But how the data/api endpoints look seems mostly opaque to me.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

What do you mean by opaque sorry?

[@TheBroz]

Where's the next video you speak of?

[@CommonTater100]

where is your Matter video?

[@Polkster13]

I find it ironic that Apple makes such a big deal about other manufacturers having to jump through hoops to get their devices certified to "Works with HomeKit" to be able to play in Apple's ecosystem and YET they have not gotten the HomePod mini to be Thread certified. I am also amazed that the new Thread version of the Eve Water Leak sensor is not listed as being Thread certified, but all of their other Thread devices are. I am wondering what the hold up is on that.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Hmm hadn't noticed that about those Eve devices!

[@PsychoticShine]

So ZWave is the only one not on the 2.4 signal. Thread,Zigbee,Bluetooth and Wifi are All 2.4

[@Max86421]

Cool! 👍

[@groto27]

Every one of these is one video closer to 56k modems explained! 😂😂😂

[@EverythingSmartHome]

😂😂😂 It is just uploading now, 468 days remaining

[@groto27]

@@EverythingSmartHome hahaha

[@CountryGentleman]

So where is your matter video?

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Matter is not yet finalized so wouldn't be able to give an accurate explanation on it until it is

[@Hypeex]

I'd also put IPv6 in the 'con' column as it will make it possible for devices to be locked to the cloud. It remains to be seen if that will happen, hope not. The border router approach is nice, but they will basically have to act as firewall and bring extra complexity security wise. I don't want to sound pessimistic, I'm really exited and would gladly replace my Zigbee devices with it if it delivers all its promise!

[@EverythingSmartHome]

That's a fair assessment, I can agree!

[@ericesev]

Wouldn't that make the device non-Thread compliant? To be Thread compliant don't devices need to interoperate with all Thread routers? Looking at it from a Zwave/Zigbee perspective. Any of those devices would also be non-compliant if they didn't work with all gateways. Or in the context of the IPv4 based UPnP protocol, a device can't be UPnP compliant if it doesn't respond to UPnP requests on the local subnet. Similarly a Thread compliant device can't be compliant if it doesn't follow the standard.

[@sir_no_name1478]

Just to be fair.bluetooth also uses spread frequency and hopping.

[@Born2Legit]

Do you have a way I can contact you? I'm looking to set up a storage server in my home for parents

[@TechySpeaking]

First

[@uSlackr]

Elections! Sounds like WINS is making a return :-)

[@vulcan4d]

Honestly there are too many of these. It should have been regulated like wifi and Bluetooth to become a home automation standard. Late now but if that ever happens there will be so much ewaste.

[@DIYtechie]

Thank you Lewis. I also recommend your more critical version from last year to anyone (kzbin.info/www/bejne/oXqxc6N8jsygbKc) as a counter weight to the hype. One thing I would like to hear more about is how to integrate Thread in Home Assistant? Since Zigbee is more mature, I would generally recommend buying tried and tested Zigbee dongles and devices until Thread is more mature. With local control there is really no downside.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Thanks, glad you liked it! Thread on Home Assistant is still in development and likely will be till Home Assistant Yellow starts shipping but there was some nice developments a few weeks ago on Twitter from Stefan

[@nathanruben3372]

2.4 ghz is just dead end.

[@grantos8276]

Say root/rooted - now say router 😝😝😝

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Hahaha was wondering how long before this came up 😂

[@grantos8276]

Sorry mate had to be said 🤭 soooo many rooters in that one

[@laborspy]

Don’t do it … stick with your zigbee or zeave folks. Thread is junk and offers nothing better than you already have.

[@TheSecurityAgency]

C'mon, IPv6 in home automation (why?), that's a hell of an attacking surface, home automation is always on an isolated network without internet acces anyway. Dumb things, sorry, smart things getting dumber, sorry, smarter?

[@techytime6197]

The first Pro is incorrect. The network needs one Thread border router and If that went down the entire Thread network will go down.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

No, there can be multiple border routers in a thread network. Said it a few times. Check the first link in the description

[@verwaeststijn]

you can have multiple border routers

[@techytime6197]

@@EverythingSmartHome missing the point completely. If you have only one capable Thread border router. Then it does not matter how many full thread devices you have. The thread network will fail if the only TBR goes offline. Didn’t you try saying the complete opposite on Twitter, ask Jonathan Hui about this

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Of course, if you choose to have only one border router then obviously it will fail - that's literally a given. But you have the option to have multiple - a choice not provided by some other protocols. I think it's pretty obvious if you choose to have one and it fails then yes you will have a problem...I don't really understand what your getting at? Also, the thread network won't go down if your border router goes down, you just won't be able to access it from your normal devices. But the network itself will still be up.

[@techytime6197]

@@EverythingSmartHome I do like the vids you make and the effort. But from a layman’s point of view, the description you make of this is not clear. you say that it only has two types of nodes and this is where the confusion comes because how you explain it. The hierarchy is Thread border router, Thread router and then end point. A leader device is not a thread border router. The leader device is the main routing device within the network. A TBR is the interface between thread and other networks like wifi. The statement you refer to in the video about a leader is one goes down. Another thread router can take over as the main thread router. Which is completely different to how a border router behaves.

[@37kdeep74]

Good video. Please stop moving your hands around.

[@Donly1pt]

Thread is a a bad choice of name for non English speakers, just like Bluetooth.. Zigbee is much easier to say and recognized in other languages. Wish someone thought about phonetics when coming up with names for international standards 🙄