Matter Devices

[nadler]

With the promise of fast and easy control of home automation by many different hubs I wanted to see what Matter had to offer in anticipation of the Polisy/eisy eventual firmware upgrade.  I had preordered a Merose MSS115 Matter Smart Wi-Fi Plug Mini which promised the moon.

 

Unfortunately I couldn't get it to connect to anything.  Not android, not Google, not Amazon Echo.  All those devices have the proper specs to be Matter enabled.  Not much info on the Mini plugs yet other than someone mentioned you have to actually disable your 5ghz wifi on your router so it will connect to 2.4 ghz.  This is so even if different SSIDs.  I didn't try that because at that point I had wasted a couple of hours and felt that the future promise is not here yet.

Anyone else have any experience with a Matter device?

 

[lilyoyo1]

1 hour ago, nadler said:

With the promise of fast and easy control of home automation by many different hubs I wanted to see what Matter had to offer in anticipation of the Polisy/eisy eventual firmware upgrade.  I had preordered a Merose MSS115 Matter Smart Wi-Fi Plug Mini which promised the moon.

 

Unfortunately I couldn't get it to connect to anything.  Not android, not Google, not Amazon Echo.  All those devices have the proper specs to be Matter enabled.  Not much info on the Mini plugs yet other than someone mentioned you have to actually disable your 5ghz wifi on your router so it will connect to 2.4 ghz.  This is so even if different SSIDs.  I didn't try that because at that point I had wasted a couple of hours and felt that the future promise is not here yet.

Anyone else have any experience with a Matter device?

 

Nothing since it's not officially out in the wild yet

[brians]

Think the disabling 5ghz is inaccurate and someone is confused with thread being 2.4ghz and relating that to wifi somehow.  

Edited March 10, 2023 by brians

[nadler]

I believe it is inaccurate as well.  Doesn't make sense.  

[nadler]

Boy, is this disheartening:

 

From the Verge

Belkin balks at Matter (msn.com)

[lilyoyo1]

48 minutes ago, nadler said:

Boy, is this disheartening:

 

From the Verge

Belkin balks at Matter (msn.com)

Im not surprised...This statement "Wemo will bring new Matter products to market when it can find a way to differentiate them. It seems like Wemo might be concerned its smart home gear is becoming commoditized" was my concern from the start and one of the reasons that I feel like there will be limitations to Matter which will keep it from taking over the way it is hoped.

[elvisimprsntr]

"...Wemo will bring new Matter products to market when it can find a way to differentiate them."

Translation: "...when it can find a way to separate more coins from consumers."

 

 

Seems like Matter is like 3D TVs of yesteryear.  No content, no uptake.  No uptake, no content. 

 

Edited March 15, 2023 by elvisimprsntr

[lilyoyo1]

32 minutes ago, elvisimprsntr said:

Translation: "...when it can find a way to separate more coins from consumers

Isn't that the name of the game?  I can't say I blame them. If everyone is offering the same thing, then people will buy the cheapest product..... Not a winning strategy

[brians]

Not too concerned, while there are probably many users that build their entire home automation around the handful of Wemo devices and the Wemo app, I am not interested in their products even if they did support Matter.

Wemo is a low-end HA product that probably is many people's first experience in Home Automation. They probably realized that if customers who invested in Wemo, will all of a sudden have a choice and may instead buy different brands of switches.

[nadler]

I'm not too concerned about Wemo, but what it means about Matter implementation.  It's been promised for awhile and not really delivered.   

[lilyoyo1]

9 hours ago, brians said:

Not too concerned, while there are probably many users that build their entire home automation around the handful of Wemo devices and the Wemo app, I am not interested in their products even if they did support Matter.

Wemo is a low-end HA product that probably is many people's first experience in Home Automation. They probably realized that if customers who invested in Wemo, will all of a sudden have a choice and may instead buy different brands of switches.

I don't care about wemo either. However, how many other companies are having this same conversation amongst themselves that hasn't said anything???!!!

It's telling that there hasn't been large scale announcements of compatible products (from major players) even if the ability to use them isn't ready at this time

[upstatemike]

Why can't companies differentiate themselves using price, build quality, and styling? Why does it have to mean exclusive features in a walled garden? Consumers want the former definition of differentiation but have zero tolerance for the latter definition.

[brians]

12 hours ago, lilyoyo1 said:

I don't care about wemo either. However, how many other companies are having this same conversation amongst themselves that hasn't said anything???!!!

It's telling that there hasn't been large scale announcements of compatible products (from major players) even if the ability to use them isn't ready at this time

Yes I agree, a while ago I went and looked at Matter alternatives to light switches and was surprised there are only a few. Maybe the licensing is high or something?

Edited March 16, 2023 by brians

[Lore]

A ton of Matter products and support is/was scheduled for Q1 2023.  So far, not even the Hue Hub has been updated and the quarter only has 10 days left.  What's the Matter with them?

[larryllix]

I'm still standing back to see what happens by the end of the year. We've seen too many of these "revolutionary new ideas that everybody is backing" just adding to the box of junk along with discrete 4 channel audio equipment.

[xlurkr]

12 hours ago, larryllix said:

discrete 4 channel audio equipment.

Have you seen the prices used 4 channel receivers are fetching?  Some people will pay a lot to watch 4 VU meters jump around, apparently.  Or play with that crazy radar scope that was on some systems for setting the balance.  Nostalgia.

-Tom

[larryllix]

Have you seen the prices used 4 channel receivers are fetching?  Some people will pay a lot to watch 4 VU meters jump around, apparently.  Or play with that crazy radar scope that was on some systems for setting the balance.  Nostalgia.
-Tom

But the four channel record player styluses have disappeared. IIRC there were a few pressings that supported the depth channel that controlled switching.



Sent from my SM-G781W using Tapatalk

[lilyoyo1]

On 3/16/2023 at 9:10 AM, upstatemike said:

Why can't companies differentiate themselves using price, build quality, and styling? Why does it have to mean exclusive features in a walled garden? Consumers want the former definition of differentiation but have zero tolerance for the latter definition.

Sure to the fact that people will gravitate to the cheapest product when everything else is equal. Why spend money designing and building a high quality product that will have a higher cost only for it to sit on shelves while cheaper inferior products fly off the shelves.

[upstatemike]

Cars come in all price points and not everybody buys the cheapest. They are all compatible with the same road system (no walled garden restrictions) yet you can choose to pay more for quality, styling, reliability. etc.

[lilyoyo1]

35 minutes ago, upstatemike said:

Cars come in all price points and not everybody buys the cheapest. They are all compatible with the same road system (no walled garden restrictions) yet you can choose to pay more for quality, styling, reliability. etc.

That's an apples to oranges comparison. Buying a car is a lot different situation than buying a light switch.

Status and finances matters much more in car buying than it does in light switch buying. Switch buying on the other hand is more about utility than status regardless of finances. 

The number of people on here over the years complaining of the cost of insteon and looking for the cheapest options indirectly backs that up. 

Look at screweless wallplates...how many do you see in homes? Decora style outlets? Lutron outlets vs leviton? Standard dimmers vs sunnata dimmers? This list goes on. Regardless of look and quality, people will gravitate towards the cheapest. Will there be those who buy them???? Of course. But when your business is about making money, the more you have sitting on the shelves (and longer), the less likely you'll make money. Or stay in business. 

 

Edited March 22, 2023 by lilyoyo1

[upstatemike]

So at the end of the day there is probably no good reason to go chasing multi-brand standards like Z-Wave, Zigbee, Wi-Fi, Matter, or Thread since they are going to try to build walls anyway. Might as well stick with the best in class walled gardens like Caseta, Hue, Insteon, and YoLink and let your HA system manage the integration. 

[lilyoyo1]

Just now, upstatemike said:

So at the end of the day there is probably no good reason to go chasing multi-brand standards like Z-Wave, Zigbee, Wi-Fi, Matter, or Thread since they are going to try to build walls anyway. Might as well stick with the best in class walled gardens like Caseta, Hue, Insteon, and YoLink and let your HA system manage the integration. 

That's for individual people to decide for their needs. It comes down to people speaking with their wallet.

[TRI0N]

On 3/15/2023 at 2:14 PM, nadler said:

Boy, is this disheartening:

 

From the Verge

Belkin balks at Matter (msn.com)

Lame. Have you seen the shortage of device on many things? Sounds like they want to be Insteon or something where people are dependent on their product. I've been trying to get my hands on Z-Wave Fan Receivers for the indoor ceiling fans. Out of 3 manufactures that make one, none are in stock. Then there is Z-Wave Buttons that just multi-press for scenes etc. That's also on back order.

So if they want to sit on their patent product till their rights run out, go for it. Someone else will pick up the pace when it does. Belkin must have some interesting designs if they think waiting for others to release their own matter devices is going to benefit them, doesn't sound like a good idea.


TRI0N

Edited March 30, 2023 by TRI0N

[dbwarner5]

On 3/10/2023 at 3:55 AM, brians said:

Think the disabling 5ghz is inaccurate and someone is confused with thread being 2.4ghz and relating that to wifi somehow.  

I have ~15 meross switches installed in a second home, using Smarthings Hub, with zwave door locks etc.  Connecting the Meross switches does require a 2.4ghz network, but I did NOT have to turn off my 5.0, which was good news since I use a google mesh here and there is no way to do so. 

They all work really well. connecting can be a bit confusing though as some are apple HomeKit compatible and need to be set up through the apple app, and other through the meross app. But at the end of the day, they all integrate well with my Smarthings hub which integrates well with Alexa, and so far, the basic automations in Smarthings have been able meet my needs here. As a result, I never use the meross or HomeKit app, once they are set up. 

An interesting side note is that they have a 3 way on/off switch that requires you to only replace one of your two switches for control of the thruway, vs having to replace both. For dimmer 3 ways, though you need to replace both.