Matter was supposed to be the protocol that saved the Internet of Things. Instead of smart home devices all communicating using different proprietary protocols, Matter was meant to make all devices interoperable so that devices from one brand would play nicely with devices from any other brand.
While Matter is improving, it still has issues, and if you’re struggling to get your Matter devices to work, the solution may be simpler than you think.
For Matter, IPv6 matters
It isn’t just for internet traffic
IPv4 stands for Internet Protocol version 4. It was developed in the 1980s as the protocol used to identify devices and route data across IP networks. Every device gets its own address such as 192.168.1.42, which is unique to that device on the local network.
When the system was developed, few people imagined that in the future there would be billions of internet-connected devices. Although IPv4 provides around 4.3 billion possible addresses, many are reserved, and the available address space has long since proved insufficient without technologies such as Network Address Translation (NAT).
IPv6 uses a different format, with addresses such as 2001:db8:85a3::8a2e:370:7334. This gives far more unique addresses, with around 340 undecillion available, which is equivalent to 340 billion billion billion billion.
Matter was built around IPv6. Whether a Matter device communicates over Wi-Fi, Ethernet, or Thread, it uses IPv6 to exchange data. This means that Matter relies on IPv6 for devices to discover and communicate with one another on your local network.
- Brand
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meross
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Matter
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Disabling IPv6 can break Matter pairing
The symptoms don’t point to the real problem
If you’re trying to add Matter devices to Home Assistant, you may find that pairing seems to take forever and then ends up failing completely. The process might start but never completely finish, leaving your Matter devices unreachable. Home Assistant may also complain that there isn’t a suitable Thread Border Router set up.
This can make it seem like Matter is a bit of a mess and make you feel like you have to return to more reliable options such as Zigbee or Z-Wave. The problems may not be Matter’s fault at all, however. It may be that a simple setting is causing everything to fail.
Matter devices only need IPv6 enabled on your local network in order to communicate with one another. You can disable IPv6 connectivity from your ISP, and local Matter communication can still work normally as long as IPv6 remains enabled on your LAN.
If IPv6 is disabled for your local network, your Matter devices will no longer have the IPv6 connectivity they rely on to discover and communicate with one another. Some routers disable local IPv6 when you turn it off globally, while others leave LAN IPv6 enabled.
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The fix can be simple and effective
Re-enable IPv6 on your network
If you’re struggling to get Matter devices to work in Home Assistant, the solution may simply be to re-enable IPv6 on your local network. There are numerous threads on the Home Assistant Community forum and Reddit in which people struggled to get Matter devices working, only to discover that they had disabled IPv6 at some point in the past.
Re-enabling IPv6 resolved the issue in those cases. When IPv6 is re-enabled, all the problems disappear, and the Matter devices pair correctly and are exposed to Home Assistant exactly as they should be.
The exact method of enabling and disabling IPv6 will depend on your router or firewall. Some routers will only disable WAN IPv6, leaving IPv6 still working on your local network, but others disable IPv6 globally. If you refer to the manufacturer’s instructions, you should be able to find out how to ensure that IPv6 is enabled for your local network.
IPv6 isn’t the only cause of Matter problems
If IPv6 was already enabled, you’ll need to look elsewhere
Of course, this isn’t the only reason why you might have problems with Matter devices. Home Assistant or your Thread Border Router may not be configured correctly, which can cause issues even if IPv6 is enabled. You can have problems if Home Assistant and your Thread Border Router aren’t on the same network, or there may be other causes.
However, there are plenty of users who have spent time tweaking all these settings only to discover that the problem was disabled IPv6 the entire time. If Matter isn’t working properly for you, it’s worth checking your IPv6 settings first, as it could be the simple fix that solves everything.
Matter isn’t perfect
Matter still isn’t as mature as other protocols such as Zigbee or Z-Wave, but it is steadily improving. It may not have the same polish, device availability, or advanced features as other options, but new features continue to be added and support continues to improve. Before you give up on your Matter devices, it’s worth checking your IPv6 settings, as it may not be Matter’s fault after all.
