Ikea’s cheap new smart home gear is struggling to get connected

Source: The Verge

Product Overview

Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge

I’ve spent the last couple of weeks trying — and mostly failing — to test Ikea’s new Matter‑over‑Thread gear. These highly anticipated smart home devices include:

• TRÅDFRI motion sensor – a motion detector that works with Ikea’s existing TRÅDFRI line
• TRÅDFRI remote – a simple button remote for controlling lights
• TRÅDFRI light strip – a flexible LED strip that can be placed under cabinets or along shelves

All three are marketed as Matter‑compatible, meaning they should work with any Matter‑enabled hub (Apple Home, Google Home, Amazon Alexa, etc.) and communicate over Thread, a low‑power mesh network.

Onboarding Problems

During the setup process, I encountered several issues:

1. Matter discovery fails – The devices often don’t appear in the Matter onboarding screen of the hub, even after resetting them.
2. Thread network not recognized – Some hubs report that they can’t find a Thread border router, even though the Ikea gateway should act as one.
3. Repeated resets – I had to reset the devices multiple times before they finally showed up, and even then the connection was unstable.

These problems aren’t isolated. Other users on Reddit and the Ikea community forums have reported similar frustrations, noting that the devices sometimes work after a firmware update but then break again after a hub restart.

Possible Workarounds

• Factory reset each device using the reset button (hold for 10 seconds).
• Update hub firmware to the latest version that includes Matter and Thread improvements.
• Use the Ikea Home Smart app to add the devices first, then expose them to Matter via the hub.

What This Means for Consumers

While Ikea’s entry into the Matter ecosystem is promising, the current onboarding hiccups suggest that the integration is still a work in progress. Early adopters may need to be prepared for a trial‑and‑error setup process, and keeping both the Ikea app and hub firmware up to date is essential.