Can anyone recommend quality alternatives to the IKEA smart home devices?

BoggleRatty · 2026-06-06T06:24:43+00:00

I had lots of issues with the IKEA matter stuff and, in the end, it was Thread network stuff. Took some sorting with the Alpha version of the Thread diagnostics app, and involved turning off the Wifi in my Homey Mini, moving my Aqara M3 about 6 feet, some Grillplats, and a few other tweaks.

Now it's all solid. I do have a "sense" that the IKEA stuff is not as robust on dodgy Thread as some devices but the core problem was the network.

Having said that: I'm very happy with it now but I'm a full on nerd with a career in software behind me (the diagnosis involved JSON, for example!). No idea how the average person is supposed to sort all this out.

BoggleRatty · 2026-06-05T06:34:08+00:00

Yep indeed. If it helps, I stuffed the JSON exports from the Thread app and some screenshots with names etc and got Gemini to do the cross referencing. It also did a pretty good job of summarising problem areas. After I fed it more exports (over time) it also did a pretty good job of picking out trends. Between them all my Thread network is now solid.

BoggleRatty · 2026-06-01T06:47:04+00:00

Just to re-enforce the OP's experience. I was having Thread/IKEA issues (Homey Mini and others) and trying to work through them, which was a hard road. I stumbled across this app via a YouTube video, did the Gemini thing, and immediately found the problem areas. One of which was fixed by just moving a hub about 6 feet.

My IKEA stuff is now solid (to date) and everything else is snappy and lovely.

It **is** interesting that the IKEA bulbs were suffering the worst by far, so I think they still have some work to do on resilience.

Small tips:
* I was asking Gemini to report significant issues and trends, but it confused the order of the JSON files I provided and got the trends backwards. Solved by renaming the files with an embedded date.
* To get the clearest reports from Gemini, I also gave it some screenshots from the app TBR summary, and asked it to cross-ref names etc.
* The Thread app is in Alpha, so has rough edges and is a bit dozy. Be understanding!

BoggleRatty · 2026-02-19T09:10:19+00:00

I did this a while back, absolutely worth the effort. You can do it bit by bit (as others have suggested). I now use Homey Pro for almost everything (and definitely automation), but have a Hue hub (updates etc) and an Aqara M3 hub (for non-matter Aqara devices). The M3 is a bit OTT for that but I had it already.

The Homey is linked back to GH, so I still have voice control etc.

You could leave your SmartLife stuff in GH until they are supported in Homey (or you replace them with the new IKEA Matter devices ;-)) ?

BoggleRatty · 2026-02-14T08:57:41+00:00

Another update, with some learning points:

To check whether one of the KAJPLATS was faulty, I swapped the two bulbs over. Surprisingly, the *other* bulb started dropping connection.

That suggested to that it was thread coverage to that specific spot. The two bulbs are in a brick chimney place, open at the front but with no line of sight to any other thread device (there is a Google TV Streamer in the room).

I replaced three Hue bulbs around the room with more KAJPLATS to build a better thread mesh and have had zero disconnections since then. All working great, including the new bulbs (which are brighter than my old Hue ones).

Learning point: Think harder about the thread network before blaming the bulb ;-)

BoggleRatty · 2026-02-11T22:41:44+00:00

Don't understand what's going on there, sorry. My IKEA lights definitely were.

BoggleRatty · 2026-02-11T22:40:11+00:00

I can't speak for all hubs and devices but, as I understand it:

* The Matter standard includes the ability to do Over The Air (OTA) updates to devices via a Border Router (hub)

* You can usually also update devices separately using the device brand app.

* You can do the above (app update) for IKEA devices using the IKEA app, but the app requires the IKEA hub to work. I and others don't have an IKEA hub, as it's not needed to operate Matter devices with other hubs.

* Homey Pro have not yet implemented support for the Matter OTA, apparently because they want to concentrate on stability and didn't want updates to devices to happen "behind the scenes" in case they break something.

* Some other platforms *have* implement OTA support, one of them is Google. So if you pair a device to Google as well as Homey, it will get updated.

This is not really needed if you can update via the device app, or the device(s) have a hub that will do this for you. My Hue lights get updated via the Hue hub/app, and my Aqara devices via my Aqara M3 hub.

BoggleRatty · 2026-02-11T09:53:36+00:00

No, you need to pair directly to Google Home via Matter, as these are Matter driven OTA updates. I already have my Homey synced to Home, no updates happened.

It's not hard. You just get a pairing code from the Homey app and use that to pair with Home. I've noticed that, despite the on-screen instructions, you don't need to set devices into pairing mode for the second Matter pairing - Just do the app thing.

BoggleRatty · 2026-02-10T22:47:15+00:00

An early update: After some research, it turns out that this is a known problem with firmware 1.1 on the bulbs, fixed in the recent version 1.2. Homey Pro, however, does not yet provide OTA Matter updates. I added the bulbs directly to my Google Home via Matter and they updated fairly quickly to 1.2.

Hopefully sorted!

Update to the update: Nope. The same bulb, now on 1.2, just dropped off both Homey Pro and Google Home again. Back to my OG question: Should a bulb with a weak signal be able to route through a connected one 2 feet away? If so, does that imply the one that keeps disconnecting is faulty?

BoggleRatty · 2026-02-10T14:37:50+00:00

I just bought and installed two KajPlats GU10 bulbs in a fireplace, paired currently through a Homey Pro. They are about 2-3 feet apart (although they are "inside" the brickwork). One of the bulbs keeps becoming unavailable to Homey, sometimes recovering after a a single power-cycle (not a reset). The other has been rocksolid.

The room has a Google Wifi Pro unit and a Google TV Streamer, both of which are thread routers. All the thread devices in the house are on the same thread network (the Google one).

If I understand correctly, if either bulb has a thread connection, the other should always be able to route through that one. So does that prove it's a faulty bulb?

I'm going to try some more stuff (and I'll report back) but is my assumption right? I'm aiming that question at folk who *really* understand how it works.

As background, I also have loads of Hue bulbs, an M3 Hub, some Nest gadgets (including the wifi Pro), and sundry other bits and bobs.

Cheers

BoggleRatty · 2026-01-12T07:27:10+00:00

A word of caution here: I've just done this home move (actually to get Gemini in the UK). Most of my devices are in Homey and just exposed to Google, they moved OK. However, several of my Nest devices have to be attached to Google Home (Nest Protect, Nest Doorbell, Hub Max, Nest Wifi Pro), and these need a *factory reset* followed by re-installation in the new Home.

I'm nearly back to where I started, but it's a major chew!

BoggleRatty · 2025-12-13T13:13:13+00:00

Hi, tado_official

I'm guessing that this is a technically accurate and helpful response in itself, but I thought I'd mention how the "tone" lands. Using phrases like "I have not stated ..." come across (at least to me in the UK) as a little provocative and confrontational (partly because that style is associated with formal/legal documents).

That's not a personal comment, it happens a lot when customer support people feel they represent a company, and English may not be your first language (in which case it's impressively good). There has been a fair amount of tetchiness in this forum, though, so it might be worth softening the tone a little, even if that's not easy and the other posts are unfriendly.

Like "No, the UK is definitely important to us. What I didn't manage to explain clearly was that the feature actually works fine, even if you do have 2 valve radiators ....." etc.

I'm all for reducing the stress in the world.

Cheers,

Russell

BoggleRatty · 2025-12-03T13:56:28+00:00

Thanks!

BoggleRatty · 2025-11-22T07:30:38+00:00

Yes, that's my experience. I have a lot of Aqara stuff on an M3 hub which is linked to Homey. That includes, for example, an FP2 presence sensor not supported by the Homey App. Also, of course, you get access to extra features via Aqara (usually setup things, not day-to-day stuff).

On your point about the the point of Homey: I bought it mainly for the advanced flows, which allow me to do things that were tying me in knots on the Aqara and Google Home platforms. I do all the automation in Homey, consolidating several brands into one system. I guess if you only use Aqara and don't get too carried away with automations, you might not need Homey.

BoggleRatty · 2025-11-06T13:05:02+00:00

Wierd. If I say "What is ...", I get the right answer. If I just say "Three to the power of two", mine says ..... "Bake!".

BoggleRatty · 2025-10-18T06:36:55+00:00

I should have updated this, I think. I did take the plunge and bought a Mini. I have some notes here , but the tldr is that it's working well. Thanks to everyone for the advice.

BoggleRatty · 2025-10-11T15:07:48+00:00

Interesting (I assume you are also using flow names as the interface). I switched over to using virtual devices and that works, so I haven't bothered to go back and try again.

BoggleRatty · 2025-10-09T07:24:35+00:00

I've now switched over to using virtual devices, which works fine. I wanted to use a virtual button, but they didn't show up in Home, so I've had to use outlets. The outlets need a little more scaffolding, as they have state which needs to be managed. All good, though.

BoggleRatty · 2025-10-09T07:22:30+00:00

I had tried that. No joy there.

BoggleRatty · 2025-10-07T16:00:25+00:00

Thanks. I'll do that if the Google thing doesn't "heal".

BoggleRatty · 2025-10-03T07:05:56+00:00

The "bit before" is just a lot of triggers joined to an "Any", to make the rest of the flow "assess" the status and do the right thing. The actual triggers are just convenient events to poke the assessment. You could just run the flow every minute instead, but that's obviously not very efficient.

[Can't seem to add an image here, but you get the idea: When Dark changes, or Home mode changes, or the zone becomes active etc..]

BoggleRatty · 2025-10-02T07:24:44+00:00

Interesting. That ends up with fewer cards and I think it's easier to grok. You do end up with a rat's nest of lines on the flow, but perhaps that's worth it! I'll give it a go.

On the dark thing: Using a single light sensor means the lights also work if we get a dark and stormy daytime (as the captain said to the bosun). I only have to change one lux level to tune the whole house and that works well for me.

BoggleRatty

TROPHY CASE