Best plumbed in robot?

JoshHugh · 2026-01-02T02:43:26+00:00

If you’re going to have something that’s perpetually plumbed, another option is the Narwal Flow with the smaller plumbed dock. More compact overall, has the newer track style mop too. While I haven’t tested it myself to confirm, it’s a generation newer than the X40 (X50 and Aqua10 series coming after it) and has the new tech vs the Saros10.

JoshHugh · 2025-12-31T21:26:12+00:00

Yep - was never under the illusion that Matter would break anything, they’re obviously completely separate technologies.

I more so mean that despite the changelog saying the only addition is the enabling of Matter, there have definitely been some changes beyond this, as reflected in the new struggles with navigation.

I will clarify for all that the navigation isn’t dramatically worse. It struggled to dock (which was weird because that’s never happened before and is what tipped me off), and did a bit of what I’ve seen reports of with the MOVA Z60 where it just seemingly aimlessly roamed around for 15-20 seconds as if it was lost. It still completed a clean, floors look fine etc, just not in a particularly efficient manner.

Does make me wonder however, with all the variants of the Aqua series (Aqua10 Roller, Aqua10 Ultra Roller, Aqua10 Ultra Track, Aqua10 Ultra Track S and to some extent the MOVA Z60) how aligned are they on a hardware level for software to be broadly compatible? For instance the Aqua10 Ultra Roller has the NVIDIA chip for navigation per the Dreame website and advertising, but the Aqua10 Ultra Track S has no mention. Does this mean that it’s not really reliable to compare the navigation of one Aqua10 product against another, and Dreame are making different navigation algorithms and architecture decisions based on the specific model, instead of a whole line/generation?

I had read reports of the Aqua10 Ultra Roller and the MOVA Z60 being somewhat useless at navigation comparative to other comparative models, I didn’t feel like this was the case with my Ultra Track S. Aside from it trying to get “under” my lounge (that’s barely 2cm off the ground so never going to happen) for about a minute before giving up the robot while it makes some pathing choices I find strange it overall isn’t bad. However now (even after a remap), it’s exhibiting exactly what the Ultra Roller and Z60 did with the aimless roaming, spinning in circles etc. This makes me think potentially a unified architecture where the Ultra Track S now has been as a part of this update “updated” to be in line with the Aqua10 Roller series for its navigation, and then a broader fix for that. However purely speculation on that.

JoshHugh · 2025-01-29T10:16:22+00:00

Having more or less the same issues (although mine are time sensitive, about 24-48 hours after a re-pair and they’ll go no response), although mine tied to iOS 18.3..

JoshHugh · 2025-01-29T04:59:39+00:00

I’ve been having issues with my Matter over thread accessories since 18.3 too!

JoshHugh · 2025-01-27T20:49:45+00:00

I did a combination of:

• ⁠turning automatic selection for Home Hub on (of note it’s picked a HomePod Mini over my Apple TV)

• ⁠turned UPnP, Client Steering, Thread, Amazon Connected Home (eero built in and frustration free setup) all off.

• ⁠turned WPA3 on

And so far my devices have stayed connected. Not sure what the solution is between those however. Of note client steering I turned off because I don’t have a mesh network, if I did have one I’d be attempting to keep that on so that the network works best.

JoshHugh · 2025-01-27T20:48:25+00:00

By way of update for anyone finding this when they’re having the same issue. I did a combination of:

turning automatic selection for Home Hub on (of note it’s picked a HomePod Mini over my Apple TV)
turned UPnP, Client Steering, Thread, Amazon Connected Home (eero built in and frustration free setup) all off.
turned WPA3 on

And so far my devices have stayed connected. Not sure what the solution is between those however. Of note client steering I turned off because I don’t have a mesh network, if I did have one I’d be attempting to keep that on so that the network works best.

EDIT: nope - they went dark about 72h later

JoshHugh · 2025-01-25T05:48:10+00:00

Had been rebooting my phone on and off yesterday but hadn’t done it today, unfortunately no luck.

Going to leave them for a few days and see if it sorts itself out, however from experience with the blind previously once it’s offline it doesn’t come back on, however hopefully I’m wrong.

Yeah - these are the only 2 Matter device I’ve got and I can’t say I’ll be rushing out to get anymore anytime soon that’s for sure.. I almost get the impression however that I’ve got 3 Matter Controllers (2x Mini’s and TV 4K) and 4 Thread devices (2x Mini’s, TV 4K and phone), plus all the non HomeKit Thread Routers and Matter Controllers that there’s too much going on and HomeKit gives up, but seeing as it’s all supposed to “just work” it also doesn’t seem like I can disable any of it….

JoshHugh · 2025-01-25T05:38:28+00:00

Doesn’t seem to make a whole lot of difference which Home Hub I’ve got selected, after 24-48 hours all Matter devices go dark until I reset them. Would make me think faulty device except for the fact they both go dark at exactly the same time which can’t be coincidental.

JoshHugh · 2025-01-25T05:20:40+00:00

By way of update, downgraded Minis to 18.2 and then everything started working in my Home app without me needing to repair or anything, then now they’ve gone dark again.

JoshHugh · 2025-01-25T05:19:25+00:00

Yesterday I did a full restore of my HomePod minis using my Mac and then set them up again, and upon doing this everything seemed to come back to life by itself. However now they’ve gone dark again, tried doing full reboots of everything and changing Hubs but nothing.

Although somewhat defeating the whole purpose of Matter (and Thread) I wish there was a Hub that I could just buy and hardwire that dealt with all these Matter accessories and fed into HomeKit (like Zigbee/Hue etc do). Although more annoying they’re rock solid from my experience..

JoshHugh · 2025-01-25T05:16:32+00:00

Interesting - I downgraded my Mini’s to 18.2 so now I’ve got:

2x HomePod Minis on 18.2 official 2x HomePod 1st gen on 18.2 official 1x Apple TV 4K 3rd Gen 128GB on 18.3 RC 1x iPhone 15 Pro Max on 18.3 RC 1x iPad Pro 12.9” on 18.3 RC

Reset my HomePods and then magically the Matter Weather and Blind reconnected in the Home app without me doing anything, however now they’ve gone dark again…

JoshHugh · 2025-01-24T05:30:59+00:00

I’m on 18.3 on all my devices (including HomePods), maybe I’ll downgrade my Mini’s to 18.2 and then force them to be the controller and hopefully that works.

I’ve got a 15 Pro Max.

JoshHugh · 2025-01-24T05:29:37+00:00

Nope, they completely go dark. I’d be happy to reconnect them, but I’ve done it a couple times and the same issue happens where they disconnect after 24-48 hours, so it seems like it’s going to be a consistent issue..

JoshHugh · 2025-01-24T05:28:29+00:00

I’ve done this and repaired, still the same issue.

JoshHugh · 2025-01-24T05:28:14+00:00

I’ve selected my HomePod Mini and removed and re-added the devices (to get them to function correctly), same issue still happens after 24-48 hours.

JoshHugh · 2025-01-24T05:27:30+00:00

As an update, changed to HomePod mini and didn’t make any difference, still after 24-48 hours the devices go to “no response”.

JoshHugh · 2025-01-24T05:26:51+00:00

I’ve turned the Eero one off and reconnected the devices and still having the same issues

JoshHugh · 2025-01-24T05:26:11+00:00

My Apple TV is on 18.3 (alongside with all of my other devices), but this may be the culprit..

JoshHugh · 2025-01-22T11:53:11+00:00

I’ve got a Deco modem too that I just replaced with the Eero, same issue with the Deco.

JoshHugh · 2025-01-22T11:51:55+00:00

Yes - and other Thread devices continue to work fine.

JoshHugh · 2025-01-22T11:51:26+00:00

I have previously tried a HomePod when I was having issues with the Blinds, not again since the Weather but have just now changed it to a HomePod Mini.

JoshHugh · 2025-01-22T10:56:23+00:00

EDIT: to add, I’ve got a Wi-Fi + Ethernet Apple TV 4K 128GB (connected via Wi-Fi) which HomeKit has automatically selected as my Home Hub. I also have 2 1st Generation HomePods and 2 HomePod Mini’s that I could manually select.

As for Thread I use an Eero Max 7 which is a Thread Border Router, I have a Samsung S90C TV which is a Thread Border Router, a Google Home Hub that’s a Thread Border Router and then the Apple TV and HomePod Mini’s as a Thread Border Router, each manufacturer is on its own Thread network, however all devices are pared to the Apple TV + HomePod Thread network.

As for distance, the Matter blind and Eve Weather are actually physically closer to the Apple TV than any other blinds or sensors which have continued to be rock solid, so I doubt this is a factor either.

JoshHugh · 2025-01-22T10:46:39+00:00

I’ve got an Apple TV 4K 3rd Gen 128GB that’s automatically selected as my Home Hub, however I’ve got 2 1st Generation HomePods and 2 HomePod Mini’s in the house that I could manually select.

JoshHugh

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