Ikea recently released its new Matter-over-Thread smart devices, but they may not be working as intended. The devices include programmable buttons, smart bulbs, plugs, and temperature and motion sensors that may be failing to connect.
We have seen multiple reports of the devices struggling to connect to smart home hubs from The Verge to the unofficial Tradfri Ikea subreddit. Frustrated customers are reporting that the devices are failing to connect up to 50% of the time.
The Verge reported that of the six devices they have, only one connected properly after seven attempts. However, once connected, it suffered from intermittent pairing failures.
One Redditor tested 59 Bilresa remotes and managed to pair 29 of them; the other just never worked. "There’s nothing you can do to 'fix' a given remote. Of the 59 remotes I bought, 29 have paired. Some just work, some just don’t. It’s not your fault!" they wrote.
For what it's worth, my colleague, Tom's Guide U.S. Editor-in-Chief Mike Prospero, is testing several of Ikea's smart devices and hasn't had any trouble connecting. Additionally, several people in the threads reported having no compatibility issues.
Ikea knows
IKEA is aware of the issue. We saw a moderator in the Tradfri threads thank users for reporting and claimed they were sharing the thread with the company.
The company also released this statement:
"We are aware that some customers are experiencing challenges with the initial setup of our new Matter-enabled devices. We are working closely with the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) and our ecosystem partners to investigate and resolve these connectivity issues through upcoming firmware updates."
We are aware that some customers are experiencing challenges with the initial setup of our new Matter-enabled devices.
Ikea statement
With so many different smart home setups in the wild, it appears Ikea may not have known what problems the devices would run into until they actually landed in people's hands.
It's not clear what exactly is causing the issue, whether it's the Matter platform itself, how Ikea implemented it or how it interacts with the different platforms. Hopefully, Ikea will provide some clarity and a fix soon.
The company has provided some troubleshooting tips. Simply, you'll want to make sure your apps are updated to the latest version. You'll also want to keep your phone and device close to the hub when pairing.
I saw many users in the TradFri subs suggesting that factory resets may be in order. IKEA also suggests a rest to "clear any old connections and start again." We suggest you save the reset as a last resort after trying other tips, like restarting the system and individual devices
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