ESP Thread Border Router/Zigbee Gateway Board

I actually have two of these now - I liked it so much I bought another, and they're cheap too! Search for ESP Thread Border Router in order to find instructions from the openthread website on how to get this set up. It's fairly straightforward, but you have to have some technical experience. So far I have both of mine connected to my matter/thread network where my Google Streamer is the primary node. You can find a low profile case on thingiverse to print for these. Protip - pay attention to the ports when programming these. They're separate SOC's so you need to use each USBC port to flash each module separately.

This works as expected, but you will need a little programming language to flash software onto it.

I followed all the instructions online with the system, but the board was not able to properly communicate at all. While there is a decent amount of value in this product, it is not easy to use at all.

Based upon other reviews I had hoped it would be possible to build and install the ESP OpenThread software on the board such that it could be used as thread border router in conduction with Apple's HomeKit, but without a Apple device which already implements a border router. Perhaps in fact this is possible, but I have not found a means and there are articles on the Internet that say the only path is to insert a Home Assistant node into the picture as well which I consider over the top. Building the ESP software is largely easy but the ESP website instructions are missing one key step which causes the whole process to fail. In short for the basic thread router example, they fail to say you have to build the example before attempting to flash it. Sigh. Also the Amazon reviews refer to two different sets of instructions, where the ESP instructions use the latest software versions. Though openthread V1.4, per a comment on GIT says it is too big to fit in the 4MB flash if the web server is enabled. I decided to build V1.3 which does fit with the web server, though this has nothing to do with the aforementioned issue getting OpenThread to work standalone with HomeKit (or likely anything from Amazon or Google given the articles on the web) w/ also using Home Assistant and a Pi. All said before dropping money on this board, my advise is do your research and ignore a web page at Alibaba which is a compilation of stuff they clipped from other places that ultimately is misleading. Misleading in the sense that it would suggest the board has a sticker with an 11 digit number to get it added to HomeKit, but there is no label.

I needed a thread border router and the 'ready made' are expensive and offer no guarantee of working. I had purchases some smart bulbs that were smarter than me and in reading the bulb manual fine print needed matter and thread. Got the chip, got the open source from espressif configured the image built load and it fired right up. Wow this must be pretty good stuff if a half addled old man can get it going.

It works as an open thread border router! Took me a minute to find the right guide, its actually quite simple. Range is very short, but that was kind of expected. Kind of bummed I was unable to program the second one I ordered as a zigbee coordinator, it seems that is still in development. I had fun building it and it seems to be stable enough. Wont let me paste the tutorial a link in the review - so google for it... all of the instructions to get this setup are on one page on the esp website "section 2.1. Build and Run" Its cloning a git repo to the computer, using a CLI tool to configure the settings (wifi, web gui if you want (not needed in hindsight), otbr auto boot), then building the firmware and flashing the board. After plugging it in it was discovered by Home Assistant as an open thread border router, added by IP address. The bulbs and my onvis smart switch paired and work! There are many uses for the esp32-s3, really fun to tinker with.

For those of you thinking it's a cheap Thread border router, it's not as easy as you think. This is a very basic IoT board with no software on it and no power supply. You will need to understand code development, compiling code, debugging, and flashing firmware. The instructions while good, are not comprehensive. If you are not comfortable with Github, Visual Studio, and low-level manual configuration, this is not the solution for you.

The 2 in one firmware has been kind of killed off as it was just full of bugs/issues that i assume aren't really fixable.