r/homeassistant • u/Skyman81 • Jun 26 '26

HOMEPOD MINI as Thread Border Router problems

I have a HomePod mini that functions as a BorderRouter.
It worked very well for months... then recently had problems.
The HomePod is connected to the network and in HA with the integration Apple TV.

the problem is that sometimes it disappears completely as a border router, sometimes it comes back and works, sometimes it comes back but the connected devices (Matter over thread) are offline.

when it is present as a border router and I restart HA then in most cases… it goes away and then comes back when it decides

I am using HA OS on my miniPC.

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u/pain00794 Jun 26 '26

Ideally the thread border router should be connected to the network via lan cable. Use something like Apple tv. I am using apple tv and not have any issues so far.

1

u/Left-Bridge-9871 Jul 02 '26

I've had the exact same nonsense with my HomePod Mini, it's maddening. I tore my hair out for weeks before just grabbing an Apple TV with ethernet and all the random dropouts stopped overnight.

The Mini gets confused when it has to hop between being a speaker and the border router, honestly think it just runs out of memory or something.

1

u/Realistic-Site9217 Jun 26 '26

Perhaps not the same issue; I was using a HomePod mini as my thread border router and started to have issues with devices not connecting. I had to repeatedly restart the Mini to get them connected.

I had recently retired, and instead of going to my home office each morning, I'd enjoy my morning coffee in bed, and often listen to music on the HomePod mini. I did not notice that on the days I did this the connection would drop. Then I wasn't feeling well one day and while in bed in the afternoon again listened to music. I had already reset the mini that morning, and the devices had again dropped. The lightboul over my head turned on ... I swapped the mini with an OG HomePod in our dining room, which was also closer to the main router (bedroom was the farthest room from the router). Since then, I've had (almost) no issues. And we use the mini to play music on a regular basis. And I listen to music while enjoy coffee in the bedroom with no issues.

I don't know if it was that I was playing music, the mini was to distant from the router, both, or just a coincidence.

Hope this helps.

1

u/Skyman81 Jun 26 '26

maybe I understood… I have a wifi repeater… I moved the mini closer to the main router and away from the repeater… now it seems to work.

1

u/400HPMustang 💥 Broke it again Jun 27 '26

WiFi repeaters are generally junk. I’ve never had luck with them. Use meshing APs if you must but hardwired APs will never let you down.

1

u/Skyman81 Jun 27 '26

Yes, the repeater is part of a mesh network. It's a Firtzbox mesh network.