Ikea Debuts Matter-Compatible Smart Home Hub

[Ricebucket]

Let me guess: this one still won't support PoE, right? Because, why have just 1 cable, if you can have 2.

This is a statement that is very out of touch with reality. These home automation devices are for everyday homes. And IKEA home devices are for budget-minded everyday homes.

1) PoE has never been a consumer feature. Even if this device supports PoE, no consumer will have the router/switches to power it, because there are no consumer routers with PoE support.

2) Ethernet in the consumer space is on the way out. WiFi is the norm now and this hub supports WiFi. Most users of this device won't even use plain ethernet to connect, much less PoE.

Are there power users that would be interested in PoE? Sure of course. But there's no mass market for that.

 

[Labeno]

I interpreted the title to imply we live in an anti-matter world and miraculously Ikea found a way to harness the massive power of matter to power an anti-matter device.

 

[kingtj1971]

At this point? My main concern with smart home products is the need to maintain product or brand-specific apps on your smartphone to manage them. I've got a whole mess of these utilities now for MyQ garage door opener, August smart lock, Lutron, GE Cync, Nest (for a couple of their Protect smoke alarms) and Kasa for a smart switch. I'll have to add one more to use another brand of smart light bulb I've got a couple of but haven't even installed yet.

Even if they create a universal standard for controlling these devices, they don't have one for detecting and applying firmware updates for them ... and you often need the original manufacturers' app to do the initial setup process too.

They really need the ability for all of it to be controlled by a single standard and app.

 

[Neil Harrison]

This is a statement that is very out of touch with reality. These home automation devices are for everyday homes. And IKEA home devices are for budget-minded everyday homes.

1) PoE has never been a consumer feature. Even if this device supports PoE, no consumer will have the router/switches to power it, because there are no consumer routers with PoE support.

2) Ethernet in the consumer space is on the way out. WiFi is the norm now and this hub supports WiFi. Most users of this device won't even use plain ethernet to connect, much less PoE.

Are there power users that would be interested in PoE? Sure of course. But there's no mass market for that.

If Ethernet is on the way out why give it an Ethernet port?

Sorry but Ethernet will never be on its way out, whilst wifi is less restrictive and may have become the norm it still has its limitations

As you say devices such as this are for everyday homes. I live in an everyday home and trust me before I installed a proper network nothing would pass from the router (which at the time was a top consumer router) to a room 5m away.

We have over 50 Devices that require a network connection, which if they have a port they get a cable as its more stable and data transfer speed is quicker

 

[Ricebucket]

If Ethernet is on the way out why give it an Ethernet port?

Sorry but Ethernet will never be on its way out, whilst wifi is less restrictive and may have become the norm it still has its limitations

As you say devices such as this are for everyday homes. I live in an everyday home and trust me before I installed a proper network nothing would pass from the router (which at the time was a top consumer router) to a room 5m away.

We have over 50 Devices that require a network connection, which if they have a port they get a cable as its more stable and data transfer speed is quicker

It definitely is on the way out dude.

This is not the same as saying Ethernet is not useful. I must have ethernet at home because I'm a power user. But you're in denial if you think everyday users need it or even know what it is.

Since we're on the mac forum, let me ask you: when's the last time an Apple laptop had an ethernet port? Has the iPhone ever had an ethernet port? Does the HomePod, a HomeKit hub, have an ethernet port? What is the device that users will use to interact with the IKEA hub (hint: there's an app)?

And if are going to point out "but but... desktops still have ethernet ports" then I suggest you look at laptop vs desktop sales numbers. It's even more lopsided if you include phones, which is the primary computing device for the masses these days.

You can survey your friends (*non-tech industry friends*) and see how many of them use ethernet.

 

[ja']

power users that would be interested in PoE?

hehe, i see what you did there ⚡️

 

[Aston441]

OMG yay this is so awesome I'm so happy for a universal standard finally hooray!!!!

 

[Neil Harrison]

It definitely is on the way out dude.

This is not the same as saying Ethernet is not useful. I must have ethernet at home because I'm a power user. But you're in denial if you think everyday users need it or even know what it is.

Since we're on the mac forum, let me ask you: when's the last time an Apple laptop had an ethernet port? Has the iPhone ever had an ethernet port? Does the HomePod, a HomeKit hub, have an ethernet port? What is the device that users will use to interact with the IKEA hub (hint: there's an app)?

And if are going to point out "but but... desktops still have ethernet ports" then I suggest you look at laptop vs desktop sales numbers. It's even more lopsided if you include phones, which is the primary computing device for the masses these days.

You can survey your friends (*non-tech industry friends*) and see how many of them use ethernet.

Your comparing apples and pears..yes future devices will have wifi only, yes my some of my apple devices have wifi only but discussing phones having Ethernet ports???, they didn’t need an Ethernet because they were just used for calling people and use cellular network

Comparing sales of desktop to laptop sales again is pointless and Ethernet has no bearing on which you choose. I have both and my desktop is better to use

My post made no mention of power so not sure what you are going on about with the power user

And I know my friends have same wifi issues and use both like me!

 

[DreadedFun]

I must have ethernet at home because I'm a power user.

Power users don’t need Ethernet. You might have a workflow that requires it, but it’s not a must for power users. Today a proper WiFi setup can cover the need of most users, also desktop users.

 

[Ricebucket]

Your comparing apples and pears..yes future devices will have wifi only, yes my some of my apple devices have wifi only but discussing phones having Ethernet ports???, they didn’t need an Ethernet because they were just used for calling people and use cellular network

Again, you're really out of touch with what is computing these days. You cannot dismiss the phone. It is the most important computing device there is right now. To Apple, it's most of Apple's revenue. And in the home, it is how most people interact with technology.

And the phone is used for calling people? Really? I doubt that calling people consists of more than 10% phone device use for most people. You can check "Screen Time" on your phone to for precise numbers.

And we're getting off-topic. The answer is really much simpler without needing to discuss the broader computing market.

Specifically concerning the IKEA device, or home control devices in general: the phone is how you will interact with the hub. That's why IKEA is building an app. A phone app. Not a piece of Mac software. And as you conceded, the phone will never have an ethernet port. It's really that simple.

Ethernet on a home control device will forever be a "good to have" feature, not a necessity. And PoE is just a non-starter, because there's just no consumer devices for it.

 

[Ricebucket]

Power users don’t need Ethernet. You might have a workflow that requires it, but it’s not a must for power users. Today a proper WiFi setup can cover the need of most users, also desktop users.

I'm not in disagreement with you. You're missing the point of my post.

 

[twistedpixel8]

If you want Trådfri compatible things in your HomeKit environment, you would need either the Trådfri gateway or this device.

How did nobody see this coming?

“Matter is designed to make everything interoperable and do away with all these hubs!”

Every company announces support for Matter. Through their ecosystem’s hub.

 

[Hudzilla95]

I'm excited for this but only if it is more reliable. I use the Trådfri smart plugs in my Homekit setup for nearly every outlet I use in Homekit - my only Hue one is actually attached to the Trådfri gateway that runs a reset every night. I found doing this restart every night makes the Trådfri system much more reliable and can fix a lot of issues, however some still remain such as the long time to update when you open them room in the Home app.

 

[dzankizakon]

Trådfri has been wonderful. It blows many other products away. I have been testing a number of smart home ecosystems, and Ikea Tradfri's simplicity, reliability, value for price, and usefulness is difficult to match. It works great with Siri too.

Tradfri has only recently become more reliable. For years it has been very, very flaky.

 

[biffuz]

IKEA has been dealing with severe supply chain issues on these products. They hide it by having available items occupy more shelf space. There must be several container ships that either don’t make it out of Shanghai harbor because of their hard lockdowns or they don’t get unloaded on our western shores.

Last time I checked it was before the pandemic ;D

 

[svish]

Another smart hub!! Maybe better to buy it only after Apple starts to support it.

 

[gdbleb]

Oh Goody! Another "standard" to subsume all the other "standards".

And is it made of particle board?

 

[TheLunaPark]

Essentially, the smart home concept at the moment is a train crash. Different standards, some compatible with each other but some not, massive amounts of waste being created because things are moving so quickly and hardly anything is upgradable. Predictable really.

 

[DreadedFun]

I'm not in disagreement with you. You're missing the point of my post.

No I didn’t miss it. I just did not agree with that part.

 

[kaz911]

This is a statement that is very out of touch with reality. These home automation devices are for everyday homes. And IKEA home devices are for budget-minded everyday homes.

1) PoE has never been a consumer feature. Even if this device supports PoE, no consumer will have the router/switches to power it, because there are no consumer routers with PoE support.

2) Ethernet in the consumer space is on the way out. WiFi is the norm now and this hub supports WiFi. Most users of this device won't even use plain ethernet to connect, much less PoE.

Are there power users that would be interested in PoE? Sure of course. But there's no mass market for that.

Hmm - I think you are "mind reading" based on your own preference.

Ethernet in new private properties are increasing - not decreasing. Yes we have "faster" wireless - but each generation of faster wireless results in lower actual coverage area - so more access-points are needed - resulting in a need for more ethernet.

Combine that with many new buildings have "concrete" frameworks - adding even more to the need for additional access points.

Some people try wireless repeaters incl. mesh based systems. While they are fine in some environments - in many situations they are plain stupid. Do a wireless survey in a house with 2-3 repeaters and you will see the how much wireless bandwidth they consume across multiple bands (for the good ones) - that then leads to extended amounts of wireless "noise" for neighbours - resulting in a neighbour "wireless" arms-race to get reliable coverage in their properties. As wireless channels are overlapping - it does not take a lot to impact your neighbours wireless access points for the worse.

You might say there are few consumer routers! with POE. But there are PLENTY of home switches with POE. And most people I know who have installed wireless door bells or cameras - have changed sooner or later to POE wired cameras. Nothing beats POE - power and reliable signal in ONE cheap thin cable.

So in short - ethernet is NOT on its way out. Neither is wireless.

Wireless have some applications - Ethernet have other. But choose the right tool for the job.