A practical workaround allows IKEA’s Dirigera hub to serve as a second Thread border router for Home Assistant, creating a single, stable Thread mesh network that excludes older border routers, potentially expanding home automation capabilities.
For home automation users trying to avoid separate Thread islands, a practical workaround has emerged: IKEA’s Dirigera hub can be added as a second Thread border router to the same network used by Home Assistant. In the account described here, the result was a single shared Thread mesh rather than two isolated systems, with the author reporting that the network remained stable after the change. Home Assistant’s own documentation says its OpenThread Border Router integration manages border routers through REST APIs, and that the Thread integration records Thread networks and credentials once a border router is detected.
The key requirement is Thread 1.4 credential sharing. According to Home Assistant’s documentation and an associated GitHub discussion, Thread 1.4 is important because it allows operational credentials to be shared between border routers, which is what makes a unified network possible. The author says Home Assistant has not yet exposed this directly in the main interface, but that the feature is available through the OpenThread Border Router interface and is still presented as beta functionality.
In practice, the process is straightforward. The author opened the OTBR web interface through the Home Assistant host on port 8080, then found a new ePSKc option near the bottom of the menu. Activating it generated a nine-digit code that was valid for two minutes. That code was then entered in the IKEA Dirigera app under settings, inside the hub’s Thread network section, using the option to join another network. After roughly a minute, the hub joined successfully.
Once the join completed, Home Assistant refreshed its Thread map and showed both border routers in the same mesh. Home Assistant’s Matter integration includes a network view that can display this topology, while the Matter Server interface can reveal more detailed Thread information such as border routers, addresses and neighbouring nodes. The author notes that this shared network still excludes older border routers, such as Apple TV 4K and Google TV Streamer units, which he suspects have not yet moved to Thread 1.4. If that changes, the result could be a larger single mesh across more of the home.
Disclaimer: This content is intended for informational purposes only. Readers are advised to exercise their own judgement, conduct due diligence, or consult a qualified expert before acting on any information provided.
