Aqara Hub M100 and Home Assistant: Local Matter Setup

The M100 (网关 M100 in Aqara’s mainland documentation) connects supported Aqara Zigbee devices to Home Assistant through Matter. It also includes a Thread border router, so it can serve a small installation that uses both radios. The important distinction is between adding the hub as a bridge and adding a Thread device: those are separate commissioning steps.

Affiliate disclosure. This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

How the M100 differs from the M2 and M3

Start with the devices you want to connect, then consider network connections and capacity. The M100 is a compact USB-A-powered Wi-Fi hub; the larger models offer features such as Ethernet and infrared control that may matter more than their size.

Using Matter to reach Home Assistant

This walkthrough uses the Home Assistant Matter integration. Aqara’s M100 developer documentation also lists HomeKit bridging, so “Matter-only” is too broad a description of every M100 version. Native HomeKit and Apple Home through Matter are different pairing routes: use the code and instructions provided for the exact regional hub. The older M2 also has a Matter bridge option on supported firmware, alongside its native HomeKit path.

Check Zigbee and Matter compatibility separately

Aqara Zigbee support follows Aqara’s compatibility list. The M100 is not a general-purpose Zigbee2MQTT coordinator, and third-party Matter support does not imply third-party Zigbee support. Check the exact sensor or switch, including its region, before moving it from another network.

Capacity and room to expand

Aqara lists the M100 as supporting 20 Aqara Zigbee accessories and a further 20 Thread accessories in its product guidance. Treat those as hub limits, rather than a general rule that every Thread network stops at 20 devices. Leave space for the devices you expect to add later. Aqara’s hub comparison gives the broader capacity figures.

Set up the M100 in Home Assistant

First establish the hub and its child devices in Aqara Home. Then commission the bridge into Home Assistant. Pair one sensor initially so that it is easy to check whether its state reaches both systems.

1. Set up the hub in Aqara Home

For the mainland version, Aqara’s M100 support page tells you to connect the phone to 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi for setup and use a USB supply above 2.5 W (5 V/0.5 A). Bluetooth assists discovery; it is not support for arbitrary Bluetooth child devices. Check the supply and regional instructions for your unit before installation.

1. Power the M100 from a suitable USB-A supply and place it where it has good Wi-Fi and Zigbee coverage.
2. Use the current Aqara Home app to add the hub to its supported region and Wi-Fi network. Follow any account and firmware prompts shown by the app.
3. Add the intended Aqara Zigbee device and confirm that its state changes in Aqara Home.

Initial app setup and firmware downloads may require internet access. Complete them before testing the local connection.

2. Get the Matter bridge code

Aqara’s current Help Center names the device-page option “Third-Party Matter Ecosystems.” Copy its Matter pairing code or save its QR code. Keep the hub powered and connected throughout commissioning; a child device’s Thread code is a different code for a different accessory.

Open the hub’s ecosystem or Matter connection settings in Aqara Home and generate the pairing code. Menu labels can change between app versions. Use the code for the hub’s bridge, rather than a code belonging to one of its Thread accessories.

If another platform already controls the bridge, open a new sharing or pairing window there or through the hub’s supported sharing flow. A previously used commissioning code is not always enough to add a second controller.

3. Add the bridge through the Companion app

Have the Matter integration and its Matter Server ready in Home Assistant. In the Home Assistant Companion app on your phone, choose to add a Matter device and follow the new-device or already-in-use flow that matches your setup. Scan the code or enter it manually.

For commissioning, keep the phone, hub and Home Assistant on the same local network. Follow the Home Assistant Matter requirements, including IPv6 and multicast support. An mDNS relay alone does not solve every network problem.

4. Check the exposed devices and local control

The Zigbee device continues talking to the M100. The bridge translates its supported functions into Matter, and Home Assistant creates entities from that mapping. Expect contact/open state from a supported contact sensor, occupancy from a supported presence or motion device, and on/off control from a supported switch. Battery, gestures, thresholds and diagnostics may differ from a direct Zigbee integration. Make a list of the functions your automations use rather than checking only that a device appears.

Find the bridge under Settings → Devices & services → Matter. Open the child device and test a real state change, such as opening a contact sensor. Confirm that an automation uses the entity actually discovered in Home Assistant.

For an offline check, disconnect the internet connection while keeping the LAN and Wi-Fi running. Test the sensor and a local action again. If it fails, check the network and each action’s dependencies; Home Assistant has no separate “Matter cloud hub” mode to turn off.

Local control and privacy

There are two places an automation might run: inside the Aqara hub, or in Home Assistant. A rule that works offline in one system does not prove that a similar rule works offline in the other.

What can run locally

Matter lets Home Assistant exchange supported states and commands with the bridge over the LAN. Home Assistant can then act on other locally controlled devices. Aqara also supports local hub automations for compatible device combinations. Check the execution status of each Aqara rule instead of assuming every action is local.

Features that still need internet access

Account services, remote access, firmware downloads and cloud push notifications can require internet access. A Home Assistant automation that calls a cloud integration retains that dependency even when its trigger arrives locally from the M100.

Network settings for an offline installation

If the bridge is missing, first confirm that it is available in Aqara Home and that the pairing window is open. If commissioning succeeds but a child is missing, confirm the child belongs to this hub and that its type is supported by the bridge. If the child appears but does not update, compare its app state with Home Assistant and inspect Matter Server logs. These are different faults; re-pairing the whole hub is a poor first response to a missing attribute.

Get the standard setup working before adding firewall restrictions. Preserve communication between Home Assistant, the hub and any Thread border router, including IPv6. If you later block internet access, account for both IPv4 and IPv6 rules and repeat the offline test.

The Aqara internet-dependency guide explains the difference between local device control and services supplied by the app.

Expose Aqara scenes with Advanced Matter Bridging

The mainland term is 高阶 Matter 桥接, or Advanced Matter Bridging. Aqara describes a synchronized scene as a virtual plug and a signal as a virtual occupancy sensor. A scene might run an existing lighting preset; turning the virtual plug on calls that scene. A supported special detection signal can trigger a Home Assistant rule without supplying its full underlying data. The official announcement gives FP2 fall detection as one example of an advanced function that can be bridged.

1. Run the chosen scene or test the signal in Aqara Home first.
2. Select the scene or signal in the supported synchronization settings and associate it with the execution hub if asked.
3. Inspect the new virtual device in Home Assistant and test its actual switch or sensor behaviour.
4. Repeat the test with WAN unavailable before treating the whole rule as local.

With supported hub firmware, Advanced Matter Bridging can represent selected Aqara signals and scenes as virtual Matter devices. That is useful when a feature is missing from the ordinary bridge entities. It does not automatically export every sensor attribute or turn a cloud-dependent scene into a local one.

Create the virtual device in Aqara Home, check how Home Assistant discovers it, and test the trigger or command you intend to use. The Advanced Matter Bridging guide covers this workflow in more detail. Aqara lists the feature for the M100.

Choose between M100, M2 and M3

• Choose the M100 when its capacity is sufficient and a Wi-Fi connection suits the installation.
• Consider the M2 if Ethernet and infrared control are useful and you do not need a built-in Thread border router.
• Consider the M3 for its broader hub role, Thread support and additional connectivity. Check which of those features your own devices can use.

The M2 and M3 comparison and M3 setup guide cover the other routes.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need an Apple Home hub? Not to add the M100 bridge to Home Assistant’s Matter integration. Thread accessories require a suitable border router and commissioning setup; the M100 includes a border router, but that does not commission those accessories automatically.

Will all Aqara device features appear? No. The bridge exposes the features supported by its firmware, the device and the receiving platform. Start with the ordinary entities, then investigate Advanced Bridging for a missing function.

Can I use Zigbee2MQTT with the M100? The M100 is not a supported Zigbee2MQTT radio adapter. To use Zigbee2MQTT, pair your compatible Zigbee devices with a separate supported coordinator.

Can I use it without internet? Established local control can continue with the LAN running. Check app functions and individual automations separately before relying on an offline installation.