Getting started with Matter on the Alarm Panel Pro and its capabilities and limitations
Matter support is experimental! The Matter standard is still developing and in its infancy. Konnected's support for Matter is evolving rapidly and is not yet production-ready. We're releasing development versions of our Matter-enabled firmware for public beta testing and feedback. The Alarm Panel Pro is NOT Matter certified, and may not work on all Matter controllers.
What is Matter?
Matter is an emerging smart home standard that promises local control, simplicity, and interoperability between a variety of devices and smart home controllers. Big players like Apple, Google, Samsung, Amazon and others have committed to the Matter standard and are slowly implementing Matter capabilities into their controllers and apps.
Matter on the Alarm Panel Pro
Konnected has implemented Matter support on the Alarm Panel Pro as an alternate user-installable firmware built using Espressif's open-source esp-idf and esp-matter frameworks and libraries. It's currently distributed using a shared pairing-code for beta testing and development purposes (not Matter certified). The Alarm Panel Pro on Matter supports the following device types:
- Contact Sensors
- On/Off Switches
- Temperature & Humidity (DHT Sensors)
- Temperature (DS18B20 temperature probe)
When commissioning an Alarm Panel Pro to your Matter controller (i.e. Apple Homekit, Google Home), the Pro appears as a Bridge device type. A Matter Bridge is a singular device that bridges other non-Matter devices into the Matter fabric. With the Alarm Panel Pro, this means that your door and window sensors (Contact Sensors), sirens and output switches (On/Off Switches) and temperature sensors will be added to your Matter controller via the Alarm Panel Pro bridge device.
No "Alarm System" Support
The Matter specification does not yet include a specification for an Alarm System, so at this time, there are no alarm system features available when using the Matter firmware. Only the individual sensors are exposed to the Matter fabric. However, you can, of course, use these individual sensors and devices to build automations and alerts in your smart home system -- it just won't appear as a native alarm system.
This may disappoint Apple Home, Google Home, and Amazon Alexa users who had hoped to integrate the Alarm Panel Pro as a standalone alarm system in their smart home app. It's not possible at this time with Matter, but we're constantly monitoring the development of the Matter spec and are looking forward to enhanced capabilities in the months and years to come.
Installing the Matter firmware
Ready to try Matter on your Alarm Panel Pro? You will need a desktop or laptop computer running either Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge browser, and a micro-USB cable to connect your Alarm Panel Pro to your computer. Windows users, also see: Installing USB drivers on Windows
Go to install.konnected.io and follow the steps to install the Matter firmware.
If you change your mind later, you can always go back to install.konnected.io to re-install the stock firmware.
Commissioning into a Matter Controller
After flashing the firmware, power on the Alarm Panel Pro and the blue status LED should blink slowly. Use the following QR code or manual code to add the Alarm Panel Pro to your Matter controller:
Alarm Panel Pro - Matter (beta)
Manual Code: 2210-860-9469
The Matter commissioning process will automatically connect the device to WiFi if needed. If the Ethernet port is used, then WiFi is automatically disabled.
Apple Home
Apple Home will tell you that the accessory is uncertified. Tap Add Anyway to acknowledge this warning and it will be added as a Bridge without restrictions.
Configuring Zones and Settings
After your device is commissioned into a Matter controller, use the Konnected app to set up the device's zones. The Konnected app uses Bluetooth to configure the Matter-enabled Alarm Panel Pro, so ensure that you're standing near the Alarm Panel Pro when doing these steps.
You need to be accepted into Konnected's Matter EAP program, and your Konnected account enabled for Matter (beta) access. Apply to join the Konnected Matter EAP.
Tap Matter (Beta) on the Konnected app menu to access the Matter device tool. It will automatically start scanning for Matter-enabled Konnected devices via Bluetooth.
When your device is found, tap the device card.
The default pairing code is 1-2-3-4-5-6
A popup will ask you for a Bluetooth device pairing code. Enter the default code 1-2-3-4-5-6 to continue.
Once paired, tap Configure Zones to set the zone type of each of the Alarm Panel Pro's 12 zones and three dedicated outputs.
When finished, tap Save Changes and the zone changes will be sent to the device, and should appear in your Matter controller app immediately.
Zone Naming
At this time it's not possible to customize the name of each zone when defining the zone types. Each input or output will appear in your Matter controller app with a generic name, which you can later rename in the app.
Security Settings
Tap Device Settings to change the Bluetooth pairing PIN and set a password for Over-the-Air updates.