Ugh, I was working on a DIY smart lock. "I'll use Matter!" I naively thought.
Ok you need a border router for Thread support. No problem, I'll buy one. Should be cheap right since an ESP32 can handle it. Nope! You pretty much can't buy a standalone border router. All the articles are "don't worry, you might have one already if you have a Nest Hub or a Home Hub or...". Well I don't have one.
Pretty lame. I guarantee if they make a vendor neutral border router dongle you can just plug into your router's ethernet port and sell it at cost price (like £5) they'll see triple the uptake.
Even that's ok. I couldn't find anything at all when I looked about a year ago. Only one model that the Thread people were still recommending despite it being discontinued.
I had another look and still couldn't find anything vendor neutral and cheap. Can you post some links?
Man, you're ungrateful as fuck. You asked for links, I took my time and provided them. If you don't like AliExpress, then fine, you can find alternative retailers, but at least say thank you for the effort.