Which of these is one of the jobs a smart home hub usually does?

A hub usually does three jobs: it coordinates the radio network (forming and securing it, adding and removing devices), runs the automations and links the devices to the app. Isolation is tempting because a hub can switch things off, but that is functional switching only. A hub supplies no power over radio, and the wall switches stay as the manual fallback.

Forming and securing the network its radio devices join

Acting as the means of isolation for the lighting circuits

Supplying power to the battery sensors over the radio link

Replacing the wall switches so the rooms need none fitted

A customer about to add Thread devices asks whether they must buy a separate border router box. What is the correct position?

A Thread border router is a function, not a product category of its own. It can be a stand-alone unit or built into another product, such as a Wi-Fi access point, so check the specification of what the customer already has. It serves Thread devices, not Wi-Fi ones, and it sits happily alongside Matter controllers.

It must be a stand-alone unit, fitted beside the broadband router

It is a role that may already be built into a product they own

It is needed only for the Wi-Fi devices and not the Thread ones

It is allowed only where the home has no Matter controller at all

A Zigbee light is made visible to a Matter controller through a bridge. What is the light now?

Matter has a defined way for a bridge to present a device from another network as a bridged device. The light stays a Zigbee device on a Zigbee radio; the bridge just makes it visible to the Matter side, so the bridge has to stay powered. Matter runs over Wi-Fi, Thread and Ethernet, and a bridge does not change a device’s radio.

A Thread device, as the bridge has moved its radio to Thread

A Wi-Fi device, as Matter can only run over a Wi-Fi network

Still a Zigbee device on a Zigbee radio, shown to Matter

A Matter device that no longer needs the bridge powered up

Free mock exam

Hubs, apps and voice — Smart Home Technology Practice

Free topic-focused mock exam: all 30 questions on Hubs, apps and voice, drawn from the wider Smart Home Technology bank. 35-minute timer, 70% to pass, worked explanation on every question. Use this when you've taken the full mock once and want to drill the topics you got wrong.

Questions: 30
Time limit: 35 min
Pass mark: 70% · 21/30
Question bank: 30

Free, no sign-up. Retake as many times as you like — the questions are reshuffled, with the answer order changed.

Sample questions

01Which of these is one of the jobs a smart home hub usually does?
- AActing as the means of isolation for the lighting circuits
- BReplacing the wall switches so the rooms need none fitted
- CForming and securing the network its radio devices join
- DSupplying power to the battery sensors over the radio link
Why: A hub usually does three jobs: it coordinates the radio network (forming and securing it, adding and removing devices), runs the automations and links the devices to the app. Isolation is tempting because a hub can switch things off, but that is functional switching only. A hub supplies no power over radio, and the wall switches stay as the manual fallback.
02A customer about to add Thread devices asks whether they must buy a separate border router box. What is the correct position?
- AIt must be a stand-alone unit, fitted beside the broadband router
- BIt is allowed only where the home has no Matter controller at all
- CIt is needed only for the Wi-Fi devices and not the Thread ones
- DIt is a role that may already be built into a product they own
Why: A Thread border router is a function, not a product category of its own. It can be a stand-alone unit or built into another product, such as a Wi-Fi access point, so check the specification of what the customer already has. It serves Thread devices, not Wi-Fi ones, and it sits happily alongside Matter controllers.
03A Zigbee light is made visible to a Matter controller through a bridge. What is the light now?
- AStill a Zigbee device on a Zigbee radio, shown to Matter
- BA Matter device that no longer needs the bridge powered up
- CA Thread device, as the bridge has moved its radio to Thread
- DA Wi-Fi device, as Matter can only run over a Wi-Fi network
Why: Matter has a defined way for a bridge to present a device from another network as a bridged device. The light stays a Zigbee device on a Zigbee radio; the bridge just makes it visible to the Matter side, so the bridge has to stay powered. Matter runs over Wi-Fi, Thread and Ethernet, and a bridge does not change a device’s radio.

Common questions

Is the Hubs, apps and voice mock exam free?

Yes — 100% free, no sign-up needed. Questions are pulled at random from a substantial bank, with a worked explanation on every question after you submit.

Can I retake the mock exam?

Yes. Every attempt picks a different random selection and reshuffles the options, so each retake gives you genuinely new questions. No limit on retakes.

Does this count towards the real qualification?

No — this is independent practice material. To gain the actual qualification you need to sit the official assessment through an approved provider.