The seamless future of the smart home is nearly here. Not so long ago, Apple, Samsung, Amazon and Google all teamed up to make the world of the smart home much simpler and inter-connected.
Thread the main wireless protocol that Matter will use as well as WiFi – has received a new major update, which brings a huge change for device connectivity. Thread 1.3.0 has been releases and will allow Thread devices to work with any Thread border router. Currently, the HomePod mini, Amazon Echo and Nest Hub can be border routers and this new update allows devices to work together on one single Thread network.
Later this year, devices from manufactures should start arriving which will be compatible with with Matter and Thread and they’ll be compatible with the current crop of Thread border routers.
This list of devices will be compatible with Thread 1.3.0 and will be able to become border routers.
- Nest Hub Max smart display
- Nest Hub smart display (2nd gen)
- Nest Wifi mesh router
- Apple TV 4K (2nd gen)
- Apple HomePod mini
- Echo smart speaker (4th gen)
- Nanoleaf Shapes, Elements, and Lines LED light panels
- All Wi-Fi 6 Eero mesh routers
With Thread 1.3.0, the standard for border routers is being finally standardised. Before this update, if you had a device that is mains powered, such as an Eve Energy smart plug it could connect to an existing border router and then if needed, pass on information to other devices.
If you happened to have a HomePod mini and a Eero 6 WiFi device in the same house, they can’t talk to each other and you would end up with two separate Thread networks – this update aims to resolve that.
