AppleInsider Staff
Accessory maker Nanoleaf this week rolled out initial support for the Thread connectivity standard, enabling its Shapes and Elements light panel controllers to act as Border Routers.
With Border Router support now integrated into Nanoleaf's latest panels, the lighting products can act as gateway controllers for both Apple and Android devices, reports Trusted Reviews.
Thread is a relatively new smart home standard that automatically creates a mesh network with supported accessories. Instead of relying on a single point of contact to connect to the web, like a hub, Thread uses a Border Router feature that can be baked in to a variety of devices. Apple's HomePod mini is a Border Router, for example.
The result is a command and control system with much wider coverage than is currently offered by Bluetooth or Wi-Fi based solutions.
Apple joined the standards group behind Thread in 2018, but so far HomePod mini and Apple TV 4K are the company's only gateway products.
HomeKit accessory makers are slowly adopting the standard, with Eve introducing a light switch in April and Belkin's Wemo announcing its own switch that is "Thread-ready."
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Wesley Hilliard
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2 Comments
Border router control sounds good but it would be nice to hear of some details and examples of how that would work.
The problem is that companies are creating their own nomenclature (and protocols) to describe Bluetooth / Wi-Fi low power mesh networks. The solution seems to be coalescing around the Matter protocol ( https://buildwithmatter.com/ ) that will encompass as many of these as possible under one umbrella. Apple is one of the companies behind this initiative.