{"id":462,"date":"2025-06-13T02:45:12","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T22:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.actutech.app\/it-could-be-2026-before-all-your-thread-border-routers-work-together\/"},"modified":"2025-06-13T02:45:12","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T22:45:12","slug":"it-could-be-2026-before-all-your-thread-border-routers-work-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/it-could-be-2026-before-all-your-thread-border-routers-work-together\/","title":{"rendered":"It could be 2026 before all your Thread border routers work together"},"content":{"rendered":"
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There\u2019s finally some good news for anyone battling multiple Thread networks while using Matter devices in their smart home \u2014 as long as you\u2019re the patient type. According to Matter Alpha<\/em><\/a>, the tvOS 26 beta announced at WWDC this week adds Thread 1.4<\/a> to Apple TVs. And, as Apple\u2019s smart speakers use a fork of tvOS, it\u2019s likely that the upcoming HomePod OS 26 will include 1.4 as well.<\/p>\n

Thread 1.4<\/a> brings a standard way for Thread border routers, such as Apple TVs and HomePods<\/a>, to join an existing Thread network, fixing the problem where border routers from different manufacturers set up separate networks<\/a> when they join your smart home. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing a great shift toward Thread 1.4 among some major device, platform, and border router vendors,\u201d Thread Group VP of marketing Ann Olivo told The Verge<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But, with tvOS 26 not arriving until the fall, and Google and Amazon\u2019s adoption of Thread 1.4 coming next year at the earliest, those of us who like to mix and match our smart home hardware \u2014 maybe you have an Apple TV, an Eero router, and a Google Nest Hub \u2014 will have to wait until at least 2026 for a more stable and speedier smart home.<\/p>\n

Released in September 2024, Thread 1.4<\/a> is the latest specification of the smart home protocol<\/a> that Matter<\/a> runs on. Thread offers a low-power, low-bandwidth mesh networking protocol designed specifically for IoT devices like lights, locks, sensors, and more. The 1.4 spec dictates that when a border router is added, it will join the existing Thread network versus creating a new one<\/a> \u2014 regardless of brand or platform. So, for example, your new Echo Show 8 would join the network already created by your Apple TV.<\/p>\n

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Thread-powered devices require a Thread border router<\/a> to connect to the internet. Today, there are several options for border routers, including the newest Apple TVs and HomePods, higher-end Echo and Google Nest smart speakers, and some Wi-Fi routers, including Eeros. If you have a few of these devices, they may set up separate Thread networks, which can cause issues. The biggest being that you lose the extended range and reliability benefits of a unified mesh network.<\/p>\n

I currently have nine Thread networks running in my home. Samsung SmartThings has created three. My Nest network includes most of my HomePods and my Google TV streamer; my Apple network has a newer Apple TV and a Nanoleaf border router in it. I have three separate Eero networks, one with Eero devices in it and the other two with Echo devices in them. While my setup is not typical (I test smart home devices for a living), it does demonstrate what a mess this can create.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Older versions of Thread are being sunsetted<\/a> to speed up the transition. \u201cThread 1.3 certification applications for Thread Border Routers will close December 31, 2025,\u201d Olivo confirmed. \u201cAs of Jan. 1, 2026, Thread 1.4 will be the only specification available for Thread Border Router certification.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Apple poised to implement Thread 1.4 this fall with tvOS 26, I checked in with Google, Amazon, and Samsung to see where they were at. All are still on 1.3. However, Mark Benson, head of SmartThings US, said Samsung\u2019s border routers will be on 1.4 \u201clater this year.\u201d Amazon spokesperson Melanie Garvey said they will bring support for 1.4 \u201cacross compatible devices next year.\u201d Alex Sakhartchouk, a software engineer at Google Home, confirmed that they are actively working toward adding support for Thread 1.4 \u201cin the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cAs of Jan. 1, 2026, Thread 1.4 will be the only specification available for Thread Border Router certification.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

Sakhartchouk added that Google Nest Thread border routers already \u201cdo our best\u201d to join existing networks by integrating with mobile Thread credential storage APIs on Android and iOS. Meaning, when you set them up with your smartphone, they should share credentials with an existing border router using the phone. \u201cWe share our credentials via these same mobile APIs to allow others to join our networks,\u201d he said. This worked for me \u2014 when I set up the Google TV streamer<\/a>, it joined my existing Apple Thread network.<\/p>\n

While mobile credential sharing helps today, and the Wi-Fi router-based solution<\/a> put in place by the Connectivity Standards Alliance in Matter 1.4 could help at some point, the most straightforward fix is border routers communicating with each other. This should have been the approach from day one<\/a> \u2014 but it looks like we\u2019ll have to be patient a while longer.<\/p>\n

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There\u2019s finally some good news for anyone battling multiple Thread networks while using Matter devices in their smart home \u2014 […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":463,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-non-classe"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/VRG_ILLO_5281_ThreadGroup_Matter-PPzaZ4.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}