SmartThings, Samsung Electronics’s global connected living platform, has announced that it is one of the first major smart home ecosystems to support two-way Thread network unification, enabling users to seamlessly join SmartThings Hubs to existing Thread networks formed by other ecosystems and vice versa.
The company says the update helps integrators build and grow their clients’ smart homes with Thread devices, taking advantage of the technology’s mesh networking for better range, responsiveness, and reliability. Through this network unification, Samsung asserts, a new SmartThings Hub can either join an existing network right after the initial setup or allow a Border Router (BR) from another ecosystem to join the Thread network already in use by SmartThings. Once unified, all Border Routers in the home will work together.
“SmartThings has always been about giving users choice and flexibility in how they build their smart home,” said Mark Benson, head of SmartThings US. “Thread network unification eliminates the barriers between ecosystems, so devices and Border Routers can work together in one powerful mesh, delivering the performance and simplicity our users have been asking for.”
Key Benefits of Thread Integration
- Better Range & Reliability: Unified BRs form a single, self-healing mesh that covers more of the home, maintains connections even if a device goes offline, and routes data along the fastest available path.
- Simplified Setup: Joining the right Thread network from the start prevents network fragmentation and avoids the complexity of migrating devices later.
- Flexible Network Management: Users can add or remove BRs from the unified network at any time, see all connected BRs across ecosystems, and maintain connected devices even when a BR leaves a network.
