In the early 2000s, mesh networks were on the verge of being everywhere and connecting everything. Daisy-chaining many devices like beads on a string would “accommodate hundreds or thousands of nodes” and provide “low, up-front cost, easy network maintenance, robustness, and reliable service coverage,” according to mesh-networking forecasts from 2004 and 2005, respectively.
But it would take over two decades to get there. During that time, a range of mesh protocols and standards emerged, each claiming to be the solution—only to flame out or splinter into new incompatibilities.
This article is part of our special report Top Tech 2026.
In 2026, mesh networks that can work together in real-world settings are finally arriving. But rather than a single dominant standard that could power all variety of mesh networks, three separate but interoperable technologies are instead reaching maturity more or less simultaneously: Thread 1.4, a mesh standard for low-power smart-home devices; the Wi-Fi 7 standard for high-bandwidth computing; and the smart-home protocol Matter, which acts as a translator, so devices on different mesh networks can talk to one another. Together, these three provide the beginnings of compatibility and interoperability that has eluded mesh proponents for so long.
However, this multistandard compromise may well only be a way station. “I expect that one mesh technology will eat all the others eventually, possibly incorporating them,” said Mihail Sichitiu, professor of electrical and computer engineering at North Carolina State University, in Raleigh. “Maybe not immediately, but eventually. Looking at how other things evolved, it’s just a matter of time.”
Does Thread 1.4 Solve Mesh?
A mesh network is different from a conventional wireless network created by a regular Wi-Fi router. Every device in a mesh network can relay messages to every other device, like rugby players passing a ball. When you add more devices, the mesh gets stronger—and if one device fails, the other devices self-configure a new mesh to work around the failure.
The story of mesh networks in 2026 begins with Thread 1.4. In 2014, a coalition led by Arm, Google’s Nest Labs, and Samsung launched the Thread group to promote a commercialized and ultimately open-source mesh standard. The coalition expanded from there, soon welcoming Apple and Amazon into the ranks.
But there was a catch. Each Thread network worked only with devices from the same brand. A Google mesh network would connect only with other Google devices. Same with Amazon, same with Apple. And this was a highly inconvenient stumbling block for mesh networking that held true up to and including Thread 1.3, released in 2022.
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