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As a smart home user, you've probably heard multiple mentions of Thread, Zigbee, and Matter from different companies, and seen all three names printed on boxes for smart home devices or in their product listings. However, how do Thread, Zigbee, and Matter work in a smart home?
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After covering smart home devices over the past four years, one of the most common questions I get is to explain smart home connectivity protocols, like Matter, in ways that non-tech-savvy people can understand.
While Matter is a connectivity protocol that determines which language your smart home devices speak, Zigbee and Thread are wireless protocols that govern how your devices interact.
You should choose Thread if...
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1. You own a lot of small(er) devices
Unlike Matter, which is a connectivity protocol, Thread and Zigbee are networks. With Thread, you create a mesh network of low-power devices that you can connect to the rest of your smart home using border routers.
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