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Connectivity

Thread

An IPv6-based, low-power mesh networking protocol over IEEE 802.15.4 that gives every device a routable address and serves as a main transport for Matter.

Thread is a networking layer, not an application protocol. It uses the same IEEE 802.15.4 radios as Zigbee but carries IPv6 packets compressed with 6LoWPAN, so every bulb or sensor is an ordinary IP host. Routers in the mesh forward traffic, sleepy end devices conserve battery, and a border router connects the Thread mesh to Wi-Fi or Ethernet without any protocol translation.

That native IP design is why Matter picked Thread as its low-power transport: a Matter controller on a phone can talk to a Thread device the same way it talks to a Wi-Fi one. The network self-heals, electing a new leader if one goes offline, and several border routers can serve the same mesh. Read Thread explained for how it compares to Zigbee.

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