Eero will upgrade mesh WiFi routers to support the Matter smart home standard

Eero will soon extend its mesh WiFi routers’ smart home support to more universal formats. Company chief Nick Weaver told guests at a Verge event that all Eero routers with Thread support will receive an upgrade to the Matter smart home standard. Your 2017-era network could play nicely with smart devices from across the tech industry, to put it another way.

Weaver further hinted Eero was considering routers with cellular data backups, although he didn’t commit to any plans. He wasn’t worried about the rise of 5G home internet, noting that people were primarily moving to gigabit (wired) internet “in droves.”

It wouldn’t be a completely unexpected move when Amazon is upgrading most Echo speakers to support Matter. Eero is practically expected to follow along as an Amazon-owned company, and Ring has started building Eero routers into its alarm systems. Still, the update path may be particularly welcome if you were worried you might have to buy current-gen routers just to give Matter a try.