Got Thread problems? There’s an app for that

The new Thread Networks Diagnostics Tools app from Thread Group, the standards body behind the wireless IoT protocol, officially launches in beta today. The app, which arrives on iOS and has been available on Android in alpha for a few weeks , is the first dedicated tool to provide visibility into your Thread-based smart home network. I’ve been testing the Android version on my complicated home network and, with a bit of extra legwork, have diagnosed several issues with my Thread setup. Thread is one of the protocols the smart home standard Matter runs on, and since Matter over Thread devices began arriving in 2023, there have been reports of people struggling to connect or keep Thread devices connected, along with multiple border routers causing issues. There have been ad hoc tools and apps that have provided some insight into your Thread network to help solve these, along with some high-level tools in Home Assistant, but for most users, Thread has been a black box. This app is the first step in providing visibility into your Thread network. When connected to your home’s Wi-Fi network, the Thread Tools app can show you which devices are connected to which routers, which are acting as mesh extenders, and the signal strength of all those connections. …