Wi-Fi Alliance’s new standard aims to make mesh routers from different brands work together

The advent of Wi-Fi mesh networks has eased a lot of home connectivity issues but there’s still one major inconvenience.

Mesh network sets from one brand, for example Eero, aren’t interoperable with sets from another brand, say Google Wifi.

The Wi-Fi Alliance, the Wi-Fi standards body itself, is now committed to changing that fact, however, with the announcement of a brand new standard: Wi-Fi Certified EasyMesh.

The idea behind the new standard is that different brands could sign on to the standard in order to make their mesh access points work together on the same network.

The tech also monitors network conditions and self-adapts as needed, reports the Wi-Fi Alliance. EasyMesh guides devices to the nearest and most appropriate access point — a benefit that mesh networks offer over Wi-Fi extenders.

Further benefits include assurances of Wi-Fi security and accepted protocols from the Alliance.

EasyMesh certification is expected to begin shortly, but Wi-Fi Alliance vice-president of marketing Kevin Robinson told The Verge that the Alliance isn’t sure when the first routers on the standard would come to market.

Existing mesh routers can also be updated to support EasyMesh.

Of course, while this all sounds great, there’s not a whole lot of reason for router manufacturers to sign on and encourage customers to purchase devices outside of the brand’s own ecosystem.

One can only hope that smaller brands will begin to sign on first to provide customers with a little incentive to take a chance on a lesser-known product.

Source: Wi-Fi Alliance Via: The Verge