Samsung to enter mesh WiFi router market
Samsung has entered the market for mesh wifi routers with a product named Samsung Connect Home, a series of small white routers that are intended to replace the traditional router. The puck-like objects, which can be placed around the home to maximise wifi signals, also double as SmartThings hubs, making them compatible with hundreds of third-party smart home devices. Each unit can reportedly cover up to 1,500 sq ft.

Move over Eero. And Google Wifi. And Orbi. And Plume. And HiveSpot. And Portal. And Velop. And AmpliFi. And Almond. Samsung is coming to mesh Wi-Fi router town with a new offering it’s calling Samsung Connect Home.

That not-very-catchy name is attached to a very-catchy trend: replacing the big, antenna-laden router in your closet with a set of little white pucks you tactically place around your house to maximize your Wi-Fi signal.

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Samsung’s take on this trend is to do the same thing, but ensure that these little Wi-Fi routers also serve as SmartThings hubs, so you can better control the smart home gadgets you have in your house. It should be compatible with what Samsung says is “hundreds of third-party smart home devices” like Philips Hue and the Ring doorbell. It works with Zigbee, Z-Wave, and also has Bluetooth 4.1

Samsung says that each individual unit can cover up to 1,500 square feet, and they’re selling them either individually or in packs of three. And actually, there are two versions. The standard connect has a 2 x 2 MU-MIMO antenna array and a slower processor, capping out at specified speeds of 866 Mbps in the 5GHz spectrum. There’s also a Pro version with a 4 x 4 antenna which caps out at 1.7 Gbps (but doesn’t come in a three-pack).