At IFA 2026 in Berlin, Shelly unveiled ThreadLink, a firmware that stops treating the Thread radio in its Gen4 devices as a Matter-only pipe and turns it into a full IP connection. On a single low-power radio it runs Matter, Shelly Cloud access and direct device-to-device calls at the same time.
A complete TCP/IP stack, not just Matter
Conventional Thread setups usually carry a single application protocol. According to Shelly, ThreadLink combines IPv6 with 6LoWPAN, UDP for fast, responsive commands in dense radio environments and — a first for the category — full TCP for reliably moving larger payloads such as configuration data, diagnostics and updates. Alongside Matter (Apple Home, Google Home, Alexa, SmartThings, Home Assistant), the Shelly RPC API for local scenes and cloud access via NAT64 at the border router run in parallel.
Opt-in firmware and roadmap
ThreadLink ships as a separate, opt-in update: a device runs either the standard Wi-Fi firmware or ThreadLink, never both at once. Shelly did not say which Gen4 models come first, but it expects the entire Gen4 line to be Thread-capable by year-end, with the firmware arriving roughly three months after the announcement.
Why it matters
The move is notable because it promotes Thread from a pure Matter transport to a general-purpose home-network channel without a separate Wi-Fi link. For existing owners, though, it stays an either-or choice, and the list of eligible hardware is still open.
Sources: Shelly (official announcement, IFA 2026) and Local Smart Home Guide.
