Samsung launches SmartThings WiFi mesh router with Adaptive WiFi tech from Plume, a $70 SmartThings Hub, smart button, and upgrades smart outlet and sensors
Michael Brown / PCWorld :
Context & Ripple Effects
Samsung's first move into mesh was Connect Home, unveiled in 2017 as an in-house system that folded SmartThings management into the router app. The new SmartThings WiFi abandons that self-built approach: Samsung is licensing Plume's Adaptive WiFi instead of developing its own optimization stack.
The pairing makes sense on both sides — Plume had already proven its cloud-computed pod model as a standalone product at $69 per unit, and Samsung gets proven mesh intelligence while keeping customers inside the SmartThings ecosystem alongside a cheaper $70 hub.
First-order effects
- Plume gains its largest distribution channel yet, moving from selling $69-$179 pod packs direct to powering a flagship Samsung router aimed at mainstream smart-home buyers.
- Samsung's own Connect Home line is effectively superseded by SmartThings WiFi, consolidating two product lines into one router-plus-hub pitch.
Second-order effects
- Bundling the $70 hub capability into the router undercuts standalone hub purchases, pressuring rivals to justify separate boxes for connectivity and automation.
- Other mesh vendors face a template where the differentiator is licensed cloud software like Adaptive WiFi rather than raw radio hardware.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, the router becomes the default control point of the smart home — Samsung continued down this path with devices like the SmartThings Cam — shifting value from individual gadgets to whoever owns the network layer.
The trend: Mesh routers are absorbing the smart-home hub through licensed cloud software, turning network vendors into ecosystem gatekeepers.