What if your smart home was already smart before you bought it? I’m not talking about the previous owner having installed everything you need to make life more convenient and automated (although that is nice). Instead, I’m talking about the house builder.
A new platform called mashNet, founded by former Apple engineer and Matter contributor Oren Segal, aims to be a smart home platform for builders, rather than people who buy the smart home gadgets.
As he says: “Matter gave devices the language, mash gives the home its digital soul.”
How does mash differ to Matter?
Before Matter came along, you couldn’t get smart home devices to speak to each other. Even when they were produced buy the same manufacturer, there were issues in compatibility. Vendor lock-in was also a problem, as none of them offered (and still don’t) a complete smart home experience.
Matter solved this, by allowing devices from different brands to communicate. It is a shared standard that supports running a thermostat from brand X with a smart switch from brand Y, or a light bulb from brand Z and accessing them using one or multiple ecosystems like Google Home, Apple Home, Samsung SmartThings, Home Assistant, etc.
This interoperability between gadgets is key, but relies on resilient infrastructure. That’s where Segal’s company mash aims to revolutionize how we think about a smart house.
He describes the technology (mashNet) as a “digital utility infrastructure” which focuses not on devices but on a spine, where the infrastructure sits alongside water provision. Not only will this support a more consistent smart home environment, it will also support reliable AI-powered automations.
It’s mash, not mesh
Keep in mind that we’re not talking specifically about a networking system here. Mesh Wi-Fi like eero or Google Nest is useful, but that’s not what mash is. Instead, it’s an infrastructure and intelligence layer for the connected home.
If Matter can be described as sitting above Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, and Thread, then you can picture mashNet as positioned as a layer that covers Matter and more:
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home networking
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Matter device onboarding
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device management
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automation infrastructure
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cloud services
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identity/authentication
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AI integration
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ecosystem compatibility
As such, this isn’t a thing you can buy for your home – mashNet is more suited to forward thinking housebuilders and developers.
The mash home is already smart when you buy it
Aside from rare showpiece homes, assembling a smart home means taking a jigsaw approach, with a bit of research for specific components. You need separate apps and ecosystems, even within the world of Matter (for example, Aliro smart locks, or OpenTherm for HVAC systems in the UK and Europe).
With mashNet, a new home should be constructed with
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built-in networking
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unified device management
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Matter compatibility
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AI-ready infrastructure
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property-wide automation systems
So, the smart home isn’t just stuff you buy, but is part of the building, just as heating and plumbing are, or even telecoms (phone, broadband, etc.)
This addition to the infrastructure – essentially adding a data-accessible backbone to the property – could be attractive for
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premium new-build projects
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apartment developers
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build-to-rent schemes
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managed housing
...and anywhere else where large-scale device management and standardised systems are needed to replace our current fragmented DIY smart home setups.
Smart functionality, alongside water and power
If mash succeeds, the future smart home might not begin with a smart speaker on your kitchen counter, but with the housebuilder producing actual smart homes, ready for your smart devices to be connected to the moment you complete the purchase.
You can learn more about the mash home at mash-home.com.
(Image credit: Mash)
