> If some devices aren't required to have WiFi, then how do they effectively mesh with other devices?
Thread is a mesh protocol. They won’t wifi mesh a camera.
> Which makes the WiFi not really a mesh, but a standard WiFi connect to the hub.
Yea.
> Because the announcement specifically calls out the ability for smart devices to phone home as a perk
It is a perk to some.
> until I can be assured (and verify myself) that WiFi doesn't mean "can phone home", theres no way in hell Im going to use Matter wifi devices.
Some devices will some won’t. Surely some devices will advertise being local only. Some companies won’t won’t the expense of a server.
Some matter devices won’t need wifi at all (lights). You might be more comfortable with them instead of writing it all off.
> wind up in botnets
Ironically cheaper devices may bet better off here. They’re probably too cheap to use anything but embedded code instead of embedded Linux so there’s less attack surface (excluding vendor provided).
Matter provides a secure channel to share OTA updates (eg through a thread hub) that is signed by the vendor. So this should be a step in the right direction in terms of security.