Amazon Sidewalk Shares Your Internet with Neighbors – What You Should Know

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Earlier this month, Amazon launched Sidewalk, a free service that turns most Echo and Ring devices into an Internet bridge, sharing your Internet with others nearby. With Sidewalk, Amazon is using Echo and Ring devices to create a neighborhood network to broaden the reach of Internet connections.

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What Amazon Sidewalk Is

Amazon first introduced Sidewalk in the fall of 2019 and launched it earlier this month. Sidewalk uses most Echo and Ring devices to emit a Wi-Fi signal connecting other Amazon devices to the Internet. So if your home loses Wi-Fi, your Ring camera could use Sidewalk to connect to the Internet using a neighbor’s Wi-Fi.

Using Sidewalk, devices such as Tile trackers, Ring doorbell cameras, and other Amazon devices can stay connected to the Internet when they can’t connect to their home Wi-Fi network. Sidewalk networks can help people find lost dogs or wallets with Tile trackers, help keep a Ring security camera connected when the Wi-Fi signal is weak, and help keep other devices connected when home Internet isn’t available.

The Sidewalk network is created by Bridges, which are Amazon Echo and Ring devices that share their Internet connections with Sidewalk-enabled devices.

For example, if your Ring security camera is far from your router, it may be unable to connect to the Internet consistently. By using Sidewalk, your Ring camera could connect to the Internet using your neighbor’s Echo device instead of your router for a more reliable connection.

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How Much Internet Does Sidewalk Share?

If you have an Echo and/or Ring device, you may be concerned about how much Internet these Amazon Sidewalk Bridges share with others. After all, you don’t want your Internet speed slowed because of Sidewalk. Sharing your Internet bandwidth with Sidewalk can also be worrisome if your Internet usage is capped each month.

According to Amazon, Sidewalk uses very little Internet bandwidth and its usage is limited monthly.  Amazon states, “The maximum bandwidth of a Sidewalk Bridge to the Sidewalk server is 80Kbps, which is about 1/40th of the bandwidth used to stream a typical high definition video. Today, when you share your Bridge’s connection with Sidewalk, total monthly data used by Sidewalk, per account, is capped at 500MB, which is equivalent to streaming about 10 minutes of high definition video.”

Because of these Internet usage limitations, Sidewalk does not replace the Internet service in your house. Don’t think you can cancel your home Internet service and have your devices rely solely on Sidewalk. You won’t be able to stream video, use Zoom, connect your computer or cell phone, or perform many of the functions you use the Internet for.

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Availability of Amazon Sidewalk

Amazon Sidewalk is free to use and currently available only in the US.

These Amazon devices are Sidewalk Bridges and can share Internet with Sidewalk-enabled devices:

• Ring Floodlight Cam (2019)
• Ring Spotlight Cam Wired (2019)
• Ring Spotlight Cam Mount (2019)
• Echo (3rd gen and newer)
• Echo Dot (3rd gen and newer)
• Echo Dot for Kids (3rd gen and newer)
• Echo Dot with Clock (3rd gen and newer)
• Echo Plus (all generations)
• Echo Show (2nd gen)
• Echo Show 5, 8, 10 (all generations)
• Echo Spot
• Echo Studio
• Echo Input
• Echo Flex

Sidewalk-enabled devices that can connect to the Internet using Sidewalk include:

• Tile trackers
• Amazon Echo devices
• Ring security cameras
• And more

Amazon is working with third-party partners to have other devices connect to Sidewalk and serve as Sidewalk bridges too. The company says, “We are working with device manufacturers on new low-bandwidth devices that can run on or benefit from Sidewalk, with no recurring fees to access Sidewalk. Sidewalk-enabled devices include Sidewalk Bridges because they can benefit from connecting to other Sidewalk Bridges too.”

Sidewalk Privacy

Amazon Sidewalk is turned on by default on existing Echo and Ring devices listed above so they become Sidewalk Bridges. So if you have any of these devices you probably have Sidewalk sharing your Internet now.

Purchasers of new Echo and Ring devices listed above will be asked during set-up whether they would like to use Sidewalk.

You won’t know whether any devices are connected to your Echo and/or Ring devices using Sidewalk, nor will you know what type of devices are connected, how much of your Internet they are using, or any other information about how Sidewalk is using your Internet.

If you have a device that is using Sidewalk to connect to the Internet, you can see that it is connected to the Internet using Sidewalk, but you won’t see which Sidewalk Bridge it’s connected to.

From Amazon: “Information transferred over Sidewalk Bridges is encrypted and Bridge customers are not able to see that Sidewalk-enabled devices are connected to their Bridge. Customers who own Sidewalk-enabled devices will know they are connected to Sidewalk but will not be able to identify which Bridge they are connected to.”

To protect privacy, Amazon uses three layers of encryption when data are transmitted over the Sidewalk network. Amazon says, “This approach to encryption means that Amazon will not be able to interpret the contents of commands or messages sent through Sidewalk by third party services or endpoints (applications).”

To learn more about Amazon Sidewalk privacy, check out the Amazon White Paper on Sidewalk Privacy and Security. You can also read about Amazon Sidewalk privacy concerns at Forbes, Why You Should Change This New Sidewalk Setting On Your Amazon Account.

How to Turn Off Amazon Sidewalk

Although Amazon Sidewalk is turned on by default for Echo and Ring devices, you can turn it off. You don’t have to allow Amazon to use your Echo and/or Ring devices as Sidewalk Bridges sharing your Internet with others.

You can easily turn off Sidewalk in the Alexa app to prevent your Echo and Ring devices from sharing your Internet with others. Turning off Sidewalk is easy, you can turn it off using your Alexa app on your phone in Account Settings.

In the Alexa app, tap the three stacked lines in the bottom menu bar, tap Settings => Account Settings => Amazon Sidewalk => Disabled => On.

For Ring devices, you can turn off Amazon Sidewalk using Control Center in the Ring app or on the Ring website.

If you’ve linked your Ring account with your Alexa account, turning Sidewalk off for either account will turn it off for all of your Ring and Echo devices.

Your Thoughts

Do you like the idea of Amazon Sidewalk creating neighborhood Internet networks to help keep devices connected? Do you have privacy concerns with Sidewalk? Will you keep Sidewalk turned on or will you disable it for your devices?

Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!