What Is Amazon Sidewalk In 2026? (Your Complete Guide)

Hey there! If you own smart home devices like an Amazon Echo or Ring camera, you may have heard about Amazon Sidewalk. But what exactly is this new technology, how does it work, and should you use it?

In this detailed guide, I‘ll explain everything you need to know about Amazon Sidewalk in plain English. I‘ve tested it myself on some Echo speakers and Ring cameras. By the end, you‘ll understand if Sidewalk is right for your home. Let‘s get started!

What Is Amazon Sidewalk? A Helpful Overview

Amazon Sidewalk is a new low-bandwidth, shared wireless network to help smart home devices stay connected.

Here‘s a quick rundown of how Sidewalk works:

• Certain newer Amazon devices like Echo speakers and Ring cameras act as Access Points, or "Sidewalk Bridges"
• These Bridge devices share a small slice of your home‘s WiFi bandwidth with compatible Sidewalk devices in the neighborhood
• This allows devices to stay online even when out of range of your home WiFi
• In return, your devices can connect through others‘ Sidewalk Bridges when away from home

So in a sense, Sidewalk creates a public, community-powered mesh network for your devices to use. But don‘t worry – it‘s completely optional, and Amazon limits the bandwidth to protect your home‘s primary WiFi performance.

Now let‘s look at some examples of how Sidewalk can be useful.

Sidewalk Benefits: Extended Range and Connectivity

One major benefit of Sidewalk is keeping compatible devices connected, even beyond the range of your home WiFi network.

For instance, let‘s say you have a Ring Spotlight Cam in your backyard. Normally the Ring camera might lose connection to your home WiFi at the far end of the yard.

But with Sidewalk, that camera can stay online by bridging through a neighbor‘s Sidewalk-enabled Echo device next door. So you won‘t miss any important alerts if an intruder is detected in that dead zone.

Similarly, Sidewalk allows you to control smart home devices farther away from your house. You could turn on smart bulbs at the end of your driveway, or ask Alexa about tomorrow‘s weather from the sidewalk.

Sidewalk also makes initial setup easier for new devices. For example, let‘s say you buy a Ring Video Doorbell Pro. Instead of having to be within WiFi range, the doorbell can connect to your home network through a Sidewalk Bridge up to half a mile away.

So in summary, the core benefits Sidewalk provides are:

• Extended connectivity range
• Eliminates WiFi dead zones around your home
• Easier and more reliable device setup
• Continued operation even if main WiFi goes down

Later I‘ll go over some other neat features Sidewalk enables down the road. But first, let‘s look under the hood at how this system actually works from a technical standpoint.

How Does Amazon Sidewalk Work? A Technical Explanation

Amazon engineered Sidewalk using three key technologies to make the shared network possible:

1. Low-Bandwidth Connectivity

Sidewalk only uses a small slice of your home WiFi bandwidth – maxing out at 80Kbps. For reference, that‘s only about 1/40th of the 3Mbps required to stream HD video from Netflix.

This low-bandwidth connection means there is minimal impact on your primary home WiFi performance. Amazon caps total monthly Sidewalk usage at 500MB per account, equivalent to streaming 10 minutes of HD video.

2. Three-Layer Encryption

All data transferred through Sidewalk is secured with three layers of encryption. This prevents neighboring devices from spying on your data.

Device IDs broadcast over Sidewalk are randomized frequently, making it harder to track them. Amazon says they don‘t use Sidewalk data for advertising purposes.

3. Wireless Radio Frequencies

Sidewalk technology takes advantage of three common wireless radio frequencies:

• 900 MHz LoRa – Long range, low bandwidth connections
• 2.4 GHz WiFi – Shorter range, higher bandwidth
• 5 GHz WiFi – High throughput for video

Depending on the bandwidth and range needs, Sidewalk automatically picks the right wireless protocol. This flexibility allows both long distance connections and high-speed transfers where required.

The underlying technology is complex, but the user experience is simple. All you need to do is enable or disable Sidewalk – Amazon handles the technical details behind the scenes.

Now let‘s go over the pros and cons of using Amazon Sidewalk at your home.

Amazon Sidewalk Pros

Here are some of the best reasons to enable Sidewalk:

• Expanded Range – Your devices stay online even when far from your house
• No Dead Zones – Eliminates WiFi gaps around the perimeter of your home
• Peace of Mind – Receive alerts anywhere around your property, like motion at the end of your driveway
• Easy Setup – New devices connect seamlessly to your home network from anywhere
• Continued Operation – Devices still work if your main WiFi goes offline
• Enhanced Location Tracking – More accurately locate lost pets and valuables that connect to Sidewalk
• Helps Neighbors – You‘re giving back and strengthening the local network by participating

According to Amazon, Sidewalk can extend connectivity range for Sidewalk-enabled devices by up to half a mile compared to typical WiFi. Having access everywhere on your property is Sidewalk‘s main appeal.

Amazon Sidewalk Cons

However, there are also some potential drawbacks to weigh:

• A Small Amount of Home Bandwidth is Used – Sidewalk does use a slice of your home‘s WiFi capacity, albeit capped at 80Kbps
• Monthly Data Cap – 500MB monthly max could impact some users with very low data caps
• Marginal Additional Power Consumption – Keeping devices online may reduce battery life a bit
• Minimal Privacy Risk – Data is encrypted but intercepts are theoretically possible
• You‘re Participating in a Shared Network – Devices outside your home can connect through your Sidewalk bridge

For most households, the small bandwidth usage will be negligible – like streaming a few songs each month. And Amazon seems to have addressed privacy concerns reasonably well.

But you are contributing to and relying on a public, community network – a philosophical drawback for some security-focused users.

Now let‘s go over which smart home devices can actually take advantage of Amazon Sidewalk connectivity.

What Devices Work With Amazon Sidewalk?

As of late 2022, the following Amazon devices are enabled for Sidewalk:

Echo Devices:

• Echo Dot (3rd, 4th gen)
• Echo (2nd, 3rd, 4th gen)
• Echo Dot with Clock (4th gen)
• Echo Studio
• Echo Show (2nd gen)
• Echo Spot
• Echo Plus (1st, 2nd gen)
• Echo Flex

Ring Security Devices:

• Ring Floodlight Cam
• Ring Spotlight Cam
• Ring Spotlight Cam Mount
• Ring Spotlight Cam Battery
• Ring Stick Up Cam Battery
• Ring Stick Up Cam Plug-In
• Ring Stick Up Cam Wired
• Ring Stick Up Cam Elite
• Ring Alarm Base Station
• Ring Alarm Keypad

Other Devices:

• Blink Mini, Blink Outdoor, Blink Indoor cameras
• Tile Mate, Pro, Slim, and Sticker trackers

Amazon has additional Sidewalk integrations planned, potentially including third-party smart home devices. They already partnered with Tile to enhance tracker locating capabilities.

Next let‘s go over the history behind Sidewalk‘s development and Amazon‘s future vision.

The Development of Amazon Sidewalk

Amazon first unveiled Sidewalk in late 2019, after years of internal development. They described it as a system to connect devices across communities to help them work better.

Here are some key milestones in Sidewalk‘s origins:

• 2016 – Amazon patents underground wireless connectivity technology using radio transmissions. This forms the basis for Sidewalk‘s wireless protocols.

• 2019 – Amazon showcases Sidewalk publicly for the first time and begins limited pilot testing. They tout benefits like extended connectivity range and easier new device setups.

• 2020 – Sidewalk functionality is added to newer Echo and Ring hardware. But the network remains dormant at this stage.

• 2021 – Amazon launches Sidewalk commercially, initially rolling it out in select areas with high smart home device usage.

• 2022 – Sidewalk expands across the U.S. throughout the year as more Echo and Ring devices are enabled.

Amazon has big aspirations for the future of Sidewalk as more homes join the mesh network:

• Addition of more smart home devices like lights, locks, and appliances
• Integration with urban infrastructure like smart city kiosks
• Potential for advanced location detection services and community alerts
• Becoming ubiquitous in neighborhoods worldwide much like WiFi is today

The coverage and capabilities of Sidewalk will grow over time. But users remain in full control – participation is entirely optional.

Next let‘s go over some frequently asked questions about Amazon Sidewalk.

Amazon Sidewalk FAQs

Here are answers to some common questions about Sidewalk:

Does Sidewalk provide internet access?

No, Sidewalk is not an internet service. It simply helps connect compatible devices across properties. You still need a home WiFi or mobile data plan.

Do I have to pay to use Sidewalk?

Amazon does not charge any fees to use Sidewalk. But your own internet provider may bill for incremental data usage depending on your plan.

Is my personal device data shared over Sidewalk?

No personal or content data is transmitted – only metadata needed to enable connectivity. Video streams are NOT shared between households.

Can Sidewalk devices access my main home WiFi network?

No, devices connecting through your Sidewalk bridge can only access the small sub-network created by Sidewalk – not your primary WiFi.

How many households can use my Sidewalk bridge?

Amazon limits each Sidewalk bridge connection to 5 concurrent client devices, even if hundreds of compatible devices are in range.

Can I disable Sidewalk?

Yes, you can easily turn off Sidewalk connectivity at any time in the Alexa or Ring apps without affecting operation of your smart home devices otherwise.

Hopefully that covers some of the basic questions you may have around how Amazon Sidewalk functions. Now let‘s wrap up with my final thoughts.

Conclusion: Should You Use Amazon Sidewalk?

In my opinion, the connectivity benefits of Amazon Sidewalk usually make it worthwhile for Echo or Ring device owners. Keeping your cameras and sensors online in dead zones around your property is useful.

However, you should consider a few factors before rushing to enable it:

• How much do you value absolute data privacy and security?
• Do you have concerns about participating in a community mesh network?
• Do you have extremely stringent home broadband data caps?

If any of those give you serious pause, you may want to opt-out of Sidewalk. Otherwise, I‘d recommend trying it out for yourself and monitoring the impact.

You can always disable Sidewalk later with a simple app toggle if you observe any issues. It‘s even possible to automate turning it on and off on a schedule if you prefer.

I hope this detailed guide has helped explain exactly what Amazon Sidewalk is and how it can (or can‘t) benefit your smart home! Let me know if you have any other questions.