Welcome to Amazon Sidewalk

Amazon Sidewalk is a community network that can help devices like Amazon Echo devices, Ring Security Cams, outdoor lights, motion sensors, and Tile trackers work better at home and beyond the front door. Sidewalk can unlock unique benefits for your device, support other Sidewalk devices in your community, and even locate pets or lost items.

The benefits of Amazon Sidewalk

Amazon Sidewalk creates a low-bandwidth network with the help of Sidewalk Bridge devices including select Echo and Ring devices. These Bridge devices share a small portion of your internet bandwidth which is pooled together to provide these services to you and your neighbors. And when more neighbors participate, the network becomes even stronger.

Find lost items

Sidewalk is designed to work with tracker devices, like Tile, to help find valuables outside your home.

Designed to protect your privacy

Sidewalk is designed with multiple layers of privacy and security.

It’s all on your own terms

Don’t think you need Amazon Sidewalk? No worries. You can update this anytime in the Alexa app (under Account Settings) or Ring app (in Control Center).

Get started as a Sidewalk device developer

Device manufacturers interested in creating devices that work with Amazon Sidewalk can view more information on the Sidewalk Developer Console. Learn more about creating devices that work with Sidewalk at https://developer.amazon.com/acs-devices/console/sidewalk.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Amazon Sidewalk?

Amazon Sidewalk is a community network that helps devices stay connected Operated by Amazon at no charge to customers, Sidewalk can help simplify new device setup, extend the low-bandwidth working range of devices, help find lost items, and help devices stay online even if they are outside the range of their home wifi.

Why should I participate in Amazon Sidewalk?

For select Ring devices, you can continue to receive motion alerts from your Ring Security Cams even if your devices lose their wifi connection. Sidewalk can also extend the working range for your Sidewalk-enabled devices, such as Ring smart lights, so they can stay connected and continue to work over longer distances. Amazon does not charge any fees to join Sidewalk.

What are Sidewalk Bridges?

Sidewalk Bridges are devices that provide connections to Amazon Sidewalk. Today, Sidewalk Bridges include many Echo devices and select Ring devices. Sidewalk Bridges include, but are not limited to: Ring Bridge (2nd Gen), Ring Alarm Pro Base Station, Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro, Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Plus, Ring Floodlight Cam, Ring Wired Doorbell Pro (Video Doorbell Pro 2), Ring Wired Doorbell Plus (Video Doorbell Pro), Ring Spotlight Cam Wired, Outdoor Cam 4K Pro, Echo (4th Gen and newer), Echo Dot (2nd Gen and newer, including Kids edition), Echo Dot with Clock (3rd Gen and newer), Echo Pop, Echo Plus (all generations), Echo Show (2nd Gen), Echo Show 5, 8, 10 (3rd Gen), 15 (2nd Gen), 21 (all generations, including Kids edition), Echo Hub, Echo Spot (all generations), Echo Studio, Echo Input, Echo Flex.

How do I turn Amazon Sidewalk off?

Customers can turn Sidewalk on or off at any time from Control Center in the Ring app or Account Settings in the Alexa app. This setting will apply to all applicable Echo and Ring devices linked to the customer’s account.

How will Amazon Sidewalk impact my personal wireless bandwidth and data usage?

The maximum bandwidth of a Sidewalk Bridge to the Sidewalk server is 80Kbps. Sidewalk uses a small, capped amount of your bandwidth—set at 0.15% of average US household internet use, which is less than streaming about 10 minutes of 4K video. The cap is reviewed annually, so it stays proportional as internet usage grows. Your own Sidewalk-enabled devices are not affected by this cap, and you can turn Sidewalk off at any time in the Alexa app.

If I turn off Amazon Sidewalk, will my Sidewalk Bridges still work?

Yes. All of your Sidewalk Bridges will continue to have their original functionality even if you decide to turn off Amazon Sidewalk. However, turning it off means missing out on Sidewalk's connectivity and location related benefits. You also will no longer contribute your internet bandwidth to support community extended coverage benefits such as locating pets and valuables with Sidewalk-enabled devices.

What happens if there are not a lot of Bridges in my neighborhood?

Amazon Sidewalk coverage may vary by location based on the number of participating Bridges in an area. The more Sidewalk Bridge customers who participate, the better the network becomes.

How does Amazon Sidewalk protect customer information?

Preserving customer privacy and security is foundational to how we've built Amazon Sidewalk. Sidewalk is designed with multiple layers of privacy and security to secure data traveling on Sidewalk and to keep customers safe and in control. For example, Sidewalk Bridge owners do not receive any information about devices owned by others connected to Sidewalk. Learn more here.

How does Amazon Sidewalk work?

Customers with a Sidewalk Bridge (i.e. many Echo devices, Ring Floodlight Cams, Ring Spotlight Cams, etc.) can contribute a small portion of their internet bandwidth, which is pooled together to create a community network that benefits all Sidewalk-enabled devices in a community. Amazon Sidewalk uses Bluetooth, the sub-1 GHz spectrum and other frequencies to extend coverage and provide these benefits.

Will I know what other Sidewalk-enabled devices are connected to my Bridge?

Preserving customer privacy and security is foundational to how we've built Amazon Sidewalk. 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. For more information, visit our whitepaper here.

What does it mean to share the location of my Sidewalk Bridge?

Sharing your Bridge's approximate location will help to provide others with benefits like helping them locate their pet. Neighbors with Sidewalk-enabled devices won't be able to see the exact street address of your Sidewalk Bridge. They will only see an approximate location. This setting will apply to all of your Sidewalk Bridges.

What is a Sidewalk-enabled device?

Sidewalk-enabled devices are devices that connect to Sidewalk Bridges to access Amazon Sidewalk. Sidewalk-enabled devices will support a range of experiences from helping find pets or valuables, to smart security and lighting, to diagnostics for appliances and tools. 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.

What types of devices can connect to Amazon Sidewalk?

Only devices authorized by Amazon to use Sidewalk's low-bandwidth connections are allowed to connect to Amazon Sidewalk.

Is Amazon Sidewalk a replacement for a home wifi network?

No. Sidewalk Bridges require wifi access for normal operation. When Sidewalk is on, your Bridge can share a low-bandwidth connection with Sidewalk-enabled devices, like sensors and smart lights that are installed in locations around and outside your home where wifi may not be available. Amazon Sidewalk does not support high-bandwidth connections like a wifi or cellular network would, so you would still use those connections for streaming movies, posting on social media or sending email.

How does Sidewalk help in finding Tile trackers?

Tile uses Bluetooth technology to locate lost items, and with Sidewalk, your Bridge is able to extend Tile's network coverage even further to help you locate your misplaced keys, wallets, and other items. Alexa securely obtains the last known location of the item either from the Tile service or from a nearby Sidewalk Bridge.

When a Tile is near a Sidewalk Bridge associated with your Alexa account, Alexa will tell you the name of that Bridge, making the Tile easier to find even if you don't have your mobile phone nearby. Sidewalk also extends the Tile network beyond your home by using other Sidewalk Bridges in your neighborhood that participate in Sidewalk's Community Finding feature.

What is the Community Finding feature in Sidewalk?

Community Finding helps others find important items connected to Sidewalk by sharing the approximate location of the Sidewalk Bridge that the compatible Sidewalk-enabled device is close to.

Do you need to turn on Sidewalk for the in-home finding experience?

No. The in-home finding experience is not impacted by the Sidewalk setting and works out of the box with your Sidewalk Bridges. The Sidewalk setting controls the sharing of your Internet bandwidth with others for them to receive Sidewalk benefits. If you also use the Tile app to find your Tile, the ‘Device address' permission in your Tile skill must be enabled to ensure the location is synced in your Tile app. To learn more about Amazon's Find My feature, from the Alexa app see Devices > Trackers > Settings > About Find My

Do I need to share my bandwidth through Sidewalk to get the benefits from neighbors for finding my Tile trackers?

No. You do not need to enable Sidewalk and Community Finding to get the benefits of finding your own Tile devices. However, the value of the network grows for everyone as more participate.

What Sidewalk Bridges support Community Finding with Tile?

All Echo devices that are Sidewalk Bridges support this feature.

What does Amazon charge for use of the network?

Amazon does not charge any fees to join Amazon Sidewalk, which uses a small portion of bandwidth from a Sidewalk Bridge's existing internet service. Standard data rates from internet providers may apply.

Where is Amazon Sidewalk available?

Sidewalk is currently available in the US, Canada and Mexico.