What Is Amazon Sidewalk?

Amazon Sidewalk is a shared low-bandwidth network for compatible Echo and Ring devices. Amazon says it helps supported devices stay connected when home Wi-Fi drops or when a device sits outside normal Wi-Fi range, and it can also help find lost items by reporting their approximate location to the owner.

How Amazon Sidewalk works

Amazon's current documentation says eligible Echo and Ring devices can act as gateways (also called Sidewalk bridges). A Sidewalk-enabled device connects to a nearby gateway, and the gateway then uses a small portion of the home network's internet connection to route that message to the cloud.

What Sidewalk is good for

Amazon's Alexa FAQ says Sidewalk can keep supported devices connected, help them recover when Wi-Fi is unavailable, and help find lost items by reporting an approximate location to the owner. AWS documentation also describes Sidewalk as a low-bandwidth, long-range network that uses compatible Echo and Ring devices as gateways.

What it does not replace

Sidewalk is best understood as a backup and extension layer, not a replacement for your normal home internet. Amazon's own descriptions focus on keeping devices online when Wi-Fi is lost or when devices are outside the usual home range. That means your primary Wi-Fi network still does the heavy lifting for streaming, downloads, and ordinary smart-home traffic.

How much bandwidth and data it can use

Amazon publishes concrete limits in its current Sidewalk documentation. It says the maximum bandwidth from a Sidewalk gateway to the Sidewalk network server is 80 Kbps, and total monthly data used by Sidewalk-enabled devices is capped at 500 MB for one customer. Amazon's Alexa terms also say Sidewalk uses only a small portion of your internet bandwidth.

Privacy and security basics

Amazon says Sidewalk is designed with multiple layers of encryption. Its current privacy page also says gateway owners do not receive information about devices owned by other people that connect through Sidewalk. In Amazon's Alexa terms, Sidewalk may use the approximate location of compatible devices, which is how features like lost-item reporting work.

What radios and devices it uses

On the technical side, Amazon says Sidewalk uses Bluetooth Low Energy, LoRa, and FSK at 900 MHz to support short- and longer-range connections. For most people, the important point is simpler: compatible Echo and Ring hardware can bridge the connection, while supported endpoint devices use those radios to reach the bridge.

How to leave it on or turn it off

Amazon's current FAQ says Sidewalk is turned on for eligible devices unless you have already turned it off. Amazon also says you can turn it off at any time, and its Alexa terms point users to Account Settings in the Alexa app to adjust the setting. If your Ring and Amazon accounts are linked, Amazon says the Sidewalk preference you choose applies across eligible Echo and Ring devices tied to that account.

Bottom line on Amazon Sidewalk

Amazon Sidewalk is a lightweight shared network that extends or backs up connectivity for supported devices. If you want extra reach for compatible Echo or Ring-connected hardware, it can be useful. If you do not want your eligible devices sharing a small amount of bandwidth and approximate location data for Sidewalk features, Amazon gives you a setting to turn it off.

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