What Is Amazon Sidewalk & Why It's Big for Alexa and Smart Homes

What Is Amazon Sidewalk & Why It's Big For Alexa And Smart Homes

Amazon Sidewalk officially launches in the United States on June 8, 2021. It's a new technology that aims to improve the experience of certain smart home devices using a mix of Bluetooth and radio frequencies. Understanding how Sidewalk works is a little tricky at first, but in the end, it should result in gadgets that are more responsive and reliable. Smart home technology has become immensely popular over the past few years, and for the most part, the experience it provides today is quite good. People can buy everything from smart light bulbs, thermostats, security cameras, wall outlets, and more. The problem with all of these smart home gizmos, however, is that they are entirely reliant on people's home Wi-Fi networks. If someone has slow internet, weak router range, or a multi-story home with lots of walls to penetrate through, it's easy for these devices to lose their connection and provide a bad user experience. Related: Why & How To Delete Your Amazon Alexa History & Voice Recordings This is exactly what Amazon Sidewalk aims to fix. In a nutshell, Sidewalk is a localized network made explicitly for smart home devices in a certain area (such as a neighborhood or apartment complex). The best part is that it's created using smart home gadgets many people already own - such as Ring cameras and Amazon Echo devices. Any Sidewalk-enabled devices can tap into this network to use it alongside someone's home Wi-Fi, whereas Sidewalk Bridge devices are used to power the Sidewalk feature. Sidewalk Bridges currently include things like select Ring Floodlight Cams and Ring Spotlight Cams. Per Amazon's own explanation, "Customers with a Sidewalk Bridge can contribute a small portion of their internet bandwidth, which is pooled together to create a shared network that benefits all Sidewalk-enabled devices in a community." As of right now, Sidewalk Bridges include the Amazon Echo Show 10 (3rd Gen), Amazon Echo (4th Gen), Amazon Echo Dot (4th Gen), Ring Spotlight Cam Wired, Ring Spotlight Cam Mount, and Ring Floodlight Camera. Amazon also built Sidewalk Bridge functionality into older Echo devices dating back to 2018, meaning the service should have a fairly wide reach right from day one. Why Amazon Sidewalk Is Such A Big Deal When all of this comes together and works as Amazon envisions, the idea is to allow supported smart home items to work beyond the constraints of a person's Wi-Fi network. For example, let's say someone has smart bulbs in their garage. They might technically connect to that person's Wi-Fi router, but the connection is really weak and often does not work. With Sidewalk, those bulbs could connect to that network instead and provide a reliable experience for the person using them. Amazon also says Sidewalk can be used for simplifying the setup process for smart home devices, more easily finding lost items/pets with Tile trackers that tap into the Sidewalk network, and all sorts of other future applications that have not even been thought of yet. In short, Amazon Sidewalk should take away most of the lingering pain points for smart home devices and allow them to operate better than they ever have before. The only real cost of Amazon Sidewalk is the internet data used to power the service, but even that is so minimal most users likely wo not care. Amazon says that the maximum bandwidth for a Sidewalk Bridge is 80Kbps, with there being a maximum monthly data usage of 500Mb. As Amazon points out, that's roughly the same amount of data someone would use to stream 10 minutes of an HD video online. Outside of that, Amazon Sidewalk is completely free. Some people have raised concerns about the privacy aspect of Sidewalk, but for what it's worth, Amazon has reiterated that the service is "designed to protect your privacy" and is backed by multiple encryption layers. Everything about Amazon Sidewalk should be a welcome addition to any smart home user, but ultimately, the usefulness of the service comes down to each person's individual neighborhood. Sidewalk is most effective when there are ample Sidewalk Bridges in an area to power the service. Some people may have a lot of neighbors that have supported devices, whereas others may find themselves in a sort of dead zone. For areas where Sidewalk does work, it could be a game-changer for those people. Amazon Sidewalk may not be the most exciting thing on paper, but when people can use their devices more easily and more reliably without having to do any extra work on their end, that's a huge win. Next: How To Cancel Amazon Prime (And Why You Should)