Here’s how to turn off Amazon’s auto-activated sidewalk network on Echo and Ring devices.

At the end of November, we brought you news from Amazon Sidewalk, a new company initiative that allows smart devices that would typically be on the edge of Wi-Fi range limits (or completely out of range). to be grafted onto a nearby device. , device connected to the Internet. Therefore, a neighbor’s Echo Dot or Ring Spotlight Cam could provide internet connectivity for the Ring Floodlight Cam that you want to install outside of your garden shed.

What is Amazon Sidewalk?

“Sidewalk-compatible devices connect to Sidewalk Bridges to access the network,” Amazon explained. “Customers with a Sidewalk Bridge can contribute a small portion of their Internet bandwidth, which is pooled to create a shared network that benefits all Sidewalk – enabled devices in a community. “

Sidewalk is able to provide these “community networking” benefits through a combination of 900 Hz radio spectrum and Bluetooth Low-Energy (BLE). And since they only use a small fraction of their available internet bandwidth to contribute to Sidewalk, enabling the feature shouldn’t interfere with the day-to-day functioning of your own device – at least in theory.

Wait, Amazon automatically chooses customers with Sidewalk?

However, most people thought Sidewalk would be an optional feature from Amazon. After all, not everyone wants to be generous enough to share connectivity with their neighbors, although that won’t incur a performance penalty for your own devices. And given the ease with which some devices are hacked these days, many are rightly concerned about the privacy and security implications.

This is why it’s somewhat difficult to understand why Amazon chooses customers by default. I decided to check out the Alexa app on my own smartphone earlier this afternoon and sure enough, Sidewalk was on. Since I rarely even use the Alexa app, I didn’t even know the feature had appeared, let alone turned on, until today.

Fortunately, turning off Sidewalk is a relatively straightforward matter. Just open the Alexa app, then tap the More button at the bottom right of the application. Then press Settings -> Account settings -> Amazon sidewalk. Use the slider to turn off the feature and you’re done.

So what is Amazon’s opinion on auto-enrollment of customers in Sidewalk? “We have started to notify existing Echo customers with qualifying devices that their devices will be part of Sidewalk and how they can change their preferences before the feature is enabled,” an Amazon representative said in a statement to CNET. “Customers can update their Amazon Sidewalk preferences during device setup or at any time from the Alexa app settings.”

It should be noted that Sidewalk – as a feature – is not yet operational. Amazon says it will roll it out to supported devices later this month. And when enabled, every supported Amazon hardware device that is linked to your Amazon account will be enrolled in Sidewalk. These supported devices are listed below:

• Ring Floodlight Cam (2019)
• Ring Spotlight Cam Wired (2019)
• Cam bracket for ring projector (2019)
• Echo (2nd generation)
• Echo (3rd generation)
• Echo (4th generation)
• Echo Dot (2nd generation)
• Echo Dot (3rd generation)
• Echo Dot (4th generation)
• Echo Dot (2nd generation) for children
• Echo Dot (3rd generation) for children
• Echo Dot (4th generation) for kids
• Echo Dot with clock (3rd generation)
• Echo Dot with clock (4th generation)
• Echo Plus (1st Gen)
• Echo Plus (2nd Gen)
• Echo Show (1st generation)
• Echo Show (2nd generation)
• Echo Show 5
• Echo Show 8
• Echo Show 10
• Echo spot
• Echo Studio

So what do you think Amazon automatically enables this feature for customers? Not everyone is familiar with Sidewalk, so most people wouldn’t even know how to go into Alexa’s settings to turn it off if they didn’t want to be a part of Amazon’s shared network experience. Let us know what you think in the comments section below.