Share your wifi?

[kadee79]

We don't have any of the devices that will be affected, so no problem for us.  There are more devices mentioned near the end of the article....

Amazon is raising security concerns due to an upcoming plan that automatically enrolls users of its devices into Sidewalk, a program which will share your Wi-Fi connection with your neighbors unless you opt out.

The Sidewalk network shares "a small portion of your internet bandwidth which is pooled together to provide these services to you and your neighbors," according to a description on Amazon's website. "And when more neighbors participate, the network becomes even stronger."

The program, which was originally announced in 2019, goes online on June 8. The tech giant claims Sidewalk will feature "multiple layers of encryption" for added privacy and security for personal information. The company also noted that all data shared is automatically deleted every 24 hours.

Users of the devices Echo, Echo Show, and Ring doorbells will have the option to turn off Sidewalk. However, the device owners must choose to opt out of Sidewalk, otherwise Amazon will automatically enroll its customers into the service.

Ring owners can opt out by visiting the control center in the Ring app or Ring website. Customers with an Echo device can remove the service by going to settings in the Alexa app.

www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/amazon-s-new-network-will-share-your-wi-fi-with-neighbors-unless-you-opt-out/ar-AAKBF9E?ocid=msedgdhp

[justme]

I do. I opted out. 

[tractor]

We have no neighbors with WiFi range, so no problem there. Although if we did, I would opt out

[billisonboard]

Jun 2, 2021 11:19:50 GMT -5 justme said:

I do. I opted out. 

Ditto.

[bean29]

I was going to let it go, but since the rest of you turned it off, I turned it off too.

[TheOtherMe]

Opted out

[billisonboard]

I am attempting to understand situations where one would benefit. I read one thing about if you have some device well away from your modem but closer to a neighbor's you would benefit if they had Sidewalk turned on. Didn't address one way or the other whether your's had to be on as well. I think if you lived where nearby people had a variety of different internet providers it would help keep you connected if your provider went down but my small town pretty much as one provider. If it is down, everyone in the neighborhood is down. Anyone have anything I am not seeing?

[Deleted]

I thought if you didn’t keep your wifi secure, there’s the risk that people up to no good could access your devices. I could’ve sworn that was the reason I’ve read to be careful about using public wifi, in hotels and such.

I’m not interested in supplying community wifi. Especially if doing so leaves me vulnerable to people with bad intentions. 

[Deleted]

Jun 2, 2021 14:56:09 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

I am attempting to understand situations where one would benefit. I read one thing about if you have some device well away from your modem but closer to a neighbor's you would benefit if they had Sidewalk turned on. Didn't address one way or the other whether your's had to be on as well. I think if you lived where nearby people had a variety of different internet providers it would help keep you connected if your provider went down but my small town pretty much as one provider. If it is down, everyone in the neighborhood is down. Anyone have anything I am not seeing?

Maybe it works better for people in apartments? My neighbor’s houses aren’t all that close to mine, so I don’t see it benefiting any of us.

We do have more than 1 provider here, AT&T and Comcast, to name 2.

[justme]

Jun 2, 2021 14:56:09 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

I am attempting to understand situations where one would benefit. I read one thing about if you have some device well away from your modem but closer to a neighbor's you would benefit if they had Sidewalk turned on. Didn't address one way or the other whether your's had to be on as well. I think if you lived where nearby people had a variety of different internet providers it would help keep you connected if your provider went down but my small town pretty much as one provider. If it is down, everyone in the neighborhood is down. Anyone have anything I am not seeing?

One of the articles I saw on it was theorizing that this was the first step and that the next step was Amazon creating a wifi network to keep people connected as the travel. ie it's a wifi network labeled Sidewalk and if you're walking around a neighborhood your phone connects to Sidewalk and never loses wifi avoiding data. But I have zero idea how conspiracy theory that is or isn't. Also forgot what site I saw that on. 

[resolution]

Comcast does something similar if you rent a modem from them.  However I think most YM members are more likely to buy their own modems than rent.

20somethingfinance.com/how-to-opt-out-of-comcast-public-wifi-hotspot/

[bean29]

I was thinking it was more along the lines of security devices always having wi-fi access.  So if my wi-fi is down, but my neighbor's is on, my ring doorbell still can record what is going on in the neighborhood?  It also mentioned a device similar to life alert for people with dementia and those tile things for finding lost devices, for that to work without having it's own wi-fi access...it probably needs to use sidewalk.

We don't have a ring doorbell and I am not using the tile thingies.

[toomuchreality]

I thought this was in an effort to be more like Comcast hot spots
To stay connected all the time and use less data.
Isn't it?

I don't have any Amazon products that use wifi, so doesn't impact me.

[Tennesseer]

[toomuchreality]

Jun 4, 2021 18:23:09 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Thanks, Tennesseer!

[dannylion]

Jun 2, 2021 15:27:30 GMT -5 resolution said:

Comcast does something similar if you rent a modem from them.  However I think most YM members are more likely to buy their own modems than rent.

20somethingfinance.com/how-to-opt-out-of-comcast-public-wifi-hotspot/

Comcast gives you the option of disabling that "feature" and actually makes it easy to do so.  When that became available a few years ago, Comcast published clear instructions for disabling it, and it took less than a minute to find it and turn it off.  

After considerable poking around, experimentation (as clear instructions were lacking), and an inordinate amount of swearing, I was finally able to find and download the Alexa App onto an Android device on which it would actually work (it downloaded to but refused to work on any of the 3 Fire tablets in my possession that Amazon assured me were compatible--finally got it onto an old Samsung tablet where it did work) and turn off Sidewalk.  (The app specifically states it requires an Android device.  It apparently does not work on Apple devices, but I have not tried it on my iPhone, nor have I checked the Apple Appstore to verify for sure that it is not available there--planning to do that when I have a day that has not provided sufficient opportunities for random swearing).  

It does sound like a feature more suited to an urban environment with many buildings and devices in close proximity than to a suburban or rural environment with a lot of space between buildings containing Alexa-enabled devices.  

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

One of our neighbors spends most of the year in Mexico. They come back twice a year for a few weeks. They use our wifi since it would be silly for them to set up their own account. We give them the password though. We don't have any of the Alexa things.