Feature/integration request for an add-on to support the Sidewalk network by Amazon.
I’d ideally like to be able to use my home assistant instance as a node for the sidewalk network. With this, we could share information about lost devices (like Tiles) and help people find things. Ideally we would be able to use wifi and bluetooth as by default home assistant doesn’t have LORA capabilities.
Sidewalk has a pretty good documentation as it is here.
If there’s any way I can figure out how to contribute to this myself, I will, but I barely know any programming and have no idea where to start with something like this.
When this came out the concept sounded compelling, but I’m not letting people just walking by the sidewalk connect to my network, no matter how super-duper secure the proto is said to be.
I was curious and had a read through their documentation. Basically, you seem to need both software and hardware to qualify for certification.
Given Nabu Casa is primarily a software company & that no one in their right mind would create specific hardware just to get Sidewalk certification, I wouldn’t hold my breath on this being implemented.
If you want Sidewalk, just buy an echo. It’s cheaper and easier for everyone involved.
It’s not looking good. Just found this in their docs:
"Regional Restrictions: The Sidewalk Network is available only in the United States of America. In order to ensure compliance with regional spectral regulations, Echo and Ring devices have been designed to disable Sidewalk gateway functionalities in all countries except the United States of America.
Additional Notes on Echo Devices: If multiple Echo devices are registered under a single Amazon account, only one of the gateways will operate as a FSK gateway, even if more than one gateway has the capability. If more than one gateway is required, then they need to be set up under separate Amazon accounts."
There was an outcry when people found out that Amazon devices turned this on by default. The problem is that Sidewalk uses your home network to route to the Internet strangers’ data.
Yeah, I know a lot about the outcry. I’m probably one of the few that is alright with it. As I’m pretty sure it’s not sharing a whole internet connection and only what’s needed for things like location. I saw somewhere it’s limited in how much data it actually is allowed to use though.