discussion Amazon Sidewalk coming to Canada Feb 26

[sswilson]

Just got an email from amazon WRT my echo(s) stating that Sidewalk is coming to Canada and that it will automatically be enabled on 26 Feb so users (like myself) who believe large corps should keep their grubby little fingers off of my internet bandwidth (unless they want to pay me for access to it) will have to set a calendar date to go in and opt-out.

Amazon Sidewalk Arrives in Canada Feb. 26: How to Opt Out of the Shared Network | iPhone in Canada

Amazon is officially bringing its Sidewalk network to Canada on February 26, 2026, after a U.S.-only launch back in 2023. The company began notifying Echo and Ring users this week that their devices will soon act as "bridges" to create a shared, neighbourhood-wide wireless network. The system is...

www.iphoneincanada.ca

 

[Izerous]

I mean I get the concept and how that would be good for some people. However with the duplex I had considered doing building wide network coverage to cover all tenants under a single plan and just splitting the cost between both units. The legal ramifications of someone doing something illegal on your wifi connection when it is in your name wasn't a liability I was willing to assume.

Wardriving in echo rich neighbourhoods sounds like it will make a fun new passtime agian.

 

[sswilson]

I mean I get the concept and how that would be good for some people. However with the duplex I had considered doing building wide network coverage to cover all tenants under a single plan and just splitting the cost between both units. The legal ramifications of someone doing something illegal on your wifi connection when it is in your name wasn't a liability I was willing to assume.

Wardriving in echo rich neighbourhoods sounds like it will make a fun new passtime agian.

It looks like external devices only connect through the echo device via either bt or over the 900mhz band so it's very little bandwidth and supposedly zero chance of this leading to wardriving since they don't connect directly to your network. (unlike the old MS system which essentially shared your connection).

Still not anything I'm interested in though, and I'm a bit pissed that the option to opt out isn't available yet and presumably won't be available until after the date that it's been officially enabled.