Ring has announced a new line of security sensors, switches, and other smart home devices that use its low-power, long-range Sidewalk connectivity protocol and don’t need a hub — or even Wi-Fi — to connect to your smart home.
Ring’s new smart home sensors use Sidewalk instead of Wi-Fi or Z-Wave
The company is finally expanding its product line that works with its long-range, low-power IoT network.
The company is finally expanding its product line that works with its long-range, low-power IoT network.
is a senior reviewer with over twenty years of experience. She covers smart home, IoT, and connected tech, and has written previously for Wirecutter, Wired, Dwell, BBC, and US News.
Sidewalk works across three existing wireless radio technologies — Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), LoRa, and 900 MHz — and “provides the benefits of a cellular network at the cost of a Wi-Fi one,” says Ring founder Jamie Siminoff. “It’s like a cellular network built for IOT.”
The network is built using Sidewalk gateways in homes and businesses — including Echo smart speakers and displays and some wired Ring cameras. Designed as a community network, Sidewalk uses a small amount of bandwidth from these devices’ internet connections to send low-data messages.
The new sensors and switches will be available in March and include indoor and outdoor door sensors, a motion detector, a glass break sensor, and a panic button. There’s also a smoke and CO alarm listener, a flood and freeze sensor, and a temperature and humidity sensor.
The devices use Sidewalk to connect to the Ring app and can be professionally monitored with a Ring Protect subscription, but without requiring a Ring Alarm hub. If you already use Ring Alarm, the sensors are backward compatible with the Z-Wave-based system.
The company is also launching a new air-quality monitor and sump pump monitor, along with a line of Sidewalk-enabled smart plugs and switches, including a smart light switch, smart fan control, and a remote.
The final new Sidewalk product is a Ring Car Alarm with GPS, designed to monitor your car’s location in real time and send alerts for movement and location changes. It’s available for preorder today.
Sidewalk, which launched in 2020, is a low-power, low-bandwidth, long-range IoT network that is free to use. While Ring cameras use Sidewalk connectivity to send alerts even when your home’s Wi-Fi is down, Ring hasn’t done much to leverage Sidewalk in its products since launch.
However, Siminoff says the network has finally reached a tipping point in density, making it time to adopt it as a primary protocol. “The network is enormous,” says Siminoff. “The US has incredible coverage, and we are launching it in Mexico and Canada, with the rest of the world coming by the end of 2026.”
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