Bluetooth LE proxy

The device can relay nearby Bluetooth Low Energy advertisements to Home Assistant over its ESPHome connection. This is separate from the Bluetooth speaker. You do not pair the sensors to the device.

The proxy is available on the Echo Dot as well as the Echo Shows.

Set it up

1. Connect the device to Home Assistant.
2. Turn on Settings → Connected services → Bluetooth proxy, or the Bluetooth proxy switch (bluetooth_proxy) in Home Assistant. On the Echo Dot, use Home Assistant or the web page.
3. Bring an advertising BLE sensor within range. Home Assistant receives its advertisements through the device; add or configure the sensor’s own integration in Home Assistant.

The proxy is off by default. It forwards advertisements, not GATT connections: devices that need a Bluetooth connection to read or control them cannot use this proxy for that connection. Discovery also depends on Home Assistant having an integration for the advertising device.

Scanning time

Bluetooth scanning (bluetooth_scan) in Home Assistant chooses how much radio time scanning takes: 9%, 5%, 2% or 1%. The default is 9%. Lower values listen less often; a sensor that advertises infrequently may take longer to appear or update.

Turning the proxy off stops scanning and its iBeacon advertisement. Changing a proxy setting reconnects the ESPHome connection; allow Home Assistant a moment to reconnect.

iBeacon

While the proxy is on, the device also advertises an iBeacon. A phone or another receiver can use it as a fixed room marker. The beacon does not detect people by itself, and it does not create an occupancy entity for a phone.

Field	Value
UUID	9c5fa6f1-91c4-4f56-bb9f-d92acfd9d40b
Major	1
Minor	The last two bytes of the device’s MAC address, interpreted as a hexadecimal number and converted to decimal
Measured power	−59 dBm

The minor comes from the factory MAC address. For example, a MAC ending in 12:34 gives minor 4660. Identify a beacon by all three fields: UUID, major and minor. These values are automatic; there is no separate beacon switch or beacon identity editor.