Ring Security Cameras
Floodlight cam turns on lights randomly, may or may not record event, when it does there is no movement in entire field of view of camera
For context: I have 6 ring floodlight cams. These are all hard wired to 110v power. All operate on a wifi network from an Apple Airport Router. They are on 2 different physical property locations approximately 2.5 miles apart. 4 of these floodlight cams are at location “A” - 2 of which are linked to a chime pro. Location “B” has 2 floodlight cams 1 is linked to a chime pro, the other is not. The problem: At location B, the floodlight that is not hooked to a chime pro, I have noticed that the lights are coming on at random times, most of the time with out recording any video event (I have video motion zones set for all 6 of my floodlight cams) and at least 75% of the time it does record video there is NOTHING MOVING. This was baffling to me - I have reconfigured my Wi-Fi network, I have deleted the network and remade it, I have changed Wi-Fi passwords which make the floodlight cam be reconfigured ( re set up) to my Wi-Fi. I powered the floodlight off for 24 hours and changed the Wi-Fi password ( in -30 degree weather it’s a real pain in the backside to climb up a ladder 30 feet in the air to hold the reset) all of that and still something is making the light turn on and off. I noticed this by having my living room drapes open and even during the day the lights are doing this. I am stumped - the other floodlight cam on this property does this as well but nearly as often, same as my other property- all 4 cams do this as well, just not as often as the one outside my living room. I review my alerts as they come to my phone and basically have got to the point now where I IGNORE THE SECURITY ALERTS THAT I GET FROM THESE FLOODLIGHT CAMS. Wait I paid close to $200.00 per cam plus 2 Chime pro’s that’s almost $1000.00 for a system I purchased so I could get a warning for a potential threat or someone stealing from me. SO…. I noticed by accident that the audio recording of the cross street ( I live on a corner lot) that is NOT in the view of the camera or the sensor, coincides with the lights coming on and a video (& audo) recording WHEN a car goes by on that street. I started watching closer and verified that as well as the time that the light comes on and there is no video (&audio) event recorded- that the noise of the traffic on the street behind and out of view of the floodlight cam and out of sensor view is turning on my lights. There is some sort of audio trigger for these and as far as I can tell there is no user adjustment for this part of the way this system works. I have spent hours on the phone with ring and no solution. I believe that the side of my house that faces this busy street and out of field of view for both the sensors for lights and movement is acting like a microphone to make this floodlight cam sensitive to that traffic noise. I tested my theory with a stand alone security cam made by a different company, it also was not on my power grid (battery operated) and not on my Wi-Fi ( it records to a SD card both still photo and video) plus it does not have audio capabilities. I placed this stand alone cam in different locations near all 6 of my Ring Floodlight Cams and got drastically different event recordings. As I mentioned the other 5 floodlight cams also turn on the lights randomly with and without video/audo recordings just not as often as the one by my living room. Additionally when I used this stand alone cam I got recordings of wildlife ( a moose and a arctic fox) when it was mounted near two of the floodlight cams THAT DID NOT RECORD THE ANIMALS OR TURN ON THE LIGHTS. I hope this information helps someone if it is not taken down by Ring first. ( I am reposting in a couple other locations to get this information out)
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30-11-2021 04:31:11
Responses (9)
- T
Interesting that sound is what you determined triggers the lights. My issue is that light was triggered and sure enough there was a raccoon on my back steps underneath the floodlight cam. So I checked ring app and not only is there no video there was no event in event history. I expect that any trigger namely any sound, motion or video that turned the lights on should be logged in event history.
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16-04-2022 10:57:33
- M
I am so sorry that you are having all these issues. Sounds like a nightmare. I only have 2 floodlight cams, and when they work, they are great. But over the past few years, I have found that they can be quite buggy and unstable, and issues can develop at any time during ownership. Thus far, it seems that more often than not, the source is a firmware update that just so happens to affect some of the cameras. Ring has never explained what they found to have caused these issues. I've lost count the number of replacements that I've had to go through to get to a working set. And having to call Ring over and over and over again to go through the trouble-shooting and get them to replace. The reality is that there isn't really that much trouble-shooting to be done. Either they work or they don't. And I am having to have one of them replaced again.... Having to get the ladder out again and set up the positioning of the camera and lights over and over and over again.... I had to figure out how to do it myself because I didn't want to have to pay someone to come out a gazillion times.... At least I am on the protect plus plan for now.... Has Ring offered to replace your floodlight cams? Do you have snapshot turned on? The shortest frequency is 30 seconds. Would that maybe give some insight to what's happening before the cameras trigger to record?
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08-12-2021 02:16:37
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MTo be fair, I also wanted to add that my experiences with Ring Customer Service has generally been pretty good in that they are always polite and seem to be trying to help. And the last few times, the trouble-shooting was not overly painfully drawn out. And after verifying that I've done the few things that are possible (double-check & toggle settings; power cycle; factory reset; wait to see if issues resolve; call back), they offered replacement without making me jump through endless hoops for months like they tended to in the past. If the first line can't do the replacement, they quickly transferred me to second line. Once they verify that I did the required trouble-shooting, they processed a replacement.
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08-12-2021 02:32:00
- K
I am also have this issue where my floodlight lights keep turning in continuously. They are on for 30 seconds, turn off for 5-10 seconds, then immediately turn back on. It happens ALL night long. I followed this thread where for over a year, customers were having the same issue until Ring closed the thread but the problem isn’t solved: https://community.ring.com/t/floodlight-cam-keeps-turning-on-and-off/3029 I’ve tried adjusting all the settings they recommended in the previous thread, but as others have said, it is a firmware bug and needs to be updated by Ring. I’ve had neighbors complaining to me and saying they had to buy blackout curtains because “it’s like a light show” at night. This is not okay that over a year and a half after the problem was originally reported, there is still no support from Ring. That is totally unacceptable for a $200 unit. I won’t be buying any more Ring products ever again.
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11-02-2022 12:53:02
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- T
I'm also having the on/off flood light issue even when I turn off the "Motion-Activated Lights" setting. If that setting is off then the lights shouldn't be coming on at all, no?
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15-04-2022 07:08:58
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- J
With other threads on this topic closed, has anyone truly discovered a fix? My rear floodlight has started acting up and turning on frequently with no motion or heat source. Adjusting settings have not worked. Maybe I’ll try a reset on the unit itself. All the responses from company representatives are typical ‘read from the manual’ lines. Maybe an Internet search will reveal more information that what Ring can provide
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18-04-2022 09:46:12
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Mark.H.Lewis
The solutions linked by Ring when this string was started have been reviewed by me and do not impact resolving the issue I state in my original post. 1 was about initial set up ( I have been through setup procedures numerous times) the problem continues There were 3 other solutions that were linked all related to doorbell devices, I immediately discounted these because IT IS NOT A DOORBELL DEVICE! There was also a solution offered about motion schedule. These are random events and disabling my floodlight cams during different times or schedules defeats the reason I purchased them in the first place. I want legitimate notifications of people that are close enough to my house or vehicles in the view of my Floodlight cams that could be a potential threat to me or my family.That is why I invested almost $1000.00 in Ring technology.
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30-11-2021 04:50:51
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