Feature Update: Customizable Motion Zones for Battery Devices

I have 3 motion zones set up (Ring Video Doorbell 3 hardwired). None of them are in the street in front of my home, but I continue to get motion alerts for passing cars. What am I doing wrong?

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@Mikemcd: I have both the original Stick Up Cam Wired and 3rd Gen. Stick Up Cam Battery (Solar). I have the motion zones for these cams set up with the upper edges just short of crossing streets. During the day, depending on the position of the sun at the particular time of the day/year, I find that the shadows cast into my selected motion zones from passing vehicles can sometimes trigger motion events. During the evenings, this is usually not a problem unless there happens to be a good rain – I find that headlight refraction from passing vehicles off of the falling raindrops creates a “light show” of sorts for the cams that can, likewise, trigger motion events. My cams are all about 9’ high (approximately same elevation above crossing roadways). I’m guessing that your Doorbell cam is much lower, so your site geometry may be different from mine relative to such motion triggers. I hope this helps.

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Unfortunately, this does not clear things up. We all understand that the motion zone doesn’t extend the full view, and what we are saying that that is a poor idea. If motion zones on my doorbell can extend the full field of view, then they can on the stickup cams as well. Please address the following:

  1. Explain if the cropped view is temporary software and when it will be updated?
  2. If it is a battery issue, then explain that, and also give us the choice about using the cropped FOV. I have a solar panel, so I’m not concerned about battery life.
  3. The real problem with this is the guessing game I have to play on adusting the camera versus the motion zone, which requires me getting out a ladder - I go to live view, adjust, go to zone view, and see if it covers what I want. Then, spend a couple days dealing with motion alerts that are inaccuarte, then go back up on my ladder.
  4. Can we have actual specifications? What percentage does the motion extend into the FOV? What percentage change does each increment on the sensitivity zone represent?
    Thank you
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This new feature is so ridiculous. I cannot begin to understand why Ring would disable a legacy feature once an update has been selected. However, I thought I made a mistake when I wanted to change the motion zone on one of my battery cameras, only to find I was forced to accept this new feature and was void of choice. You should be able to revert if the new feature does not suit your needs. It wouldn’t be so bad if I could actually select motion zones for my entire video area and not only half of the screen. I’ve tried to zoom out to show all of the area my cameras can view, but cannot and now I only have half of my entertainment area and computer rooms are being monitored. This is not what I have paid all this money for. Do you plan on compensating customers for your massive oversight and subsequent fault?

@Riley_Ring
Whilst it’s nice to finally have this for battery devices, the setting under video recording length no longer applies as motion verification is a forced option. This results in some motion not being recorded. Please allow us to disable motion verification.

I have created a sperate post about this here; Forced Motion Verification - Products / Video Doorbells - Ring Community

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Hey neighbors. Thank you for your feedback on Customizable Motion Zones. We are always working to improve the experience you have with you Ring devices. I will pass this information along to the appropriate teams so they can discuss this for future implementations on the Ring app. Happy Holidays!

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I think the new customisation motion zone feature is great, false notifications are practically gone for me

Would it be possible to set which zones give notifications in future updates?

I only have the default zone set at the moment as only want notifications for people detected on the the steps, path or driveway leading to my house

But I’d still like to record any movement or activity in a second zone where my other car is parked in the street but without any notifications as there is a lot of traffic & pedestrians in this area

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This feature was supposed to start rolling out in October but I don’t see it as an option in the Ring app. I can create multiple motion zones for my Ring Stick Up Cam Battery but can’t do anything with them. What good are they if you can’t setup different schedules, notifications, etc. for them?

Same problem for me. Set zone well below the street. Still I get motion of cars driving by. Yet, delivery person walks up to my front door, nothing. No recording of the event. The only way I know is from delivery notification by the shipper.

With the customizable motion zones on battery powered devices (stick up cam, spotlight cam), is motion still detected using the PIR sensors? Or is motion now detected using the camera (which I think is how the wired versions of those cameras work).

If I remember correctly , before the new boxed zones were introduced, my stick up camera had a longer sensor range. I live on a busy street so I had to angle my cam so that it would not pick up cars passing my driveway which caused a lot of alerts and video. So I angled the camera to show only the driveway (slightly longer than a car) and the sidewalk. Which eliminated the excessive car vid’s. So I know the sensor ability is there . And as it is now , the covered area is very minimal. It only covers from the back of the car up to the sunroof. Which does not cover the front doors. I will send you two screen snapshots. First one is of the adjustment screen. The second is of the area it covers. As you can see , it’s a very small area to not be able to completely cover

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This. Update. Is the one I’ve been dreaming of!!! I’ve had my Ring 2 for years but was incredibly frustrated with its motion detection. I tried everything- seriously, everything, including lengthy calls with customer service and a replacement sent. Now, for the first time since I’ve owned it, it finally works.

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I have VD3+. I’ve programmed the zones to not detect on the pavement outside my garden. However they still detect people and even cars further out in the road. My battery is only lasting 3-4 weeks and I get numerous pointless recordings.

How do I fix this please?

Hi there, @L1111! In addition to fine tuning your motion settings and trying out options like People Only mode, I recommend also looking into this solution shared by a neighbor above.

Angling your Ring device to fine tune it’s field of view to only the area you want to cover, is a great solution if there is a heavy traffic (cars/ human) path nearby. :slight_smile:

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Spent 90 minutes on to various community advisors.

The updates just do not exist on my new Gen 2 Doorbell. purchased 1st March.
People and zone motion alerts not available and no where to be seen.

Had to send 5 screen grabs before they believed me The ZONES part is just a black rectangle.
Updated, uninstalled an reinstalled app deleted device reinstalled tried on another phone etc etc etc and then all over again for another call centre operator.

What a waste.

The only thing I can suggest that it seems you haven’t tried is to do a factory reset of the doorbell, and then set it up again. That should force it to download and install the latest firmware, if it didn’t do that initially.

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agree. i want motion set off when the person starts walking down the side to the door - as in the camera view - not when they are 4 ft from my door.

I have the Ring Stick-Up Cam Battery. In fact I have two (2) of them. Beginning a couple of months ago, and probably due to a “reset” and firmware upload, I am no longer able to have my editable zone cover (have visibility of) my driveway; and more importantly, all of my truck. This of course defeats the whole purpose of having a security camera. The update did this: " Note: Motion zones can not be extended to the full area of your Live View when creating these zones."
Please note, the stick up camera (battery) connected to my Range Extender Pro affords a much larger editable zone. It matches the Live View.
Why the difference?
Also note, I connected my “Front” camera to the Rang Extender Pro (same distance from other Cam) and it of course would not even Activate the Live View. Not at all surprised.
In the end, there are two (2) options I have. First is I am requesting the ability to roll back all Q1 2021 (calendar year) updates that took place post my purchase. Yes, it’s doable. My company is able to do that as a customer awaits a Patch or Service Pack to fix a problem.
2nd - With the sole purpose of having a security camera to actually provide accurate, usable coverage (visibility), and with the Ring Stickup Cam now unable to do so, how do I go about attaining a refund? Thanks.

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Hi @Classicrk. If you’re looking to request a return and refund for any of your Ring devices, you can do so by contacting our support team directly. You can give our support team a call at one of the numbers available here. We’re taking additional steps to protect our team and help reduce the spread of COVID-19, so this has resulted in longer than normal wait times. If you are outside of the US, please read our response to COVID-19 here to see how to contact support.

I totally agree. At first I could adjust the motion zones to include my whole camera view. I have tried many times different ways and still can’t get it to capture what I want. If I disable motion zones I can see my driveway and vehicles but it only captures movement when people are 3-4ft from the camera. If motion zones are on it shows a very small area that records. I’m so frustrated with this. Anyone have suggestions? Help please.

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