Floodlights too sensitive - had to be switched off entirely

After a really stressful period of being harassed and stalked for months, I invested in a Ring Doorbell which works well (albeit it would be helpful to get a notification when it loses internet connection but that’s another matter …). I then saved money to buy two Ring Floodlight wired security cameras which were installed this weekend. I went with Ring as I already had the doorbell and they are considered a trusted brand. I am sooooo disappointed. I have had to switch the floodlights off on both cameras as they are far too sensitive even when set to the lowest sensitivity setting and smallest detection area. The lights on the driveway camera trigger with every car passing (despite the road being outside of my set motion zone) and when flying insects are detected. The garden camera triggers constantly due to flying insects also. This sensitivity has rendered the floodlights useless and I have had to switch them both off. This is totally pointless as the cameras were expensive especially once you consider the cost of fitting also. I live alone and I do not have the peace of mind I was hoping to have from the cameras as I am unable to use the floodlights at all. The camera position can not be changed as they are both already set as far facing downwards as is possible. I’d appreciate any advice please. I really wish I’d done my research as I would have selected a different brand if I knew I could not use one of the main features of the floodlight cameras. What a really costly mistake. I read threads on this forum suggesting that an update in October 2021 totally ruined the floodlight behaviour. Is there an update on this please?

Oh my bad - I should’ve been clearer. With the road and the insects, the lights come on every couple of minutes all night long. I understood the lights would trigger with people motion. I live on a very busy road with traffic all night. I have set all sensitivity to lowest possible and they still trigger.

My motion zone is not set to include the road.

@SolarEclipse I don’t appear to have a “detect person” setting which could probably help my issue.

You have me worried now. I just ordered over $1k in Ring floodlight cameras. Currently I am getting PEOPLE motion alerts from my Ring outdoor cameras from insects flying by every night. So now I should expect the Ring Floodlights to be on all night long every night due to flying insects? If so, this is HORRIBLE.

There is NO setting to just detect people with the floodlight cams. It detects every movement! Leaves, insects, movement outside your motion zone. I have had to switch the lights off to avoid angering my neighbours. It’s a real shame as im hugely regretting choosing Ring for my home security. My doorbell can be set to just detect people so why can’t the very expensive cameras?

Can admins shed any light please? (No pun intended)

@Tom_Ring @Caitlyn_Ring

Jesus.

Right from Ring.com “Person alerts: Customize your alerts and minimize interruptions by getting notifications only when your device spots a person.”

People alerts are just for the motion detection notifications. This has no effect on the lights which activate with every single motion! From what I’ve read it used to work much better until a software update broke something back in Oct 2021. I wish I’d done my research. I’m going to see about returning them as they are not fit for purpose and getting a different brand! Painful! :confounded:

Hi neighbors. A key component to your Floodlight Cam properly detecting motion, has to do with how your Floodlight Cam is positioned. This Help Center article here has some great information on this. Ensure that your Floodlight Cam is mounted at the correct height with the bubble on the bottom parallel to the ground. If you are still having issues, please give our support team a call at one of the numbers available here. If you are outside of the US, please visit here to see how to contact support. I hope this helps!

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Two issues here:

  1. Lights shouldnt be more sensitive than a regular flood light, or should have a way to adjust sensitivity to motion.
  2. Motion alerts for people should work accurately for PEOPLE. Not squirrels. Not insects. PEOPLE.

So sorry to hear about your issues. Were you able to return?

I’ve had my Ring floodlight cams for several years. The early years were a bit rough as Ring was trying to figure out how to get it’s motion detection to work properly. Cats, bugs, etc. would trigger it in the middle of the night constantly. Then Smart Alerts started to work properly. I set it record all motion but only alert on people. It worked well for a while.

Then in late 2021, it started having issues again and alerting on moths, cats, spider webs, etc. in the middle of the night. One camera seemed to resolve itself after a while (maybe firmware update for everyone?). But one camera did not. I called Ring support, and they replaced the camera twice. But the issues persisted. I posted on here to see if anyone else was still having the problem. But I didn’t get any repsonses.

I called Customer Service again to express my frustration and asked the representative to report the issue. He offered to replace the camera again, but I let him know that it had been replaced several times and at this point, I thought that it was a firmware issue, and my firmware was supposedly already up to date.

Then about week or so later, the issues stopped… I suspect that maybe someone took a look at it and forced a firmware update somehow. And maybe that one Floodlight cam was not receiving firmware updates properly. Otherwise, I don’t think it would have fixed itself.

A few years ago, some of us had problems with our lights going off all the time at 30 minute intervals and our firmware refusing to update. It took LOTS of LONG calls and many follow-up emails to convince them of the issue and probably about 6+ months for them to push out a fix. I lost count of how many times I tried installing replacements, which is a lot of work…

Anyway, I tell you all this to give you some examples of things that have happened before. Weird stuff happens, and it can take a lot of effort for a fix. If you still have the cameras, try calling CS and ask for replacements or for them to push out a firmware update, which might require that you ask to speak to Level 2 support. They will likely make you step through all the required testing steps before they transfer you. Then Level 2 will make you do more required testing before they escalate if they can’t address. This all can take 30+ minutes, and they will ask you to reset the camera. So, you probabaly want to call during the day so that you can safely access the reset button on the camera. Keep calling until they address it to your satisfaction.

Although it can be extremely frustrating and take up a lot of time, I do give Ring CS credit for at least always trying to address issues. As with any company nowadays, it can take many calls.

When they are working properly, I think the wired floodlight cams are Ring’s best security cameras. They do give me a sense of security. I hope Ring doesn’t mess them up again…

Good luck!

So you suggest I spend more precious hours on the phone asking for replacements that won’t fix the issue and no one will give a crap to fix it? No.