That is very insightful - thank you. From what I have pieced together from the website and a call with the rep, the built-in cell back up is only in the event of an alarm. It doesn't sound like the camera access will function through the back up cell connection and for that I'd need constant wifi (meaning, I can't access the camera feed through my phone, and footage would not upload to the cloud for storage). We'll see how it goes! I just ordered a 4G LTE router, and an 8GB/month data plan. I should have it all set up by next weekend. For the sake of others who may be trying to do this off-grid security set up, I will update the post after testing for a week or so.

I have this same situation. I want to install this in a remote location in Alaska, which gets cellular service but not landline or internet. I'm hoping the cellular backup will at least allow me to cycle the hotspot's power via a Ring-compatible switched outlet.

OK - so far it's working GREAT. I have 2 ring cameras with their solar panels, plus a ring alarm base station with some sensors. I have a Netgear 4g LTE modem LB1120 connected to a wifi router. The LTE modem is running a T-mobile data-only plan and sim card, 6gb/month for $25/month. After setting it up and running it for about 4 days, I've used around .7 gb of data. I had to tweak the motion notifications from the cameras, they were sending notifications like crazy (wind was blowing trees and stuff around); each time it sensed motion it would record, which meant more data usage. I think I now have a good balance of sensitivity. Works like it should - I get motion notifications from the cameras, can watch live view, plus have the base station all feeding the app on my phone or on the Ring website. If data usage is not high, I will start watching live view more often, and can access the internet with my laptop when I am out there! Forgot to mention - there's solar and batteries with an inverter in the house, so the power is on all of the time to feed the modem/router/ring base station. I will report back after a full month to describe data usage.

FYI, T-Mobile just announced a $50 per month internet using 5G with no caps and starting speeds of 50Mbps. They say they will increase the speeds later as well. You might want to Google it. Just came out today the announcement.

It doesn't... You'll be out of data in a day or two if they are outside cameras. If they are inside and no sun can get in, you will last about a week or so. Outside the movements will constantly trigger to record and it only records to the cloud. Inside, the sun moving, clouds, or sun shining through trees into a window (can) cause it to record. If you reduce the settings to allow that, it will not record every event you are looking for.

Hi! Data use will be reflected in how often the camera is recording something to the cloud. Ring added a feature that takes a snapshot every few seconds...turn that off, otherwise you'll eat TONS of data. I have 3 cameras, and have been using about 4 gb each month. I hope that helps!

Hi Mike, Do you mind telling me your set up? I am looking to do something similar with an off grid cabin for security? How much data have you used in average per month? How many cameras? How far have you been able to place cameras from your hotspot? Thank you

This is super helpful, Mike. How many minutes of video would you say your cameras are recording monthly to arrive at 4gb data used per month? I am using the same setup as you (AT&T 4g Netgear hotspot) in a garage that is a few blocks from home. One camera will be inside the garage -- so it will (I assume) only be recording when I am getting or dropping off my car -- or if there happens to be a security issue. I have not picked a SIM/plan yet as I am researching what the data need will be. Looking for your insight here.

Our camera recording increases or decreases depending on weather or animal activity. These cams are all outdoors, and in a rural area where it's not uncommon to have rabbits, birds, trees blowing in the strong wind, and even large bugs triggering the cameras. At least 2 or 3 a day, plus my wife watches the live feed for a few minutes each day. There was just an update from Ring that only sends notifications if it senses humans, but it seems the cameras still record the "non-human" stuff - I just don't get a notification. Your camera indoors will likely record almost never. If you have one outdoors, be mindful of blowing tree branches, other cars, sidewalks etc. that might be in the field of sensing, and trigger the camera. Fortunately you can tweak the camera settings to reduce false triggers. I hope this helps!

Hi Mike, What is your average usage of data a month?

That is AWESOME to know. I never considered that different types of cameras would use more or less data. I am only using the "Spotlight" cams, powered with solar panels, and have not used the other available cameras. Sounds like I should avoid it. Thank you for sharing this!

I have been experimenting lately with this issue. Background: I am trying to run my Ring system\* using a Huawei mobile hotspot with a Google Fi SIM card for data. Date is $10 per Gigabyte. Over 6GB is free, but I'm hoping to stay WAY under that. Here is what I have found: Ring system only (no camera connected) uses about 0.1GB every 6 to 7 days (like $5 a month). I arm and disarm the system about once a day, so I guess it must communicate with the mothership or something. I'm surprised at that. Since I am self-monitoring I didn't think it would use any data at all. Next, I connected ONE camera (the Ring Indoor Camera). I had "Motion Detection" and "Motion Alerts" both set to OFF. The camera icon on my screen has a line through it, there is no live video, it's not recording anything, and for all intents and purposes the camera appears to be OFF. I monitored this configuration for 7 days and it used an average of 0.12 GB PER DAY doing NOTHING. Why would the camera upload/download any data if it is in effect, turned off? I have nothing else on this mobile hotspot except the Ring system. I monitored it for seven days each way, and I feel pretty confident in my measurement of data usage. At 0.12 GB per day, that's going to cost me $36 a month to operate a camera that isn't even recording or reporting anything! I have three more cameras that I wanted to install, but I'm considering returning them. I really don't care too much about motion alerts (since I've got motion detectors as part of the security system) so I was thinking that one solution might be to plug the cameras in to remotely-controlled outlets (not Ring brand) and only turn them on when I want to see live video. \*My Ring system consists of 8 contact sensors, 4 motion detectors, and a freeze/flood detector.

Kilgore - VERY COOL that you are digging into the detail! I expect the alarm to use data when it is armed or disarmed as it shoots a status update to my phone - this means it's sending the info "to the mother ship" for me to receive wherever I am at. The camera using data when it's not "on" is a weird one. I would expect that if you have the "red line" indicator it is not recording motion. Killing the camera's power until you want to watch it makes sense, and I hope that works for you. I just added another camera, so now 5 solar spotlight cams outside, as well as a ring alarm unit and some sensors in the house. Until installing the 5th camera, I was still well under 6GB/month in usage. We'll see if that creeps up more. (My wife uses the live view a couple of times a day, so if we bump into the 6GB data limit, I'll have to cut her off...)

Mike - I'm going to have to check into the T-Mobile plan. $25 for 6GB beats Google Fi's $60 for 6GB. 6GB would probably handle my needs and I'm fine with $25 a month. I'll have to see if their SIM card will work in my WiFi hotspot. I know I have a T-Mobile signal here because that's the network that Google is currently connecting to on my hotspot! My wife will probably have to remind ME not to look at the live view too much. :-)