Got the outdoor camera, set it up, everything worked great; the light worked, I got notifications, I could go live and it would immediately connect, took snapshots 24/7, had all my settings where I wanted them. This was during the free trial.
So then a tornado touched down very nearby and we had no internet for 3 weeks. During that time, the trial ended. After we got everything back up and running, I got notifications and could just see live. So I paid for the year basic plan…And that’s when it went to pot. The first 2 days I would get very intermittent snaps and could occasionally see the live feed. After that (and continuing to now) I get notifications that there is movement and the light will go on for a short time if it’s dark, but I get no snaps and when I try to go to the live feed it just says “activating device” forever. When I go to the history it shows all the times there was movement, but when I go to view it, it’s just black.
I’ve tried resetting the router, I’ve charged the batteries and reset the camera, I’ve deleted and reloaded the app, I put all the settings back to original. I’ve run the diagnostic test and it says my connection is a little weak, but the bandwidth speed is well above where it needs to be. Nothing has changed except that I’m now paying for a service that won’t work (but did when it was free.) If there’s anything I missed trying, please let me know.
I’ve been having the same issue half the time and reading some of the community messages it seems a common issue, so hopefully there will be a fix in some kind of update, it would be nice if Ring would acknowledge this problem and at least say if they are working on it.
Hey neighbors! Happy to help out further with this concern. @Jen106 What outdoor camera do you have? Have you been in contact with our support team on this concern? In addition, for any black video concerns, we do have Help Center Article here. Lastly, have you tried to remove the device, reset it by pressing and holding the setup button for 20 seconds, and then setting it up again? Let me know!
@Cliff7474 If you have not tried the troubleshooting step I have outlined above, could you please give me more detail on what concern you are having, including any device information that can help us isolate this further.
For both you neighbors, if you are in need of immediate support, please 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. 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. Since we are a neighbor to neighbor support forum, we are not a direct line to support, but are happy to help when we can! In the event you may reach out to support or have found a resolution to your concern, please let us know as your answer may help other neighbors!
It’s not consistent, sometimes the cam is fine and works but around 50% of times there’s a problem. It seems to be once I get a motion notification it gets stuck on the recording processing and the live view spinning saying “activating Device”
I’ve search this community and this seems a common problem. If it continues and there isn’t a fix soon I will have to mention this in my Amazon review.
Hey @Cliff7474. Thanks for getting back to me. What kind of camera do you have? Can you show me a picture of what your Live View looks like? What is the RSSI for your device? Can you take a screenshot and show me where you have the Min-Max slider at in your Motion Zone settings? In addition, let me know how the camera is mounted (if it’s parallel to the ground, and how many ft approx it’s mounted up)! Knowing this information can help me better isolate what the concern on your end may be, and how we can address it together!
Lastly, have you ever tried out the Rapid Ring app? The app is designed specifically for activating your Live View faster, and pulling it up quickly when you have events. I recommend testing it out and giving it a try to see if the Live View can pull up quicker for you when accepting notifications to view your camera through the Rapid Ring app. Let me know and hope to hear back from you soon, neighbor.
Battery Spotlight cam. Like I say it’s not consistent, just some of the time it seems to not work. it’s mounted as per the instructions 9ft and parallel to the floor, the motion sensors are slider is just over 50% just enough to ovoid the road but enough to pick people up on my property, a lot of trial and error to set this hence why I said this needs to be changed to make it more user friendly.
RSSI-55
just installed the new app seems to be not quicker just less messing around to get to the live view, have to ask why 2 apps?
but like I say the problem seems to common with lot of other people’s devices
@Cliff7474 Thank you for sharing more detail with me! I appreciate that you’ve already been trying to find the sweet spot that I mentioned in another post that you were involved in. I totally understand where you are coming from in making the motion settings and changing of them more user friendly so that their is not too much trial and error involved in finding what fits best for your home.
The reason for the two apps is because neighbors found relief in having a smaller, easier to use and quicker to get to Live View version of the Ring app to be a benefit to them, thus the Rapid Ring app. Since there are less account preferences and settings to load, it’s great to have this app in order to get the most consistent Live View abilities. For myself, when I’m activating my Live View on both apps, I find there is only a second difference really, but some neighbors have found more relief, which is why I suggest it. This is mostly for when you activate your Live View after no activity for awhile, or when answering notifications quickly.
When it comes to this Live View concern and how it affects our neighbors, we do see it on this Community forum, although the reasons on why the Live View doesn’t load quickly can range for our neighbors. The major concern for a lag that I’ve seen is for neighbors with a high RSSI value and/or very low upload speeds. The reason why low upload speeds can cause this is because most of the Ring devices, including the Spotlight Cam Battery, need 2 Mbps download and upload. Download is easy to come across from an ISP, as this is what is used when playing back videos, whether on the Ring app, Youtube, etc. Upload is normally much lower and harder to get from an ISP, as it is used in minimal for some apps to function or send/upload out information.
In the event you feel any adjustments you are making are still not allowing you to have the fully functionality of your device, we recommend reaching out to our support team. We are a bit limited in our scope of support and what we can see happening with your specific device, as we are a neighbor to neighbor support forum, so they are best to touch base with when you feel you haven’t found the answer you’re looking for. If you need this support help, please 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. 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 am having the same issue. On Saturday we had lost all feed while we were on vacation. Initially I thought it was my wifi. I restarted the router when I got home. It still won’t connect to wifi. So I try the hard reboot. Same issue. I uninstalled the device and tried to reinstall it. Same issue. I deleted the ring app and tried all the other trouble shooting methods. I can sometimes reinstall the camera but I am not able to get any video and other times I can’t even get passed the wifi set up.
I’m having the exact same issue. My live feed hasn’t updated on my app or on the computer view since 5/29/2020, and the last events it recorded was on the afternoon of 6/1 which is worrisome since I know there has been activity that the motion censor should’ve triggered the camera that evening and today.
I am having issues as well including video recordings freezing when playing back. What good is video of a crime that is frozen before the subject is close enough for ID?
I read all the posts of angry customers getting no help with getting in-app notifications when the battery was low. I got those originally, and always replaced the battery before it went dead. However, I bought a second battery to have it ready when the battery was low. Ever since, I have received NO (zero!) notifications. I just notice that there are no motion alerts for a while and charge up the replacement battery and install it. So I do have a couple of days with no doorbell or motion detection until I notice it is not working. I just spent over an hour on hold and then being told that my doorbell was offline. Duh. I told them the battery was dead and the spare battery was charging. Then they said now the app will notify me…when I just replaced the battery. Then they told me the battery was 100% charged. Duh again, I had just put in the charged battery. I tried not to be too rude, but it was as good as talking to a wall. And it went on like this with irrelevant things being said repeatedly, and I had to keep saying that yes, that is what I called about. It was such a horrible experience, I told them I may just have to buy another brand of security system and/or doorbell. I would prefer to make it work as well as when I first installed it. Can someone please help? All I want is to get a notification (NOT and email) when the battery is low.
