Bug Report: When the Alarm Base Station goes into battery backup it also automatically switches to cellular backup, even if the internet is still available. For example, if a circuit breaker flips for the outlet the Alarm Base Station is connected to, but not the modem/router, the Base Station still decides to use cellular backup during battery backup, even if internet is still available via the modem/router.
The issue: I would think the hub would want to use the most energy efficient source during battery backup to get an outside connection, particularly if it’s connected to the internet by Ethernet. This would also remove the need for the Base Station to offer limited functionality in the app during battery backup so long as the local internet is still available.
Workarounds: None known. Seems to be a feature of the system.
Recommend to confirm if this functioning per design, and if not, include in a future update to correct this issue.
Thank you for sharing your experience @AdamW! The intended operation of the Alarm’s battery backup is to operate as efficiently as possible while preserving power in an attempt to help you obtain as much of the 24 hours of battery backup as possible.
This means that when battery backup is initiated your Base Station will remain connected to wifi if your home network is still available, for up to 15 minutes. It will then automatically switch to cellular backup connection and reserve it’s functionality to only monitoring sensors, emergency signals, and arming/ disarming features. This is, of course, to preserve battery life. I hope this helps!
@Marley_Ring thanks for your reply! I can see how moving to cellular in that case could preserve the battery if wifi is the default connection method, however surely Ethernet would be more energy efficient than cellular if the internet is still available through that method? Just a thought. Thank you!
Thanks for posting! I was thinking same as you!
The ring was accidentally unplugged and I didn’t realize it. When I went to activate I was alerted it was connected to cellular…
@Marley_Ring could you please enhance message to make it more obvious the ring is using cellular because it is unplugged? I didn’t notice any alerts informing me it switched to battery, did I miss them?
In addition to Cellular back up, there should also be a battery backup message. Both should give you an indicator when they are running via notification, email, and/ or Alarm history in the Ring app. This can differ, but you can confirm your Alarm Alerts in the Ring app, from Menu > Settings > Alarm Alerts. There you can see what alerts are toggled for both email and push. I hope this helps, and thank you for the feedback!
