Spotlight Cam Battery "This Footage Unavailable" same length of time as Snapshot Capture

Hello, There are random parts of the day where my Ring Spotlight indicates “This Footage is Unavailable” and then comes goes back to operating normally. My concern is that when the camera says “This Footage is Unavaialbe,” does that mean the camera is not monitoring and would not detect motion if it were present?

<Background>

I am using a Ring Spotlight Battery outdoors, with one battery at 95%. Wifi signal is RSSI-65 and greater. Firmware verified up to date. Mounted under an eave (not exposed to rain). I have the subscription for multiple cameras. This issue has occurred since day 1 (10/25/2020) that the camera was installed. I have reset the Spotlight camera 3 times, and re-installed the app twice since 10/25. We also have a Ring Doorbell 2 Battery, with no anomalies and a Ring Floodlight Hardwired with no anomalies.

<What we’ve tried so far>

Initially, the camera would randomly indicate “This footage is not available,” throughout the day and night. Each instance was 14 minutes long, or a multiple of 14 minutes long (28, 42, etc). This seemed correlated to the “Snapshot Capture” length, so I changed it to 1 hour shapshot captures. Sure eough, the next time “This Footage is not Available” showed up on the app, the duration was 1 hour. This repeated several (3-5) times. I switched it back to 14 minute snapshot captures, and the footage unavailable went back to increments of 14 minutes. So far, it seems like some kind of firmware conflict with the Snapshot Capture feature.

Does Ring, or any other member of the community experience this issue. If you have, did obtaining a solar panel or plug-in kit alleviate the issue?

**********************************************************************

I really want to know if: During the “This Footage is Unavailable” period, will the Spotlight Cam still detect and record any motion? Or, is the Spotlight camera “Blind” until the next 14 minute period?

**********************************************************************

Both photos attached are from today, with a Snapshot capture length of 14 mins. On one, you see two 14 minute “Footage Unavailable” segments, and the other shows one 42 minute “Footage Unavailable” segment.

Thanks in advance for your help, lookin forward to resolving this issue!

Hi @CBus. Thanks for sharing those screenshots and those details on which device you have and what you’re experiencing. The RSSI number is how your Ring’s internet connection is measured, and a higher RSSI indicates a weaker connection. This can cause the Snapshot Capture feature to not work properly due to the weaker signal, which may be why you’re seeing the “Footage Unavailable” error. I’d suggest reviewing this Help Center Article here, as it will have tips on how to improve the RSSI on your Ring. Once the RSSI is improved, this should resolve the concern with the Snapshot Captures.

If that doesn’t do the trick, I would suggest following up with our support team directly so they can take a closer look at this for you. 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. :slight_smile:

I have this exact same issue. My rssi values are consistently between -45 and -50. The camera has its own dedicated wireless access point outdoors both under an eave, I get 75+Mbps is speed test standing directly under the ring camera. Facing the same direction as it does.

This started randomly, initially I would only get a black screen with audio and then live view would fail, recordings would just be black.

Now it starts is crappy quality for a few seconds then goes HD. It’s almost like the wireless card in the camera had its power save setting changed so it doesn’t maintain a healthy connection when it sleeps.

Not sure, just a guess that a recent update was the culprit for both our devices.