Choppy video and audio

So it sounds like a common issue and is not to do with power consumption or WIFI signal strength (RSSI value).

Should like this is a defect that needs to be addressed by the development team, how can we raise this directly with Ring Support? and do they even acknowledge this is an issue?

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This problem and the, White noise when in night vision mode, seem to be a big issues with the doorbells with no acceptance from ring, after all these holiday sales, the complaints should rise significantly, if I would have known of these problems, I never would have bought them

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I’ve had the same problem for 2 yrs now. The original Ring worked fine but very slow to connect. They were gone before it connected. So I decided to get there Pro, still has a lag time but the once it does connect and you try to talk the audio and video get choppy and is useless. Support gives me a bunch of BS, they replace it once. Now it’s just a very expensive door bell.

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Wiring the Ring to power does not help. I have the same problems with my unit, and it is wired in. Seems like the video is nice and smooth during live video, but when capturing motion it gets choppy or even freezes for a second or 2 during recordings…

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I’ve had the same problem for several yrs. The Ring Team was useless. Recently I tried using Smart Things app on my Galaxy S10. Works much better than the Ring App.

Same problem here. Bought a range extender AND a Chime Pro. Chime Pro signal is 40 and both doorbell and spotlight cam both under 50. Both hard wired. Problem persists and is not any better after extender and chime. I think I can no longer recommend Ring products. This seems a major issue and has never been resolved.

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The solution is: Nest. I have both Ring and Nest. Nest is smooth but more complicated now that Google owns them. Ring app is simple and easy to use. But the choppy video and audio kill it. I have found no solution other than switching to another brand such as Nest.

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I’m disappointed as the system is relatively easy to use but the choppy video and sound is not acceptable. My outdoor Blink XT had better audio and video. All you get is the same run around every time you call support. Maybe moving up to a Nest. I’m tired of supports same generic solutions which have not solved the problems. Thanks

I had the same issues with all of my Ring cameras. Choppy audio and video when reviewing motion and live video.

Upon doing more investigation, I discovered that my internet “upload” speeds were around 1Mbps! (Pretty slow!)

Most internet service providers have “asynchronous” connections. This means that the internet connection as a whole is shared with all of its subscribers.

To help with speed and efficiency, more attention is focused on download speeds rather than the upload!

You may have a download speed of 50Mbps but only have 2Mbps on the upload which will greatly impact your real world results.

Upload is VERY important for ring Video to be stable! Ring states that 2Mbps and greater is recommend for optimal results.

Keep in mind that even if you have a 2Mbps or higher upload speed, WiFi can significantly impact your real world upload speed!

If you have an android device, I would recommend downloading an app called WiFi Analyzer by FarProc. This well tell you what channel your WiFi is operating on and if there are any overlapping nearby wireless networks.

I hope this will be of some help to someone. ??‍♂️

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Thanks for the info. My upload and download speed are both over 150 yet I still have the same problem. Even added a range extender and Chime Pro. The Chime Pro RSSI is 37. My Ring doorbell is attached to the chime and has an RSSI of 62 and my Spotlight Cam wired has an RSSI of 46. That should more than adequate to give smooth video and audio but the problem persists, especially with the Spotlight. Very frustrating. Tried listening on PC and i phone and all audio is still choppy.

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Ring 2 is sold at Costco and is NOT support by Smart Things app, only 1, 3, and Pro. Of course, I have the 2. ?

First up, I have 12 of the Ring Doorbells (The second generation, with removable battery, 1080p Resolution). So I am very familiar with setup, troubleshooting and device limitations.

Choppy video and audio is a well documented ‘Known Issue’ and all generations of Ring devices experience this. Yes, the common sense advice of making sure you have a strong signal, decent bandwidth and perhaps restarting your router, are all good suggestions.

But I have ruled out signal strength and router-reboot as the issue. AND all my Ring devices are hardwired to power. My internet is 958mbps (upload) and 997mbps (download) … blazing fast. But issue persists.

There is a few seconds latency between a motion-event or doorbell-press and your mobile device receiving a push notification. This has always been the case. It has never improved. Peoples comments and frustration about this are all valid and still accurate at time of me writing this (September 14th 2020).

The only reason I have continued to use Ring is that (for my purposes) I can live with the latency. But it’s 100% unacceptable for this to still be an issue, especially since Amazon acquired Ring, and all the technical and financial resources they bring to the table.

These devices do not do well, what they are supposed to do. And with so many new generations of devices now available it’s an unacceptable reality. It’s either a fundamental hardware issue or Server latency on host side. Because the issue is not on my side, my connection speed (1gig up/down) is mind-blowingly-fast.

One recent development I’ve noticed in last few months is video/audio latency (choppy) on playback. After the event has fully uploaded to Ring server. An event will playback 3 seconds, pause 2 seconds, playback 3 seconds, pause 2 seconds. This is a new issue (for me) and extremely frustrating. There is no reason why a video that has successfully uploaded to Ring servers, cannot be played back smoothly if one has adequate bandwidth (which I do, and then some). Even though it would still be unacceptable, I’d be willing to live with the ‘first’ playback of a recorded/uploaded event being choppy, but subsequent playbacks being smooth, if cache were brought into play. But it doesn’t matter how often you replay the event, it will still/always be choppy. This renders the device (in my case all 12) essentially useless. If this isn’t resolved I will be doing a chargeback on my American Express Card for +/- $2400 which is the amount I spent purchasing this equipment. Some direct from Ring. Some from Lowe’s. Some from Amazon.

So the short answer to your (and so many other people’s issue) is that there is no solution. This latency is a known-issue that is not on Rings radar for resolution, based on what they have communicated to their client base on the topic, which is … nothing.

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My upload AND download is 950+ mbps. AT&T Fiber Service (Mind-Blowingly-Fast!) I have 12 devices (Generation 2, with removable battery, 1080p). My devices are all in-range AND are hardwired to power. This chop & latency is a years-long known issue. Ring keeps pushing new hardware to the market, it has made ZERO impact on resolving this most fundamental functionality. Even Amazon acquiring Ring has made no impact on this prevailing issue. Actually, it’s not even an issue, it should be printed on the box as a ‘feature’.

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You hit it on the head!!!. I do like the ease of use of the software but these problems are driving me away. I am in process of buying new home out of state and will NOT be using Ring. Even if I have to pay more I want a reliable picture/audio playback. May actually replace my Doorbell II, Spotlight Cam and Stick Up indoor cam when I buy the cameras for the new house. You are correct with Ring ignoring these problems. They give the same generic troubleshooting tips. Wake up Ring, they do not work! Issue is at your end.

Video connection concerns are often related to WiFi, mobile device, or Ring app communication variables. The best first step is to check out your RSSI in the device health section of the Ring app, to ensure for optimal wifi signal.

On your mobile device, try testing video on wifi only, and then on data only, to see if either connection is more efficient. Please also ensure VPN is disabled.

If this concern persists, 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.

This issue has been going on for years now with no resolve in sight. Amazon has no interest in fixing these issues. I have a brand new ring camera 12 inches from modem and router with a RSSI signal of 36, does the same thing, Intermitent A/V lag and latency.

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Yep I thought I was getting the best doorbell so got the doorbell pro wired version along with the chime pro extender, and what a load of crap, never ever getting another ring product again, I should have stayed with next, I wouldn’t mind but I’m getting charged a monthly subscription for a crap service they don’t give a monkey about their customers

Logic would suggest, once the doorbell is hardwired (Ring Pro & Elite), that all Client-Side issues would be removed from the equation (ie) power and internet connectivity/latency. If your broadband is capabale to support Ring requirements, which Ring states is only 2Mbps down (mine is 998Mbps up/down) , there is absolutely no excuse for the equipment not behaving properly when hardwired.

Power cannot be an issue (because it’s hardwired PoE) and WiFi interference cannot be an issue (because it’s hardwired PoE). As long as the integrity of the CAT5/6 cable is not compromised (intact, undamaged, not an ecessivly long run, not picking up interference from flourescent lights, etc), and theres nothing configured on your router that would throttle data flow, the only cause of these issues is exclusively rooted on Rings side of the infrastructure.

Specifically, two potential culprits:

(1) The Ring Hardware itself, along with its firmware configuration.

(2) The Server response time on Rings host side.

But with AWS, Amazon Web Service hosting, and Amazon literally owning Ring, theres surely no conceivable way it could be a Server processing bottleneck. I mean, it could be, but seriously AWS is a global leader in their server/hosting offerings, and processing (what in 2020) is a small data package is not in any way challenging for the scope of AWS’s capabilities.

So, of the two potential culprits, at the end of the day, with all other factors ruled out, the only logical cause of all this latency is the Ring hardware itself. Period. The end.

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Exactly

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@Kaiszen, I’m so happy to see you have detailed what you have done.

I too have been throwing money at this situation. I have upgraded my internet from 100 Mbps to 940 Mbps download. I know upload is most important, and that moved my upload to 10 Mbps to 20 Mbps, to finally 35 Mbps. So I thought that moving it to 35 would solve the problem… NOPE, same exact problem.

I have upgraded my wifi by completely changing my wifi infrastructure, and now I’m using WIFI6 with mesh extenders - still no luck. I have many of my cameras wired for power, and some are very close to the router, yet still no luck.

Seeing your setup, and you having the same problems, I think I may just give up on RING and switch to Ubiquiti or something. I just can’t stand the fact that I continue to have choppy video that never seems to stop. I can’t rely on this for security.