Choppy video and audio

Hi All,

A little help please, I have a new Ring VIdeos Doorbell 2 and have been trying my best to improve my wifi signal that the device connects to. I have created a separate SSID and the doorbells signal strength is RSSI-50 (Green) however video still appears to be choppy and freezes at time. It is running off its internal battery.

Any way that I can improve this so the video quality improves?

Thanks in advance all :slight_smile:

Hi there, @GeoStorm. Have you attempted to move your doorbell close to your router, trigger a ding event, and see if the video is still choppy? If it is choppy even next to your router, you may need to reboot your router to refresh the connection. If it works perfectly near the router, you may need to look into getting a Chime Pro or other options to help your overall connectivity!

Hi @Chelsea_Ring,

I have been able to test this out and achieve a better wifi signal of RSSI-48, I think the problem is that when the ring doorbell detects motion it takes some time to ā€œspin upā€ therefore missing some of the motion and then freezing for a period of time (secs) until it is up and running, which I see and experience in my recording as choppy video quality.

When viewing the video ā€œLiveā€ fee the video stream is smooth and is watchable.

Kind Regards

I agree, when it detects motion and eventually starts to record, itā€™s always choppy and freezes and frame rate it terrible, live is smoother. These things are becoming pointless for security, now I see why they had all these holiday sales, these things are way over priced for this quality. That rssi number appears to be pointless, low 40ā€™s high 60ā€™s quality is the same.

1 Like

I have tried so many things to try to resolve the video from the motion being choppy, none of them worked, even moving the doorbell next to the router and having an excellent RSSI rating.

The own thing I have not tried is to hardwire the power into the ring video doorbell 2, does anybody know if this will help resolve the situation those thinking if there is a permanent power supply to the doorbell then it does not need to go to sleep to preserve battery and therefore will not need to ā€œspin upā€ when motion is detected as it ā€œshouldā€ always be on?

1 Like

Both of my ring 2 doorbells are hard wired, it makes no difference

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?

3 Likes

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

1 Like

Iā€™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 itā€™s just a very expensive door bell.

1 Like

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 recordingsā€¦

1 Like

Iā€™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.

1 Like

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.

1 Like

Iā€™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. Iā€™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 ā€œuploadā€ speeds were around 1Mbps! (Pretty slow!)

Most internet service providers have ā€œasynchronousā€ 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. ??ā€ā™‚ļø

1 Like

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.

1 Like

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 ā€˜Known Issueā€™ 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) ā€¦ 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 itā€™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 itā€™s an unacceptable reality. Itā€™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 Iā€™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, Iā€™d be willing to live with the ā€˜firstā€™ playback of a recorded/uploaded event being choppy, but subsequent playbacks being smooth, if cache were brought into play. But it doesnā€™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 isnā€™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 Loweā€™s. Some from Amazon.

So the short answer to your (and so many other peopleā€™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 ā€¦ nothing.

4 Likes

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, itā€™s not even an issue, it should be printed on the box as a ā€˜featureā€™.

1 Like

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.