If you're having trouble seeing a Live View or a recorded video, that means there's a problem in the data transfer between your Ring device and the Ring app. As a result, your Ring app is unable to show you a Live View or display a video recording from your Ring Video Doorbell or Security Camera. You might see a message that says Activating Device, but the camera eventually times out.
As well as trying all the troubleshooting steps in this article, you can try rebooting your device from the Ring app.
Make sure your Ring app and your mobile device's operating system are up to date.
Confirm Live View is turned on
To check if Live View is turned on, please follow these steps
- Open your Ring app
- Tap on menu icon in the top left corner of the screen
- Tap Devices
- Tap on your device
- Tap Device Settings
- Tap Video Settings
- Toggle Live View on (blue)
- Tap the caret (<) three times to take you back to the main dashboard
- Tap on menu icon in the top left corner of the screen
- Tap Settings
- Tap Modes
- Make sure Live View is toggled on for all relevant modes
Move your router from behind furniture or out of a cupboard
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| Move router from behind sofa |
Move router out of cupboard |
Common causes of video not connecting to your Ring device
The most common causes of not being able to do a Live View or see a recorded video are:
- A poor connection between your mobile device and the internet
- Slow internet upload and download speeds
- A poor connection between your Ring device and your router
Poor connection between your mobile device and the internet
The first thing you should check if you can't connect to do a Live View or view a video, is the connection between your mobile device and the internet. Are you getting a strong signal on your phone? If not, connect to a wifi network via your device Settings on your mobile device to strengthen your signal.
Assuming that your mobile device is getting a good signal from the internet, you may want to check out your internet speed.
Slow internet upload and download speeds
Internet speed in this context is the measure of how fast your wireless network uploads and downloads data. If either or both of those functions are too slow, your Ring app won't be able to display the video image from your Ring device's camera. That's why it's important to test your internet speed in the area around your Ring device.
To test your internet speed, do the following:
- Bring your mobile device to the area where your Ring device is installed
- Open a web browser on your mobile device and go to this speed test website
- Click on the Start button in the centre of the gauge to start the test
- After the test is done, look at the small table under the gauge
- The green number in the first column is the download speed. The blue number in the second column is the upload speed.
As a general rule, most Ring devices function best when upload and download speeds are around 2mbps or greater. If your speeds are much slower than that, you might try moving your router closer to your Ring device or (if necessary) calling your internet service provider to discuss getting faster internet speeds.
Poor connection between your router and your Ring device
If your internet speeds are good, you may still have an issue with the strength of the signal between your router and the Ring device. Signal strength is just as important as speed when it comes to transmitting a video image from your Ring device to your Ring app.
To check the strength of your wifi signal, do the following:
- Open your Ring app
- Tap on menu icon in the top left corner of the screen
- Tap Devices
- Tap on the Ring device you would like to test
- Tap Device Health
- In Device Health, look at your Signal Strength under the Network section
If your signal is poor or very poor, this can be caused by the distance between the router and your Ring device, the layout of your home, or interference caused by other devices (TVs, game systems, etc.) or materials in your home such as stucco, brick, metal, large mirrors or glass doors.
Troubleshooting for poor wifi signal strength.
