Troubleshooting Device Setup Errors From Your Wifi Router
Having trouble setting up your Ring device(s) in the Ring app? Identify and fix connectivity issues right from your wifi router’s settings. If your router is more than four or five years old, it may have exceeded its intended lifespan and may need to be replaced before you can troubleshoot your Ring device.
Before you begin adjusting your router, verify that the following items are not causing the setup to fail:
Make sure you are connected to the Internet. Confirm the network you are connecting your Ring device to has a working internet connection.
To verify your connection, do the following:
- Turn off cellular data on the mobile device you are using to setup your Ring device.
- Unplug the modem and router for approximately 10 seconds.
- Plug your modem back in and confirm it is online.
- Plug in your router and wait until it is re-connected to the internet.
- Connect your mobile device to the wifi network you're going to use to connect your Ring device.
- For our 2.4 GHz only devices ((i.e. Ring Video Doorbell, Ring Video Doorbell (2nd Gen, Ring Video Doorbell 2, Floodlight Cam (1st Gen), Floodlight Cam Wired Plus, Spotlight Cam, Stick Up Cam (2nd Gen), Battery)) make sure you are testing the 2.4 GHz band.
- Change the name of your wireless networks (SSID) so that you can easily tell the difference between a 2.4 GHz network and 5 GHz network.
Check your wifi password. An easy way to resolve connectivity issues is to make sure your Ring device(s) are using the correct wifi password.
To check that you are using the correct password, do the following:
- Have your wifi password available.
- Go to your mobile device's wifi settings.
- Android: Tap the wifi network you're currently connected to.
- iOS: Tap the lowercase “i” to the right of the network.
- Tap on “Forget” or "Forget this Network" to disconnect from the wifi network.
- This will cause your mobile device to forget your wifi network so that a new connection can be established. Reconnecting will require your wifi password. If you are uncertain about your wifi password, you can reach out to your Internet Service Provider (ISP) or router manufacturer for assistance.
- Return to the wifi settings page and re-connect to your preferred network.
- You will be asked to re-enter your password in order to reconnect to the network. Make special note of your exact password including uppercase and lowercase letters and any special characters.
- If your wifi password did not work, check your router’s documentation for instructions on locating it. For further assistance, contact the router manufacturer or your internet service provider to reset your wifi password.
- Once you've reconnected to the network, go through the device setup process one more time.
- Take special care to enter your passwordexactlythe way you did when connecting to the network.
If you've entered your wifi password correctly, but the Ring device is indicating a problem with your wifi password, continue troubleshooting from the router.
Adjust router settings to resolve setup failures
Once you have verified that all steps in the Ring app have been completed and neither your internet connection nor your wifi password are the cause of your connectivity issue, troubleshoot by going through the following solutions one at a time, step by step.
- Change the encryption type to WPA2.
- Recommended: WPA2. Ring devices are also compatible with WPA and WEP.
- Not recommended: WEP is the oldest and least secure of these options.
- Not compatible: WPA3 is not currently compatible with Ring devices
- Check the SSID (name) of your network.
- If it has special characters or blank spaces before or after the name, rename the network to something simpler.
- Once the device is online, a firmware update will start.
- Once updated successfully, return your network back to its previous settings.
- Set the Ring device back up to see if it will connect.
- Enable and connect to a guest network.
- A guest network is a separate access point for your network that is isolated from your other devices. By creating one, you can make a firewall-free network for your Ring device. Create a guest network with a simple, alphanumeric SSID name and password and connect your Ring device(s) to it.
- Wifi 6 (802.11 ax): If you have a wifi6 router in 802.11 af/ax mode and can't complete your setup, change your router or guest network to 802.11 b/g/n and complete your set up.
Adjust your router channel
Wireless networks utilize different channels for communication. The 2.4 GHz band uses channels 1-11 within the United States and 1-13 in some other countries. The 5 GHz band utilizes select channels between 36 and 165. Multiple wireless devices using the same channels at the same time can cause wireless interference. In some cases, setting up your Ring device(s) can fail when there are too many devices on one network.
If you are receiving a message that the network cannot be found or is too far away when connecting devices to the 2.4 GHz frequency, it could be due to this interference. We recommend switching your router’s channel to 1, 6, or 11 to avoid overlapping other channels.
If your Ring device does not find any wifi networks, try starting the setup from the beginning or from another mobile device. If the Ring device finds networks, but not your own network you might need to make the Ring device scan for new networks.
- For battery-powered devices, such as the Ring Video Doorbell or Ring Video Doorbell 2, in order to scan for an updated network list, you will need to exit and re-enter setup mode using the setup button on the device.
- For powered devices like the Ring Video Doorbell Pro, Ring Video Doorbell Elite, Floodlight Cam, Spotlight Cam (wired/mount), and Stick Up Cam Wired, you will need to hold the setup button for 10 seconds to reboot the device. This will cause it to generate a fresh scan of the available networks for your next setup attempt.
A wifi analyzer application can be used on Android devices, or sometimes within your router, to evaluate which channels have the most congestion. We recommend doing this when you are experiencing setup problems, poor audio and/or video quality, or delays with notifications.
Open up your Ring device’s ability to communicate
- Create a DHCP reservation.A DHCP reservation is a permanent IP address assignment that is reserved for the use of one device.
- Locate the Mac ID listed on the back of your Ring device or on the box.
- Create a DHCP reservation to ensure that every time your Ring device connects to your router, it will be given the same address.
- Note: there are many different terms for this option; please check your router’s manual to be sure.
- Set a static IP.You can also set a static IP during the setup process in the Ring app.
- Note: Ensure the address you provide is outside the range of your DHCP server in order to prevent an IP conflict.
Once a DHCP Reservation or Static IP is in place, try the following:
- Move your ring device to the DMZ (demilitarized zone).Using the IP address you reserved, place your Ring device in the demilitarized zone (sometimes referred to as IP passthrough) of your router. This will allow the Ring device’s traffic to pass through any security settings that may be preventing connection.
- Note: This can only be done for one connected device at a time.
Try lowering the firewall level
- Firewalls set to high and sometimes even medium can limit the communication of Ring devices through your router. We recommend lowering the firewall one level at a time until you find the setting that works best for your device.
- Note: We do not recommend disabling your firewall. If disabling the firewall is the only way the device functions properly, we recommend reaching out to your internet service provider or router's manufacturer for further assistance.