If you think about what Ring doorbells can do, it is pretty amazing. This device’s ability to detect motion is particularly incredible. It allows you to know that someone is in front of your door even though they didn’t press the button.
All of the different Ring Models have advanced motion detection. Paired with Ring Doorbell 3’s Privacy Zones, this motion detection feature becomes even more incredible. The Privacy Zone is a unique feature available to Ring Doorbell 3.
With this, you can define a location as “off-limits” where the motion detection doesn’t work. Ring Doorbell 3 Plus also has this feature. But besides the Privacy Zone, it has “Pre-Roll Video.” It’s another feature that works in conjunction with motion detection.
Through this feature, the video can record and alert you of someone approaching. The doorbell triggers the camera to record when it detects motion even from a few feet away. These are all great, but the problem is the Ring Doorbell doesn’t detect motion sometimes.
What to do with a Ring Doorbell not detecting motion? Here’s the fix!
Check out the rest of the article to learn the tricks to fix your faulty video doorbell.
Ring Doorbell Not Detecting Motion? Here’s the Fix You Can Try at Home!
Before we talk about ‘fix,’ it is crucial that you understand how motion detection works with Ring Doorbell. As you know, a video doorbell from Ring can send alerts when someone presses the button, thereby ringing it.
It also sends notifications when it detects motion. However, that function is not perfect. Sometimes, it doesn’t work. Other times, it works too much that the slightest movement sends more than a couple of alerts to your phone.
Ring doorbells can detect motion for a maximum distance of 30 feet. All users will receive a push notification once the device senses motion. It will inform you of the activity, allowing any user to view live footage of the event by opening the app.
Heat Detection
You need to know about heat detection as it is how Ring Video Doorbells senses motion. Infrared or heat triggers the motion sensors of the doorbell, so that’s how it detects movement. By detecting temperature, it also recognizes that a person is in front of your door.
You can adjust the sensitivity of the device from the Ring app. You can adjust how big of a heat signature the doorbell picks up. Changing this setting helps you not only to detect motion more accurately but also avoid getting too many fake alerts.
You can adjust the heat detection by:
- Opening Ring app
- Got to ‘Motion Settings’
- Tap ‘Zones and Range’ tab
- From there, adjust the sensors’ sensitivity
- Choose which areas to monitor
As mentioned, you can resolve many issues with this, including your device not detecting motion. Besides those, you can have fix issues related to motion alerts like:
- Too many motion notifications
- Sensors not detecting cars
- Sensors not detecting people
- Not picking up any motion at all
- Delayed Motion Alerts
- Receiving false alerts
If your Ring Doorbell isn’t detecting movement at all, there are a few things you can do. Most of them have to do with the motion setting. That’s why you need to understand how motion detection works for the device.
Here are the things you can do to ensure your device detects movement:
- Motion Setting – For home and office use, make sure you set the motion setting to the “standard” level. The Ring company recommends this level as it has the ideal setting for detecting motion.
- Motion Sensitivity – For this setting, adjust according to your need. Check all the options available. Try them one by one to see if they work as you prefer, then apply the settings permanently. Here’s a video of how to adjust Motion Sensitivity.
- Wi-Fi Signal – For the motion sensors to work efficiently, you also need efficient Internet. Make sure that your Ring doorbell is using a Wi-Fi with a strong connection, so it works smoothly. Consider putting the Wi-Fi near the doorbell to keep the connection stable.
Other Motion Detection Issues and How to Fix Them
Below are other issues regarding motion detection that you may also experience. Try to fix them with the tips and tricks that are also mentioned. Here goes:
Not Getting Any Motion Detected at All
This is a prevalent problem that often happens to new users. Most of the time, the reason why you are not getting detection at all is that the motion alerts are off. So, it is not actually because the device is not working.
It is only that the app doesn’t receive an alert. So, you can solve this by switching on the Motion Alerts. Open your app, look for the correct settings, and adjust it to the blue “on” option in the Ring application.
Motion Detection is Triggered Too Much
If you are receiving too many alerts of motion events, the problem is likely related to the Ring app’s smart alert setting. Open your app and go to ‘Motion Settings.’ From there, you will see the ‘Smart Alert’ section.
You will see three options there – Light, Standard, and Frequent. These options are what controls the frequency of the motion alerts. Do you remember the earlier advice on the motion setting? The recommended is the “Standard” level, but you can adjust it to how you desire.
- Light
Choose this setting if the device captures too much motion under the Standard or Frequent setting. By choosing Light, you not only lessen your motion alerts but preserve the charge of your battery. It’s all thanks to the fact that the notifications’ frequency is reduced.
- Standard
The default setting, choose Standard if you want average performance for the motion detection.
- Frequent
If your Ring doorbell is hardwired and wants it to detect motion more, then the Frequent setting is the right choice. You will receive many motion alerts in this setting, which will take a considerable amount of charge. Thus, it’s perfect for Ring Doorbell Pro.
Does Not Capture People in Motion
First, check Motion Alerts. Make sure that you turn it on in the app. If it’s switched on but still doesn’t capture people in motion, extend the sensitivity. Go to ‘Zones and Range’ and adjust it so that the device responds to a smaller heat signature.
Questions on Ring Motion Detection
Do you have some questions about the motion detection feature of Ring Doorbell? Below are some of them with answers and solutions.
How do you disable Motion completely but temporarily?
You can temporarily turn Motion off by setting up a schedule on the Motion Schedule option. If you want, though, you can disable Motion Detection altogether. You can do that by following these simple steps:
- Open Ring app and pick your Ring device
- Tap ‘Motion Settings’
- Tap ‘Motion Zones’
- Move the slider to ‘Min’
- Turn off all zones
After disabling all zones, it is unlikely that your device still detects motion. However, it might still happen if the device can see the area well or is mounted high. In that case, you should angle it down using a Wedge Kit to keep it from picking up any motion.
What do you do when you’re not receiving alerts even when the Motion Zones are active?
In the case of not receiving motion alerts, you can follow these steps:
- Confirm that the camera picks up motion
- Check Event History (this is to make sure motions did happen; if there’s no record, there wasn’t any motion detected)
- Set the Motion Frequency to ‘Frequent’
- Verify that you set all Motion Zones correctly
- Make sure you haven’t enabled Motion Schedule during the event (if you can see a clock icon on the dashboard, Motion Schedule is active)
If you still don’t receive alerts after this, the problem is likely on your mobile phone. Check its settings to make sure.
What to do when you keep getting false notification?
If you keep receiving false alerts, go to the Motion Zones first. Check to see if anything there can trigger motion. For instance, does it cover a sidewalk or a busy street? If it does, then it helps to lower the zone and not to include that area.
You should also check the Motion Frequency. If something always triggers the doorbell, you can lower the frequency to Standard or Light. You likely get frequent alerts because the device detects motion too much.
Does facing a window affect Ring Doorbell’s motion detection?
Yes. The reason is windows usually block heat sources. As explained before, Ring uses heat detection to pick up motion. With the window blocking heat, the Ring doorbell will have it hard to know if there is motion in front of the device.
Conclusion
Having carefully read this article, hopefully, you have the answers you need. Whether the Ring doorbell not detecting motion or detecting too much, the solution usually lies in the motion setting. With that, make sure to check there first before fiddling with the device.
What to do with a Ring Doorbell not detecting motion? Here’s the fix – adjust the settings. That’s often all you need to do.
References:
- Motion Detection in Ring Battery Devices, Support.ring.com
- RING DOORBELL NOT DETECTING MOTION FIX, Doorbelltroubleshooting.com, October 10, 2019
