How to Fix Delayed Notifications From Your Ring Device
A motion alert from your Ring doorbell or camera is only useful if it arrives in time for you to react. If you're getting notifications seconds—or even minutes—after an event has happened, it can defeat the purpose of having a smart security device. The person at your door may have already left by the time you open the live feed.
Delayed notifications are a common issue, but they can usually be fixed. The problem is almost always rooted in a slow or inefficient data transfer process. This guide will help you identify the bottlenecks in your setup and take action to speed up your Ring alerts.
Understanding the Notification Journey
To understand the delay, it helps to know what happens when motion is detected:
- Your Ring device detects motion.
- It wakes up from a low-power state.
- It connects to your Wi-Fi network.
- It begins recording and uploading the video to Ring's cloud servers.
- Ring's servers process the video and send a push notification to your smartphone.
- Your phone receives the notification.
A delay at any stage of this process will result in a late alert.
Troubleshooting Steps for Faster Ring Alerts
Let's work through the most likely causes, starting with the most common: your Wi-Fi connection.
1. Check Your Ring Device's Wi-Fi Signal (RSSI)
The connection between your Ring device and your router is the most frequent point of failure.
- Open your Ring app and go to the main dashboard.
- Select the device that is giving you slow alerts.
- Tap on the Device Health tile.
- Look under the Network section for Signal Strength (RSSI).
- Analyse the RSSI value:
- -60 to 0: This is a good signal. Your Wi-Fi is likely not the primary cause of the delay.
- -61 or higher (e.g., -70, -80): This is a weak signal. The device is struggling to upload data quickly, which is almost certainly causing the notification delay.
To fix a poor RSSI, you need to improve the signal. Consider moving your router closer to the device or installing a Ring Chime Pro, which acts as a Wi-Fi extender for your Ring devices.
2. Check Your Phone's Settings and Connection
The problem might be with your smartphone, not the Ring device.
- Test Your Phone's Connection: Run a speed test on your phone. If your download speed is very low, it will take longer to receive the notification data.
- Disable Battery Optimisation for the Ring App: This is a major cause of delays, especially on Android phones. Go to your phone's
Settings > Apps > Ring > Battery. Make sure the app is set to 'Unrestricted' or 'Not optimised'. This prevents your phone from putting the app to sleep to save power, which can delay incoming alerts. - Check 'Do Not Disturb' Mode: Ensure that the Ring app has been given permission to override 'Do Not Disturb' or other focus modes if you use them.
3. Reboot Your Network and Devices
A simple restart can often clear up communication glitches.
- Reboot Your Router: Unplug your Wi-Fi router for 60 seconds, then plug it back in.
- Restart Your Ring Device: If it's a battery-powered device, remove the battery for 10-15 seconds and then re-insert it. For wired devices, you can try briefly turning off the circuit breaker it's connected to.
4. Choose the Right Motion Settings
Very high motion sensitivity can, in some cases, contribute to delays as the device processes more events. In your device's Motion Settings, ensure the sensitivity is set to an appropriate level and that you're using Smart Alerts (with a Ring Protect plan) to filter for only 'Person' detections. This can reduce the overall load on the device, potentially speeding up the processing of genuine alerts.
By improving your Wi-Fi signal and optimising your phone's settings, you can significantly reduce the latency of your Ring notifications, making your system far more responsive and effective.