How to Troubleshoot and Fix Ring Two-Way Audio Delay
The two-way talk feature on Ring doorbells and cameras is one of their most powerful functions, allowing you to communicate with visitors from anywhere. However, when there's a significant delay or lag in the audio, it can make a simple conversation impossible and diminish the feature's usefulness.
This professional guide, written in empathetic British English, will walk you through the common causes of audio delay and provide clear, actionable steps to help you resolve them.
Common Symptoms of Audio Lag
Audio delay issues can present in a few different ways, all of which make communication difficult.
- Significant Latency: There is a long pause (several seconds) between you speaking and your voice being projected from the Ring device's speaker.
- Choppy or Broken Audio: The audio cuts in and out, making it sound robotic or causing words to be missed.
- Mismatched Video and Audio: The audio you hear from the visitor is noticeably out of sync with their lip movements on the video feed.
- Delayed Start: The first few words of a sentence are often cut off, both from your end and the visitor's.
- Unresponsive "Talk" Button: The microphone icon in the app takes a long time to activate after you press it.
Your Step-by-Step Guide to a Clearer Conversation
Most audio lag issues are related to network performance. By optimising your connection, you can significantly improve the two-way talk experience.
1. Test Your Internet Upload Speed
This is the most critical factor. While most people focus on download speed for streaming movies, two-way audio depends heavily on your upload speed – how fast your network can send your voice data from your phone to the Ring servers.
- How to Test: From your smartphone connected to the same Wi-Fi network you use at home, use a web browser to search for "internet speed test" and run the test.
- What You Need: For optimal performance, Ring recommends a minimum upload speed of 1-2 Mbps per device. If your upload speed is lower than this, especially if other people or devices are using the internet at the same time, you will likely experience delays.
- The Solution: If your upload speed is low, you may need to contact your internet service provider (ISP) to inquire about upgrading your plan.
2. Check the Wi-Fi Signal at Your Ring Device
The connection quality between your router and the Ring device itself is just as important. A weak signal will cause data to be lost, resulting in poor audio.
- Check in the App: Open the Ring app, go to the specific device, and tap on "Device Health."
- Look for Signal Strength (RSSI): You will see a "Signal Strength" reading, often measured in RSSI. A good signal is typically in the range of -40 to -60 RSSI. If the number is closer to -70 or higher (e.g., -75), the signal is weak and likely causing your issue.
- The Solution: If the signal is weak, try moving your Wi-Fi router closer to your Ring device. If that's not possible, consider installing a Wi-Fi extender, such as a Ring Chime Pro, to boost the signal to that location.
3. Reduce Network Congestion
Your home network has a limited amount of bandwidth. If other devices are using up all the upload capacity, your Ring device will struggle.
- Identify Bandwidth Hogs: Activities like online gaming, live streaming (e.g., on Twitch), or uploading large files to cloud services can consume a lot of upload bandwidth.
- The Solution: Try to pause these activities and then test the two-way audio again. If the quality improves, you know that network congestion is a contributing factor. Some routers have Quality of Service (QoS) settings that allow you to prioritise traffic to specific devices, which can help in the long term.
4. Use the Rapid Ring App
For the fastest possible connection to your device's Live View and two-way talk, use the Rapid Ring app. It's a separate, lighter version of the main app designed by Ring specifically for this purpose. It strips out other features to focus on speed, which can make a noticeable difference in reducing initial lag.
By systematically addressing your network's performance, you can eliminate the frustrating delays and enjoy clear, real-time conversations through your Ring device.