Ring FAQ

Ring Alarm is a bare-bones home security system that delivers protection at an affordable price. If you want to add extras like cameras or security lighting, the up-front equipment price gets steeper—but the $20 a month Ring Protect Pro monitoring fee is hard to beat.

In the UK? Check out our Ring UK review.

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It depends on the Ring product.

• Ring video doorbells still work as normal doorbells if you hardwire them to your existing doorbell or have a Ring Chime accessory. You can’t watch video, get notifications, or talk to visitors without Wi-Fi.
• Ring Alarm security systems function normally as long as you have a Ring Protect Plus subscription, which comes with a cellular backup in case your Wi-Fi goes down.
• Ring Smart Lights still activate when they detect motion, but you can’t control them or get push notifications without a Wi-Fi connection.
• Ring security cameras do not work without Wi-Fi.

Yes. Amazon acquired Ring in 2018 for $1 billion. Amazon has also purchased other smart device companies like Blink and Eero.

Shaquille O’Neal isn’t just a famous basketball player—he was also an early investor in Ring. He often appears in commercials for Ring products.

Ring products have a one-year warranty. Active subscribers to Ring Protect Plus get a lifetime warranty on Ring devices.

No, you can still use the following Ring features without a subscription:

• Live video feeds
• Camera motion detection notifications
• Two-way talk between Ring cameras and the Ring mobile app

If you subscribe, you’ll get more features:

• Access the Home and Away Modes feature
• Ability to store, save, and share video recordings (Basic and Plus)
• Photo snapshots throughout the day (Basic and Plus)
• Professional monitoring for Ring Alarm (Plus)
• Extended warranties on your Ring devices (Plus)
• 10% discount on some products in Ring’s online store (Plus)

Ring Protect Basic costs $3.99 a month or $39.99 a year for one device. Ring Protect Pro costs $20 a month or $200 a year but covers every Ring device in your house and offers professional monitoring. If you have cameras in multiple residences, you will need an additional Ring Protect subscription for each location.

No, you can cancel your subscription anytime without fees.

Ring stores videos for 60 days before deleting them to make room for new recordings. Plan to download any videos you want to save before then.

Ring’s battery-powered doorbells and cameras don’t record videos over 30 seconds long, but hardwired Ring cameras can record up to 60 seconds of video.

Ring user accounts support an unlimited number of Ring cameras with or without a subscription.

No, Ring cameras can't save footage directly to the device. Ring cameras send video directly to the cloud storage server. If you're interested in local storage, see how Blink cameras compare to Ring's.

According to Ring, you need upload speeds of at least 2 Mbps per device. So if you have four devices, you need an upload speed of 8 Mbps—and that's on top of requirements for any other devices connected to your home network.

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We've moved our FAQ on Ring's doorbells and cameras to a separate page. Learn more in our article on how Ring doorbell works.

Technically yes, though unlikely. Read our article "Can Ring Cameras Be Hacked" for more info about end-to-end encryption and other security precautions.

The security system sends an alert to your phone whenever it detects activity. Arming the system determines which types of alerts you get. If you have a Ring Protect Plus plan with professional monitoring, the monitoring center calls the police after checking for false alarms.

No, you can self-monitor your Ring Alarm system without paying for a monthly subscription. With self-monitoring, it’s up to you to call the police during an emergency.

Yes, Ring Protect Plus’ professional monitoring center contacts the police if there’s an alarm.

Any time the alarm goes off, Ring’s monitoring center calls you (and your emergency contacts) with an automated message to verify the alarm. You’ll need to provide a verbal password to cancel the alarm.

Ring recommends saving the monitoring station’s phone number (+1-833-209-2159) in your contact list under “Ring Alarm” so you can respond more quickly (have your emergency contacts do the same).

If no one cancels the false alarm, the monitoring station contacts the police. Most police departments charge a fine if you have a certain number of false alarms in a calendar year.

Ring operates its own monitoring center.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel and learn how to protect your home, loved ones and, belongings.

Home mode allows you to arm the alarm system while you’re at home. To prevent false alarms, motion sensors inside your house won’t trigger an alarm if you move around. But the alarm still goes off if someone opens a door or window. This mode is useful at night when the whole family’s asleep at home.

You own the equipment.

Yes. Because you own the equipment, you don’t have to ask permission to move it to a different house. You will need to change the address on your account if you have professional monitoring. This tells the monitoring center where to send help during an alarm.

Yes, Ring customer support can help you transfer devices to a different Ring account. There’s no contract for service plans like Ring Protect, so the new user can sign up for service whenever they’re ready.

Ring Alarm supports the following sensors:

• Contact sensors trigger an alarm when a burglar opens a door or window to enter your home.
• Motion detectors trigger an alarm when there’s movement in your home while you’re away.
• Flood and freeze sensors help you prevent water damage in your home.
• Panic buttons trigger an immediate alarm when you push them.
• Smoke and carbon monoxide listeners detect sounds of your smoke and CO sensors going off. These indirectly detect hazards in tandem with your existing detectors.
• Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms directly detect hazards in your home. This is a third-party sensor that doesn’t work with professional monitoring.

Ring Alarm can detect smoke and carbon monoxide, as long as you have the correct sensors. Ring Alarm doesn’t detect gas leaks.

Yes, there’s a siren in the base station and keypad. You can also buy additional keypads and standalone sirens for other parts of your home.

Yes, Ring Alarm’s base station has a battery backup that lasts for 24 hours if the power goes out. If you have a Ring Protect subscription, the base station contacts the monitoring center using AT&T’s cellular network in case you lose your internet connection during the same power outage.

No landline needed. Ring Alarm uses broadband internet and cellular connections to communicate with the monitoring center.

It depends on where you live. Many cities require an alarm permit (including a small annual fee), but you’ll need to contact your local police department to see if you need a permit.

Probably. Most older children and teens shouldn’t have problems putting in a pin code to disarm the system when they get home from school. It’s up to you to decide if your child is mature enough to use the control panel.

Ring sells yard signs and stickers separately from its security systems. All of Ring’s doorbells and security cameras come with a sticker.

Yes, you can get an insurance discount by downloading an alarm certificate from your Ring account settings as long as you have professional monitoring. You can send or print a copy for your insurance agent.

No, Ring Smart Lighting products do not have cameras. Some Ring security cameras have spotlights and floodlights, but these aren’t part of the Ring Smart Lighting product line.

Ring Smart Lighting products communicate directly with the Ring Bridge to function. It’s a bridge device that connects to your Wi-Fi network, allowing you to control the lights with the Ring mobile app.

The batteries in a Ring smart light last about a year before you need to change them.

Ring smart lights use LEDs that you can’t replace when they burn out, but they should last for many years before you have to replace the unit (Ring doesn’t give an exact timeline).

You can do the following tasks in the Ring app:

• View video recordings
• Use two-way audio to speak to people near cameras
• Adjust device settings
• Set up users
• Sign up for a subscription

Yes, you can share your Ring smart home with multiple users. Each additional user needs a separate Ring account with a unique email address.

Neighbors is a social network on an app where Ring users share videos, get alerts, and report crimes to the police.

No, you can use the Neighbors app without buying Ring products, but you still need a Ring account.

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Ring has been alleged of controversial practices surrounding its partnerships with US law enforcement agencies on many occasions, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation's calls to Ring to end police partnerships with over 1,300 agencies.

While it's made recent strides toward improvement, in the interest of awareness, we've highlighted a few concerns so you can make your own judgements about choosing and using Ring equipment.

In July 2021, Ring released its end-to-end encryption feature on wired cameras, including doorbell cameras. When users use this feature, Ring and Amazon cannot access those video feeds (much less provide footage to police). Watch our video to learn how to set up Ring's end-to-end encryption.

Previously, on June 3, 2021, Ring announced that police and fire departments that would like to use Ring footage must make a public request in the Neighbors app. This step is intended to help increase transparency around how Ring footage is used.

This came after Amazon's June 10, 2020 announcement that it was putting a one-year moratorium on police use of its facial recognition platform: Rekognition.

• During 2020 protests surrounding police actions, CNET reported that many people were using the Ring Neighbors app to track police activity. On the flip side, the Neighbors app raises privacy concerns because citizen-shared information can funnel to law enforcement (including protest videos that police might use to identify protesters).
• Many police departments partner with Ring to see posts on Neighbors and can request resident footage. Law enforcement officials cannot see a video without approval from the resident whose camera recorded it. Users can choose to not to share videos and can deny video requests. This hasn't stopped Amazon from giving tips to police about how to obtain this footage by encouraging people to download the Neighbors app.
• In 2018, Ring considered a feature that activated cameras automatically in the vicinity of a 911 call but ultimately scrapped the idea.

According to documents obtained by Motherboard in August 2019, Ring requires cities to subsidize and advertise Ring products as part of rebate and giveaway programs for Ring products. At the time of publishing, Motherboard reported at least 14 American cities with these programs but estimated there were likely more using public funds for the same purpose.

Yes, but you have to install the equipment yourself. Ring offers optional installation services through Amazon Home Services and OnTech Smart Services.

Most battery-powered Ring doorbells and cameras take about five to ten minutes to install with a screwdriver. You usually need to drill a few small holes for mounting. A hardwired installation takes around 15 to 20 minutes.

Depending on the number of sensors you have, it takes around 30 to 60 minutes to install a Ring Alarm security system.

Yes, but you should check with your property manager first to explain what you’re doing and see if it’s OK.

Check out our Ring equipment and compatibility guide to learn more. 

Yes, Ring Alarm has a built-in Z-Wave radio, but third-party devices do not work with Ring’s professional monitoring service.

Ring Alarm should work with most Z-Wave devices. Still, it’s a good idea to check the company’s lists of compatible devices and locks compatible with Ring Alarm before you purchase additional Z-Wave equipment for your system.

Yes, you can control Ring devices using Amazon Alexa’s voice commands. You can answer Ring doorbell notifications on any Amazon Echo, and you can view video feeds on any Echo Show device. Check out our video on how to connect Ring to Alexa.

Not currently. Ring appears to have dropped Google Assistant* support as of late 2019. There was no official announcement, so it’s possible support will come back. But don’t hold your breath because Amazon and Google historically don’t play well together.

You can use Ring with If This Then That (IFTTT), a task automation platform that lets you control devices from a variety of smart home platforms and software services.

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