Why is my Ring doorbell not ringing?

I’ve had a Ring smart doorbell for a couple of years now and it’s one of the best tech investments I’ve ever made. Working from home in a converted garage office, I can’t hear a regular doorbell. With Ring, I can see when the couriers are at the door and fend off the Jehova’s Witnesses without even getting up. Perfect.

Well, not quite perfect. The Ring doorbell does occasionally stop ringing. After a couple of years of ownership, I’ve come to learn most of its foibles. So here’s what to look for if your Ring doorbell suddenly stops ringing.

Wi-Fi dropout

The number one reason why you stop hearing the Ring doorbell is Wi-Fi dropout. This product was designed for the American market, where paper-thin wooden walls are common. British brick houses are much more likely to block Wi-Fi.

There are two solutions to this problem. Put a Wi-Fi extender between your router and the Ring doorbell, especially if the router is some distance away from the doorbell. Something as simple as this £15 TP-Link model should do the job just fine.

Better still, go for the Ring Chime Pro. Not only do you get a Wi-Fi extender but a wireless chime, so that people in the house who don’t have smartphones can hear the bell.

Flat battery

Ring is normally pretty good when its battery – which can last for months if you turn off motion detection – is running low. You should get smartphone notifications and an email warning you to top it up. However, I have seen the battery die horribly once or twice without warning.

This can be down to a bug. Once, the light around the doorbell remained lit, which drained the battery in no time. A hard reset was required to fix that issue. Another time, the battery warnings failed to trigger.

It’s best to avoid letting the battery completely run dry. Not only do you have no doorbell when it dies, but you may have to go through the tiresome setup procedure again.

Smartphone notifications silenced

If you rely on your smartphone to hear the doorbell and don’t have a chime, your smartphone’s battery-saving features can get in the way. Phones are sometimes too clever, putting background apps to sleep to spare battery life. This can stop you receiving Ring alerts.

To cure this problem, go to your phone’s Settings menu, look for the Device Maintenance/Battery options and make sure Ring is added to the list of apps that phone isn’t allowed to put to sleep.

The Chimes need a reboot

Occasionally, Ring Chimes can just lose their connection. If you go into the Ring app, you can click on your various Ring devices and check on Device Health. This should reveal if the device is connected. The light on the Chime itself will also flash blue if it’s dropped the connection. Flicking the power off and on again is normally enough to restore the connection.

While you’re in the Ring app check the tone settings. Once, for reasons unknown, my Chime Pro had set itself to a very low volume. Just check it’s up to full blast.

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