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Ring Doorbell Light Flashing/Blinking

Ring Doorbells are a more sophisticated and technological version of the standard doorbell, featuring WiFi connectivity and audio/visual functions. Not only does the illuminated button look good, but it also serves as a status indicator light for the doorbell. If you’re unsure about what each color, flash or spin means, this article will provide you with a simple guide to understanding your doorbell.

The white Ring Doorbell light can flash/spin during setup mode, updates, setup failure or a reset. A blue light means setup is complete, the speaker is on or the system is starting up, connecting to WiFi, charging, resetting or calling you. The small red lights indicate IR night vision is activated.

Front doorbell security camera

I will explain each of these in much more detail below, outlining exactly what the light looks like for each status indicator. You can also find a brief summary of the light indicator for the Ring Chime, the other end of your doorbell.

Ring Doorbell Light Flashing

Front doorbell security camera

There are many reasons why your Ring Doorbell needs to alert you by flashing. Sometimes it is simply to indicate that a process has completed or is currently underway. Other times, the light may be telling you that something has gone wrong or needs your attention.

There are three colored lights that you may see on the face of your Ring Doorbell; white, blue and red. Each of these colors serves a different purpose, and will flash a different way to convey a message. Below you can find a summary of all of these different flashes and what they mean.

Blue Flashing Light

The LED ring around the bell button can be either white or blue. Below are all the reasons why this light could be flashing blue.

· The doorbell is ringing

· The speaker has been enabled

· Start-up procedure

· Setup is complete

· Connecting to WiFi

· Charging

· Resetting to factory settings

White Flashing Light

If the LED ring around that same bell button is white, it may be because of one of the following reasons.

· Setup mode is active

· Updating firmware

· Wrong password during setup

· Poor network strength during setup

· Cannot find network during setup

· Resetting to factory settings

Red Flashing Light

There is only one reason you will see red light, which is when night vision has been activated. I will explain this in more detail below.

Ring Doorbell Blue Light On or Flashing

Male and female waving at front doorbell security camera

The blue light on your Ring Doorbell is the most common light to see. Most of the time, this indicates a normal function that can be ignored. Below are all the reasons your doorbell will have a blue light.

Starting Up – Blue Light Flashing Slowly

When your doorbell is starting up or rebooting, the blue light will flash repeatedly, once every second. This is normal and will stop once the start-up process is complete. Your Ring Doorbell should only take 30 seconds to complete this process.

If you notice this blue light flashing randomly, it may be that your doorbell is restarting after an automatic update. These automatic updates occur during off-peak hours (overnight).

Setup is Complete – Four Blue Lights Flashing

After the initial setup is complete, the blue light will flash. This specifically looks like four blue lights (a broken circle) that flash four times. This should be followed by a solid white light, indicating the doorbell is ready for use.

If the setup is unable to complete, you should not see the four flashing blue lights. One of the white flashing lights listed further down will indicate that something went wrong during the setup process instead. You setup can fail for the following reasons.

· Ring cannot access your provided email address at that time.

· Location services on your phone are disabled.

· Your phone is not connected to the internet.

· The wrong password was entered.

· The network is unavailable.

Connecting to WiFi – Blue Light Flashing Upwards

Your blue doorbell light will illuminate in an upward motion repeatedly when it is connecting to WiFi. This will happen during the setup process, where you will notice the light turns white and spins. The blue light will interrupt the white spinning light to indicate that your doorbell is attempting to make the connection.

Once the connection is successful, you should then notice the four flashing blue lights mentioned above to indicate setup is complete. However, if your doorbell was unable to find the network, the signal strength is too low or your WiFi password was incorrect, the light will flash white to indicate the error.

Charging – Top Half of Blue Light Flashing

The top half of the blue light will flash if a Ring Doorbell is charging. It may remain on the top half for a longer period of time before slowly filling up the entire circle. Once the circle is completely blue, you know that your doorbell is fully charged.

This is only relevant to wireless doorbells and is completely normal. However, if your doorbell seems to be stuck on charge and the blue light does not fill the entire circle, there may be an issue with the power supply. Make sure your power is supplying at least 16V to adequately charge the battery.

Factory Reset – Blue Light Flashing Rapidly

The blue light will flash rapidly, when the doorbell is undergoing a factory reset, which can take up to five minutes to complete. You will notice that the flashing blue light repeatedly interchanges with a spinning white light as the reset is underway. However, the doorbell will only reset to factory settings when you press and hold the reset button for 20 seconds.

This reset button can be found anywhere on your doorbell, depending on which Ring model you have. It may be underneath the faceplate and next to the camera, behind the doorbell or on the side. You should be able to find the correct location in your instruction manual.

Doorbell Was Pressed – Blue Light Spinning

The simplest explanation for a flashing blue light on your doorbell is that the main doorbell button was pressed. The blue light will spin around every time this button is pressed to indicate that the doorbell is ringing and alerting you.

This is a normal process and the blue light will continue to spin while the doorbell calls your chosen device (your phone or your tablet device). Unfortunately, the bell cannot be pressed again while this blue light is spinning.

Audio is in Use – Solid Blue Light

Once you answer the doorbell on your chosen device, the speaker will be enabled. As soon as the speaker is enabled the blue light will become a solid blue light instead.

This indicates to the person using the doorbell that you can hear them. This blue light will still be there, even if you choose to disable your own microphone so they can’t hear you.

Ring Doorbell White Light On or Flashing

Front doorbell security camera

The solid white light on your doorbell is the standard light when the doorbell is not in use. This helps to illuminate the button at night. However, the white light can also indicate a number of other functions or errors with your doorbell, which you can find below.

Setup Mode – White Light Spinning Slowly

The white doorbell light will be spinning slowly when you are in setup mode. Setup usually takes around 10 minutes to complete, which involves connecting the doorbell to your WiFi and phone.

If there are no connections made or you do not manually exit setup mode, the light will time out after 10 minutes. The light should then return to the normal solid white light.

As I mentioned above, the spinning setup light will temporarily change to a blue light when the doorbell is connecting to the network. This will then change back to the solid light once setup is complete.

Firmware Update – White Light Flashing Slowly

If the light is flashing on and off in one-minute intervals, the doorbell is performing a firmware update. This usually only takes a few minutes, but you should not use your doorbell during this time. If you have a poor WiFi connection, this can take five minutes or more.

In this time, the doorbell will download and install the update and then restart itself. However, all firmware updates should happen automatically and during off-peak hours. This ensures the doorbell is only updating and out-of-action when it is least likely to be used.

If the update does not happen automatically, your doorbell may have less than 30% battery remaining or there may be an issue with your WiFi connection. You can find troubleshooting tips for connecting to your WiFi below. You can check if you are running the latest firmware using the Ring app, following the steps below.

Step 1: Open the Ring app.

Step 2: Select the ‘Menu’ icon (three lines).

Step 3: Select your Ring Doorbell (or the device you are updating).

Step 4: Navigate to Device Health > Device Details > Firmware.

If your device has the latest firmware, it will list ‘Up to Date’. If you have an earlier version of the firmware, your app will state the firmware number that is currently installed. If automatic updates are working, this means that your doorbell should update that night.

If you want to update immediately, Ring Doorbells will install the latest firmware every time they are setup. Therefore, if you perform a factory reset on the doorbell and re-connect to your WiFi, your doorbell will install the latest firmware.

Setup Failed due to Password Error – Top Half of White Light Flashing

When the top half of the light circle is flashing white, this means that you have entered the wrong WiFi password during the setup stage. This is the most common cause of a failed setup and the easiest to resolve. If you have not changed your network password, you can find the default password on the back or bottom of your modem.

If you have previously changed the password, keep in mind that all passwords are case sensitive. If you have forgotten your network password, you can reset the modem and use the default password again.

Setup Failed due to Weak Signal – Right Side of White Light Flashing

When the right side of your light is flashing white, this means that the WiFi signal may be too weak to connect. One common cause for a weak network connection is that the modem or router is too far away from the doorbell. Ideally, the doorbell should be within 30 feet of the modem/router.

You may also be experiencing interference with your WiFi signal, causing it to become weaker. This interference can come from another device, such as those listed below.

· Other nearby WiFi networks, such as your neighbour’s home network.

· Bluetooth devices, such as headphones or speakers.

· Microwaves.

· Baby monitors or other radios.

· TVs (your modem should not be behind the TV).

The signal may also be partially blocked by structures within the house. Some examples of this are listed below.

· Thick timber or concrete walls

· Heated flooring

· Water, such as a hydronic heating system or an aquarium

In any case, you can try boosting your signal using a signal booster. This could be a separate device, but Ring recommends installing a Chime Pro to increase your WiFi coverage. This will double as a WiFi booster and a chime to alert your when someone is at the door.

Copyright protected content owner: ReadyToDIY.com and was initially posted on June 14, 2021.

If you are not sure what could be causing the signal issue, you can try the troubleshooting tips below.

· Unplug your modem and/or router for 30 seconds before plugging it back in.

· Disconnect the Ring Doorbell from its power source (hardwired or battery) for 30 seconds before reconnecting.

· Press the ‘Setup’ button once, and then a second time 10 seconds later.

Setup Failed due to Network Error – Left Side of White Light Flashing

When the left side of the light ring is flashing white, this means that the setup has failed because it cannot connect to the network at all. In this case, you should try the troubleshooting tips mentioned above.

You should also check whether other devices are still connected to your hoe network. If they are, it is just a connection issue between the doorbell and your modem. If they are not, there may be an issue with your service provider.

Factory Reset – White Light Spinning Rapidly

The white light will spin rapidly during a factory reset. As I mentioned previously, this is normal and will interchange with a blue flashing light. Once the restart is complete and the doorbell has rebooted, it should be ready to setup.

Ring Doorbell Red Light On or Flashing

Front doorbell security camera

The only red lights on the Ring Doorbell are the small red dots near the button or camera of the doorbell, depending which model you have. These lights are part of the infrared function of the camera to support night vision and will turn off again during the day. They are a normal part of the Ring Doorbell and can be ignored.

There are solid and flashing red lights on the Ring Chime, which is a device located within your home to alert you when the doorbell has been pressed. The Chime is considered an accessory to the Ring Doorbell, so there are no flashing red lights on the doorbell itself.

While this light is not on the face of the doorbell, it is still a part of the whole doorbell system and indicates that something is wrong. You can find out more about the lights on the Ring Chime below, but a red light generally indicates there is an issue with the WiFi connection.

Ring Doorbell Green Light On or Flashing

Front doorbell security camera

If your Ring Doorbell chime is flashing green, it often indicates that it is in setup mode. To resolve this, complete the setup process using the Ring app on your smartphone. Follow the in-app instructions to connect the chime to your Wi-Fi network and complete the setup.

Another reason for a flashing green light could be a connectivity issue. If the chime has lost its connection to your Wi-Fi network, it may flash green as a signal. Check your Wi-Fi network to ensure it’s working properly and try reconnecting the chime to your network through the Ring app.

Indicator Lights on the Ring Chime

Solid Green Light

Starting Up

Alternating Blue/Green Light

Updating Firmware

Solid Blue

Connected (LED enabled)

No Light

Connected (LED disabled)

Blue Flashing Light

Connecting to WiFi

Alternating Green/Red Light

Incorrect WiFi Password

Red Flashing Light

Network Error

Red Solid Light

No WiFi detected

Green Flashing

Setup Mode

Copyright article owner is ReadyToDiy.com for this article. This post was first published on June 14, 2021.

Therefore, a flashing green light in relation to the Ring Doorbell system usually refers to a Ring Chime that is in ‘Setup’ mode. This is done through the Ring app. The light should return to a solid blue light once everything is set up, otherwise there may be no light at all if you have chosen to disable the LED.

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ReadyToDIY is the owner of this article. This post was published on June 14, 2021.

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