Ring Contact Sensor Not Connecting

Ring Contact Sensors allow you to know any time a door or window is opened on your property and connect to a Ring Alarm system to trigger an alarm whenever there’s a breach while armed. However, these fantastic features may not work if your sensors are not connecting. 

If a Ring sensor will not connect, the best solution is to remove the device from the Ring Base Station via the Ring app and reconnect it. Some users also find that a simple restart or reset will allow the device to connect again.

In this article, we’ll cover troubleshooting steps you can try to get your Ring contact sensors connected and working again, as well as reasons why they may not be able to connect in the first place.

Why Isn’t My Ring Contact Sensor Connecting?

The Ring sensor will need to connect to your Wi-Fi through the Base Station; if you are experiencing connectivity issues, you might not have a strong connection.

Try any of these troubleshooting steps:

• Move the Base Station closer to the sensor.
• Add a range or Wi-Fi extender between the Base Station and sensor.
• Make sure your Wi-Fi router is on and working.

How to Reconnect Ring Contact Sensor

If the above troubleshooting steps don’t work, try any of the following tips to reset or restart your sensor:

Remove the Contact Sensor from the Base Station

Disconnect the Ring Contact Sensor from the Base Station, then try reconnecting. Follow these steps to disconnect:

1. In the Ring app, tap the three horizontal lines in the top left-hand corner.
2. Go to Devices.
3. Tap Alarm Base Station.
4. Select the Ring Contact Sensor you would like to remove.
5. Tap Device Settings.
6. Select Remove at the bottom of the screen and confirm your choice.

The app should notify you that the sensor has been removed. To fix the connectivity issues, you can reconnect it to the app and then see if it starts working.

Reset the Contact Sensor

You can try resetting the contact sensor with the following steps:

1. Remove the cover from the device.
2. Take the battery out of the device.
3. Wait 15-30 seconds.
4. Reinsert the battery.

The device is ready to connect if you see a quick LED flash. If you see three blinks, the sensor cannot connect. If you don’t see a flash at all, you might have a bad battery, and you will need a new one.

If you have the original Ring Contact Sensor, here is our video for replacing the battery:

Factory Reset the Contact Sensor

A factory reset is usually the last resort option because it will disconnect and revert the sensor to its original settings. You will have to reconnect it to the Ring app again and to the Ring Alarm system. To avoid the inconvenience, try the steps above first.

However, if those steps don’t work, follow these steps for the factory reset:

1. Remove the cover from the device.
2. Take the battery out of the device.
3. Press the tamper button and hold it down.
4. Insert the battery while holding the tamper button.
5. When the LED light starts flashing, you can let go.
6. Put the cover back on the device.

Reset the Ring Base Station

If the connection still doesn’t work after removing the Ring sensor from the Base Station and doing a soft reset, you might need to remove the Base Station from your account and then re-add it.

Follow these steps:

1. Open the Ring app.
2. Open the Menu.
3. Tap Devices.
4. Select Base Station.
5. Tap the gear icon in the upper right corner.
6. Select Advanced Options.
7. Tap Unregister Base Station.
8. Select Unregister.

For steps on adding in a new base station or re-adding the old one, you can check this Ring guide.

If deleting it doesn’t work, you will need to factory reset the Base Station. However, know that this will remove the entire system from your network. You will have to reconnect every sensor and the Ring Alarm, which can get very complicated. Only use this reset option if you want to reset the entire network.

Unfortunately, the Ring Base Station cannot be factory reset without a Ring Customer Support member since the process is long. You can live chat with a Ring support member or call them at 1-800-656-1918 if you live in the United States.

In Summary

Connectivity issues with the Ring sensors can be annoying and frustrating. To resolve the issue, reconnect it to the Base Station, restart it from the device, or perform a reset. You can also do a factory reset on the Base Station and reconnect all your Ring Alarm devices. Usually, one of these solutions will work.