Why Is My Ring Alarm Flashing White?

The Ring Alarm is Ring’s do-it-yourself at-home security system. It connects your Ring doorbell camera to sensors and a keypad for home security, but what if the Ring Alarm is flashing white?

The flashing white Internet LED on your Ring Alarm indicates it is downloading and about to install a software update. There are a lot of different light patterns and colors that indicate different issues your Ring Alarm is having.

The great thing about the lights on the Ring Alarm is the amount of information just a few LEDs can convey without the need for a screen or notification.

Why is My Ring Alarm Flashing White?

The LEDs on your Ring Alarm blink in different patterns and colors to indicate problems or status updates to inform you of what the Ring Alarm is up to under the hood.

If you see the Internet LED on your Ring Alarm blinking white, it downloads and installs the newest software update for your equipment. It is important to pay attention to these lights and patterns to know what your equipment is doing.

Depending on your model of Ring Alarm, you may have different lights in different locations, but many of the lights and patterns are standard across the brand. 

Light Patterns on the Ring Alarm

The light patterns listed below are for the Ring Alarm Base Station and the Ring Alarm Pro Base Station. These are the two most popular models of Ring Alarm. 

If you have a different model, you can access this Ring Support Site Article, which will give you more in-depth information about the light patterns on your Ring Alarm.

Ring Alarm Base Station

There are three main LEDs on the Ring Alarm Base Station. There is the large Ring LED on the top of the unit and the smaller Power (a lightning bolt) and Network (a WiFi array) on the back.

Large Ring LED Light Patterns

Solid Blue Ring	Device is working properly
Blue Flashing Circle	Device is in pairing mode
4 Corner LEDs flashing Blue five times	Pairing Error
Glowing Blue with Spinning Yellow	Base Station is updating
Solid Orange Circle w/ Blue dot Spinning	Software Update is in progress after factory reset
Flashing Red	System is Alarming

Light Patterns for Pairing

These are the patterns shown on the Large Ring LED when the unit is in pairing mode:

Spinning Blue	Ready to Pair
Solid Blue	Pairing Succesful
Flashing Blue	Pairing Failed

Power and Network Light Patterns

If everything is working properly, the Power and Internet lights should be a solid green at all times.

Network Light Patterns

Solid Green	Internet connection via WiFi
Solid Amber	Internet connected via LTE
Blinking Red	No active internet connection
LED is off	The Base Station is in low power mode

Power Light Patterns

Solid Green	AC power is connected
Solid Amber	AC power off – using backup battery
LED is off	The Base Station is in low power mode

Ring Alarm Pro Base Station

There are four main lights on your Ring Alarm Pro Base Station. The Power (a lightning bolt) and the Network (a WiFi array) are located on the back of the device.

There is also a small LED on the top of the device to indicate if you are connected to an eero network or not. These will only apply if you are using eero home WiFi.

The main large LED Ring on the top of the unit is the last LED, and most of the patterns will be on the main one.

Large Ring LED Light Patterns

Solid Blue Ring	Bluetooth pairedDevice is working properly
Blue LED spinning clockwise	Started Bluetooth pairing
4 Corner LEDs flashing Blue five times	Bluetooth Pairing Error
Solid Blue LED w/ Green dot spinning	Downloading a software update
Purple dot spinning clockwise	Base Station is shutting down
Solid Blue Light	Ring Alarm Pro is disarmed
Solid Red Light	System is armed
Solid red sections turning on in turn	Exit Delay in progress
Solid Red Circle	Exit Delay finished and system Armed
Red Circle Blinks On and Off	Entry Delay notification
LED Ring is dimmed	System is in low power mode
Flashing Red Ring	System is Alarming

Power and Network Light Patterns

If everything is working the Power and Internet lights should be a solid green at all times.

Network Light Patterns

Flashing White	Downloading and Installing software update
Solid White	Internet is connected
Solid Red	No active internet connection
LED is off	The Base Station is in low power mode

Power Light Patterns

Solid Orange	First powered onRunning on internal batteries
Solid Green	Update finished AC power is connectedDevice running on Ring Power Packs
LED is off	The Base Station is in low power mode

Conclusion

The many different LED patterns and colors on the different models in the Ring Alarm system provide different kinds of information. It is good practice to pay attention to these if they change.