Why Your Ring Spotlight Keeps Coming On

ring spotlight camera installed outside home at night.ring spotlight camera installed outside home at night.

When you buy through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

You just bought a new Ring Spotlight camera for your home. It was easy to install, the camera looks pretty good, but you seem to have issues with the spotlight feature—specifically, it keeps turning on when there’s no motion to activate it. Why is it doing this, and how can you prevent it from becoming a regular problem?

The most common reason your Ring Spotlight is constantly on is that the sensors on your device have a very wide field range. This can be an easy fix, but other factors might be making your device stay on.

Home security glitches can be annoying, but there are some very simple and fast fixes to get your devices back to normal. In this article, we’ll tell you about the most common reasons your Ring Spotlight stays on and what you can do to fix it.

Your Ring’s Sensory Field is Too Wide

Like other security devices, your Ring Spotlight can be very comprehensive but maybe a little too comprehensive.

The Ring Spotlight has a passive infrared (PIR) sensor that helps the cameras detect any movement through heat signatures. Sometimes, these sensors will pick up small animals or other creatures that have a significant enough heat signature to be picked up.

How to Fix the Sensory Issue

To fix this PIR issue, you’ll need to look at the settings in your Ring app. Ring has a how-to guide on their website, but we can break it down for you here:

  1. Tap the three lines at the top left of the app.
  2. Tap Devices and then select which spotlight camera that you want to adjust.
  3. Tap Device Schedule.
  4. Tap Light Schedule; here is where you can customize your ring’s lighting schedule.

There are a couple of lighting options that you can choose from for your particular setup to make life a lot easier. These setups can also determine what you need to look out for if you ever have any issues in the future:

  • Manual Controls: This setting will override any other settings that your Ring app had in place. This will also give you full control over when your lights come on and off.
  • Motion Control: This setting will allow you to customize the range and distance in which your PIR sensors pick up any movement.

You can also schedule lighting for your device. This can help by having the motion-sensored devices on for set periods rather than having them on all day. 

You can also check the auto shut-off timer on your ring app to ensure that the settings are correct so that the light doesn’t stay on for an unnecessary amount of time.

Your Device is Not Connected to Your Wi-Fi

Your Ring app’s connection to your device is through the received signal strength indicator (RSSI) and your Wi-Fi connection. How well your device connects to your app depends on how strong the signal is between the transmitter and receiver.

Since your Ring device is wireless, it’s important that you have a seamless and strong connection between your system and the ring app.

With a connection issue in play, your device might be on a standstill or not responding whatsoever. There are many reasons that this can happen:

  • Other devices on the same connection
  • Blockage from a physical source
  • Disruption from another

There are also some “symptoms” you can look for to see if your Wi-Fi is the problem:

  • Your device disconnects and has trouble reconnecting
  • Video and/or audio quality may be poor
  • Notifications can be delayed

Since these devices rely on a stable Wi-Fi connection, it’s important to ensure that your devices are securely connected.

How to Fix Your Ring Spotlight Wi-Fi Issue

There are some simple troubleshooting fixes that you can put in place to fix any connectivity issues you’re having. Here are some fixes:

  • Move your router to another part of the home where there are fewer blockages and where you can get it closer to your devices.
  • Unconnect any devices on the server you are not using to free up space for your Ring devices.
  • If your router is on a heavily trafficked channel, you can switch channels to ensure that your router is on the least crowded one.

It’s important to remember that these fixes can work or not based on how new your router is and how reliable your Wi-Fi is.

Final Thoughts

Now, if the fixes mentioned above solve the problem with your Ring Spotlight, but you’re worried that it could be a persistent issue, you can always reach out to Ring support. There could also be system updates that need to take place or certain batch malfunctions that you will need to contact Ring support to fix.

Keep Reading