Can the Ring Doorbell Connect to 5GHz Networks?

Ring Video Doorbell is a cheaper and better solution than installing a front door surveillance system and an intercom. The best thing about Video Doorbell devices is that they’re, primarily, well, doorbells. Much more functional and offering an advanced level of features, the Ring Video Doorbell is a fantastic investment in home safety.

But without a Wi-Fi connection, this doorbell device is pretty much useless. Making sure that there’s a strong, uninterrupted connection at your home is crucial for Ring Video Doorbell devices. But do they work with 5GHz Wi-Fi?

Can It Connect to 5GHz Networks?

The answer is a bit complicated but yes, some Ring Doorbell devices do have 5GHz connectivity. But, this band often creates more headaches than the standard 2.4GHz frequency. If you are using a 5GHz connection, you may need to set up a separate SSID for your doorbell, or even upgrade to a newer model.

Every single router in existence offers 2.4GHz connectivity. Therefore, the vast majority of wireless devices work with this frequency and can perform fairly well using it. Ring Video Doorbell isn’t an exception here.

Every single Ring product is fully connectable to 2.4GHz wireless networks and tends to work just fine with it. After all, this is how Ring Video Doorbells have been made to function – no one can really expect you to have a 5GHz network at home.

How Does It Work?

Ring Video Doorbell isn’t like your regular intercom/doorbell/surveillance device. Although it does offer two-way audio so that you can communicate with your visitor(s) and a 180-degree camera, it doesn’t connect to your home’s installations, rather to your smartphone. Every time someone presses the doorbell button on the Ring device, you get a notification on your phone (or on your Ring Chime device, if you happen to own one).

From your phone, you can access the live feed from the Ring device’s camera and see exactly what’s going on outside your front door, plus be able to communicate with the person in question. No, you don’t need to be at home in order to do this; if there’s an internet connection (wherever you might be), you can access the Ring device’s camera. Well, as long as the Ring Video Doorbell is connected to your Wi-Fi network. How come, you may wonder?

Well, by and in itself, Ring Video Doorbell doesn’t have an interface and certainly doesn’t feature its own Wi-Fi router. In order to give you the live feed from the camera, an internet server is accessed that is, in turn, also accessed by you, through your phone’s app. This means that your Ring device absolutely needs to be connected to your Wi-Fi in order to work.

Moreover, given the fact that you’re receiving live footage of solid quality, you might want to make sure that your connection is strong, fast, and uncluttered.

Video Doorbell and Video Doorbell 2

Video Doorbell and Video Doorbell 2, work only with 2.4GHz networks. These are the initial and the most commonly purchased (respectively) editions of the device type and tend to function very well, even with mediocre Wi-Fi connections. Bear in mind that Ring recommends a broadband upload speed that isn’t slower than 1Mbps, and ideally 2Mbps or faster.

Bear in mind that it’s the upload speed that counts here, as your Video Doorbell device needs to upload the live footage to a server, for you to access it using the app.

Video Doorbell Pro and Video Doorbell Elite

These two Video Doorbell models work with 2.4GHz networks, as well. This isn’t only an industry-standard but a no-brainer when it comes to the customers. However, in addition to other more advanced features, Video Doorbell Pro and Elite offer 5GHz connectivity. If your Wi-Fi router supports 5GHz connectivity, in addition to 2.4, it’s generally recommended that you connect your flagship Video Doorbell device to this connection.

Whether 5GHz connections are faster is fairly irrelevant here. If anything, the 5GHz frequency band offers a smaller range than its 2.4GHz counterpart. What matters is that the 5GHz networks are significantly less crowded, in general, owing to the fact that most devices use the 2.4. When connecting to a Wi-Fi network using the Ring app, you’ll see two of your networks, typically with “(2.4GHz)” and “(5GHz)” written next to them. Connect to the latter.

Does It Really Matter?

Well, in what you’d call a ‘typical home’, no, most likely you won’t really have to worry about which connection type to go with. However, if the members of your family are online a lot, it would help if you’d connect to the 5GHz network. Therefore, if there’s such an option in your home and you own a Ring Video Doorbell Pro or Elite, go with the 5GHz connection, for the sake of allowing more wiggle room than the 2.4GHz alternative.

Network Troubleshooting

Like all things technology, you’ll likely run into a problem at one point or another. Fortunately, the Ring Doorbell is incredibly simple to use and therefore it’s likely the problem falls into only two categories: the power supply, or the network.

The latter is more prevalent than the former so reconnecting or changing your wifi is proper protocol to get reconnected. We do have an entire article on the subject here. The process for each model does vary but essentially, here’s what you can do to try other networks and bands if the one you’re using is giving you problems:

Open the Ring App on your mobile device and navigate to ‘Devices.’ Click on the device that’s giving you trouble or click on each one as you move through the process if you have multiple Ring devices.

Tap on ‘Device Health,’ and tap ‘Reconnect to Wifi,’ or ‘Change Wifi Network.’ Follow the prompts to setup a fresh connection to the internet. As mentioned above, it’s probably best to go with the 2.4GHz band, but you can try the 5GHz too.

If you are using the 5GHz band, it’s a good idea to connect your Ring device to a unique SSID. The process is similar as what we’ve just discussed above, but instead of connecting to a standard Wifi, tap on ‘Add Hidden Network.’ This will appear in light grey during the Wifi setup process. Now you can connect to your SSID.

Do you own a Pro or Elite edition of Video Doorbell? Do you use the 5GHz connection? Feel free to discuss your own experiences with the two connection types.