Can Ring Cameras and Other Ring Devices Be on Different Networks?

Ring has become a leader in the home security industry with their easy-to-use array of devices. From cameras to doorbells, and more, Ring can protect every aspect of your property. That’s great, but what do you do when your Wi-Fi network isn’t powerful enough to cover your whole property and the various locations of your Ring devices?

Can Ring Cameras, Doorbells, and other Ring devices be on different networks on one account?

Ring devices, such as the Ring Camera and Ring Video Doorbell, can be connected to different Wi-Fi networks while still being associated to one account and one location in your Ring app.

Related Content: Best Smart Video Doorbells

There are two main reasons I normally see for why people want to use their Ring cameras, or whatever other Ring devices they have, on two different networks. Either their local Wi-Fi network doesn’t have enough coverage or the Ring device is in a different “location”, as Ring calls it.

I say “location” in quotes because Ring means your address when they say location. Ring does not mean the location of the camera or doorbell around or within your home.

Also, if you are having network coverage issues in your house, let me suggest looking into a mesh router. This is a series of devices, with a central router and network extenders to expand coverage to your whole house. Netgear and Linksys have good options and are leaders in this space.

Now that we have that cleared up, let’s dive into having your Ring devices on separate networks.

Setting Up Ring Cameras on Different Networks

There are two scenarios that we’ll cover here. The first is when you have a brand-new Ring Camera that you are setting up for the first time, and you want to use a different Wi-Fi network than you have used previously.

The second scenario is when you have already setup your Ring Camera and want to change the Wi-Fi network that it is connected to.

These steps are specific to Ring Cameras. Other devices, such as the Ring Video Doorbell, will require location information.

How to Choose the Wi-Fi Network During Setup of Your Ring Camera?

Open the Ring app
Select the location of this device, if needed.

Select “Add a Ring Product”
Scroll down to below current devices and
Select the type of device
Scan the QR code on your Camera

Select a name for your Camera
Plug in your Camera
Depending on the camera, you may see a blue light start flashing, and the camera will tell you to “Follow instructions in the app to continue.”
Select “Continue”

Key Step: Select “No” when asked if you would like to use the same Wi-Fi network previously used
Select the Wi-Fi network you want to connect to

You will need to enter the Wi-Fi credentials if they are not already stored on your phone

The Ring Camera will finish setup and tell you congratulations once it has finished setting up the camera. You may have to endure a screen as Ring delivers its sales pitch for the Ring Protect plan. You can skip through all these screens, until you are able to get back to your home screen. You should now see your Ring Camera listed under the Cameras section on the Home page of the app.

How Do I Connect My Ring to Another Network?

If you have already setup your Ring Camera on one network and want to switch it to another network, follow these steps.

Open the Ring app

Open the Main Menu
The Main Menu can be opened by selecting the three bats in the top left corner of the app.
Select “Devices”
Select the Camera you want to change

Select “Device Health”
Select “Change Wifi Network”
“Select “Confirm”
The app will instruct you that you should be near the device, and to have the password ready for the network you plan to connect to.

Select the Wi-Fi network you want to connect to
This process is just like when you initially setup the Wi-Fi network. You will need to enter the Wi-Fi credentials if they are not already stored on your phone

You may even be asked again if you want to connect to the same Wi-Fi network previously used. Be sure to select “No”, and then it will show you a list of available networks.

If you are interested in what this looks like for a Ring Video Doorbell, here is a helpful video I found. Not the best video quality of the app, but enough to help you out.

Can You Have Ring Cameras or Video Doorbells at Different Locations?

Now that we covered changing Wi-Fi networks, it’s time to take a look at having Ring Cameras or Video Doorbells in multiple locations.

Ring devices, such as the Ring Camera and Ring Video Doorbell, can be installed at different locations and linked to one account. As a general rule, a separate Ring Protect plan is required for each location.

Now there are some caveats to that rule, mostly around Ring Cameras. If you install a Ring Camera, you can say it’s in one location but actually be using it in another location. This is nice if you just want one location in your app.

I see this used a lot for when a grown kid wants to make sure their elderly parents are safe. They’ll install a camera in their house, and add it to their Ring account. The downside of this is when you get notifications, the location will not be accurate.

If you have Ring Protect, the location must be accurate. So, if you have two devices at two different addresses, you will need to have two locations in the Ring app, and you will have to pay for two Ring Protect plans.

How do I add a second location to my ring?

Okay, you have the basic rules of location down. How do you go about adding a second location, or more, in the Ring app?

Locations are typically added when setting up a new Ring device.

Adding a location in the Ring app when adding a device

Open the Ring app

Open the Main Menu
The Main Menu can be opened by selecting the three bats in the top left corner of the app.
Select “Settings”

Adding a location in the Ring app through Setting Menu

Open the Ring app

Select the location of this device, if needed.
Select “Add a Ring Product”
Scroll down to below current devices and
Select the type of device

Scan the QR code on your Camera
Key Step: Select “Create a new location”

This is the step that a lot of people will miss because Ring assumes that most uses only have one location, and want to make it easy for them to just re-use that same address. In our case, we don’t want to do that.
Enter your address and click “Save”

Continue to follow the normal setup instructions.

In Summary

In this article we have learned that you can have multiple Ring cameras and other Ring devices on different networks, whether it be in one location or multiple locations. The Ring app makes the process easy while setting up the Ring Camera, if you know what to look for. It’s easy to miss if you aren’t looking for that one specific step to either change the network or change the location.