Ring Video Doorbell 2 and Wi-fi issue

[Keith66]

I decided to buy a Ring Video  Doorbell 2
The installation and set up should have been straightforward but that was not my experience
My BT hub router is 2 rooms away from the Hallway where my front door is situated
I have a wifi extender in the room next to the Hallway but the Ring 2 does not pick up a strong enough signal from the extender
I spoke to the Ring helpline - apparently the wifi source needs to be very close to the Ring Doorbell
There is no plug socket in the Hallway so I cannot plug the extender into a Hallway socket
Can anyone recommend how I can improve the strength of my BT Wi-fi 

[Keith_Beddoe]

@Keith66 

You cannot increase the strength of the wireless from the home hub.

All other solutions would require a power point somewhere near the hallway.

I am surprised that it cannot connect to an extender in the next room, but it will depend on what type of extender you have.

Wireless repeaters are not going to be any good, but the BT Home hotspot 600 should be fine.

https://shop.bt.com/products/bt-mini-wi-fi-home-hotspot-600-kit-084288-BVFF.html

[Keith66]

Thank you Keith for your prompt reply
In my search for an answer I came across this comment by one dissatisfied Ring Customer :-
“We had no end of problems with the Ring doorbell. Spoke to multiple CS agents, one of which pretty much admitted the WiFi chip had big problems. Even tried having the router 5 feet from the door, but still choppy audio. Even their repeater and a replacement could not help. I know 4 other people who have them, and they all have issues with choppy audio and footage to some degree. I know they work for some people, but I genuinely think the product is inherently flawed. “

My extender is Netgear 

I will take a look at the BT home hotspot which you have referred to 

[Keith_Beddoe]

Which BT home hub do you have, as the home hub 4 onward, have smart setup, which needs to be disabled. The smart hub 2, also has other issues.

I assume the Ring doorbell is only a 2.4GHz wireless connection?

I expect your extender is only a wireless repeater, they reduce the throughput by 50%, so that would make matters worse.

The hotspot devices generate their own wireless signal, and have a different network name, so you know what you are connected to.

[Keith66]

Thank you

My BT is hub4

Yes the  Ring doorbell is only a 2.4GHz wireless connection

[Keith_Beddoe]

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@Keith66 wrote:

Thank you

My BT is hub4

Yes the  Ring doorbell is only a 2.4GHz wireless connection

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It would be worth disabling smart setup on the home hub 4, to see if that helps.

http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/44328/~/switching-smart-setup-on-and-off-on-the-bt-ho...

I assume you cannot connect directly to the home hub?

[Keith66]

Thanks 

Your assumption  - “I assume you cannot connect directly to the home hub?” Is correct 

I will take a look at disabling 

[Keith66]

Hello Keith
The update is that before going down the route of the BT Home Hotspot I need to take up with Ring some issues and inconsistencies relating to their product
I have been monitoring the issues and inconsistencies over the festive season and I intend to Ring their helpline to talk through the issues to see whether the issues can be resolved as amongst other it seems incredible that their Doorbell cannot pick up my Wi-fi even though the Wi-fi extender is quite close to the Doorbell
The whole of the upstairs of the house picks up a good signal from that Wi-fi extender

[Keith_Beddoe]

Does the extender transmit the same network name as the home hub, or is it totally different?

If its the same, then it could be that the doorbell is getting confused as to which one it needs to connect to.

[Keith66]

I rang Ring helpline before Christmas and they said that I needed to set up the Ring Doorbell with the Extender not the main hub which was what I did

 The main hub has the BT name which was provided when I got it and the extension has the BT name and _EXT 

- the helpline talked me through the set up and the Ring App confirmed satisfactory set up and that all systems were operational
I have just logged on to the Ring App and gone to the Device Health dashboard and if confirms that all systems are operational