Ring camera usage without the internet

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gnfb

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#319934 15-Jun-2025 15:24

Yesterday Slingshot went down for about 8 hours. This raised a problem with my Ring cameras as I was unable to access then at all. I have read that it is possible to use the ring cameras with out the internet but options are limited. I have a Orbi router connected to fiber that offers up wifi for the unit. Is there a easy answer to allowing me to still monitor ring cameras (I have 5 by the way) when the internet goes down. If i can get a few suggestions then I can google how to

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BDFL - Memuneh
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#3384358 15-Jun-2025 15:39

Ring cameras require Internet. They can't work offline.

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jonherries

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#3384447 15-Jun-2025 17:37

Looks like there is a homebridge plugin, but it looks like you are connecting to the Ring.com api, not directly to the camera/doorbell.

https://www.npmjs.com/package/homebridge-ring?activeTab=readme

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#3384657 16-Jun-2025 11:54

Yup they are heavily dependant on having an internet connection.

-- opinions expressed by me are solely my own. ie - personal

raytaylor

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#3385831 20-Jun-2025 21:49

Similar conundrum for a customer of mine who said "can you help me set up these arlo cameras?"

In discussing how they work, i was impressed to find an SD card slot on the base station so you could record locally outside of the subscription service.
But they still require the internet to connect to their servers for playback of the footage on that SD card as it can only be done via the app or their website.
They were somewhat dissapointed to learn about that.

So dont consider Arlo an alternative.
People should just stay away from wireless cloud cameras entirely.
Get a proper hardwired system.

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Handle9

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#3385833 20-Jun-2025 23:00

raytaylor:
People should just stay away from wireless cloud cameras entirely.
Get a proper hardwired system.

That's very easy to say but for many people wireless cameras do the job at a much cheaper price than a professionally installed camera setup.

They are a horse for a course. They certainly have some limitations but they also can do the job most users want them to do.

mudguard

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#3385837 21-Jun-2025 06:01

raytaylor:

Similar conundrum for a customer of mine who said "can you help me set up these arlo cameras?"

In discussing how they work, i was impressed to find an SD card slot on the base station so you could record locally outside of the subscription service.
But they still require the internet to connect to their servers for playback of the footage on that SD card as it can only be done via the app or their website.
They were somewhat dissapointed to learn about that.

What happens if you put that SD card in a laptop?

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noroad

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#3385840 21-Jun-2025 08:11

raytaylor:

In discussing how they work, i was impressed to find an SD card slot on the base station so you could record locally outside of the subscription service.

In an emergency these files can be read directly off the SD card.

freitasm

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#3385841 21-Jun-2025 08:13

raytaylor:

Similar conundrum for a customer of mine who said "can you help me set up these arlo cameras?"

In discussing how they work, i was impressed to find an SD card slot on the base station so you could record locally outside of the subscription service.
But they still require the internet to connect to their servers for playback of the footage on that SD card as it can only be done via the app or their website.
They were somewhat dissapointed to learn about that.

So dont consider Arlo an alternative.
People should just stay away from wireless cloud cameras entirely.
Get a proper hardwired system.

The Blink cameras can record to the cloud servers or to their sync module, locally. You can just watch the clips on the app or you can plug the USB drive into any computer and browse the video files.

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noroad

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#3385842 21-Jun-2025 08:15

raytaylor:

Get a proper hardwired system.

Running cables to everywhere you want a camera is not viable in most situations, this is why hardwired residential security cameras are very rare.

noroad

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#3385843 21-Jun-2025 08:19

gnfb:

Yesterday Slingshot went down for about 8 hours. This raised a problem with my Ring cameras as I was unable to access then at all. I have read that it is possible to use the ring cameras with out the internet but options are limited. I have a Orbi router connected to fiber that offers up wifi for the unit. Is there a easy answer to allowing me to still monitor ring cameras (I have 5 by the way) when the internet goes down. If i can get a few suggestions then I can google how to

If access to camera's is mission critical during the very rare times Internet is not available then redundant Internet is justified. A fixed wireless fail-over from the UFB is not difficult to do but incurs a cost. There is always a cost to system redundancy, Internet based camera's give you high end features for a low cost but require Internet and this is the trade off.

johno1234

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#3385844 21-Jun-2025 08:27

Not all wifi cameras require a cloud service.

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richms

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#3385860 21-Jun-2025 12:33

I have several xmeye cameras with wifi that work just fine isolated totally from the internet to get me a rtsp stream into OBS to see on a screen. Their own software is dumpsterfire trash looking stuff, but once configured you do not need it. Have onvif support too so should in theory work with the unifi stuff but I do not want that vlan to even get to the gateway and no vlan joining for their protect software on the controller.

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gnfb

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#3385970 21-Jun-2025 14:30

noroad:

gnfb:

Yesterday Slingshot went down for about 8 hours. This raised a problem with my Ring cameras as I was unable to access then at all. I have read that it is possible to use the ring cameras with out the internet but options are limited. I have a Orbi router connected to fiber that offers up wifi for the unit. Is there a easy answer to allowing me to still monitor ring cameras (I have 5 by the way) when the internet goes down. If i can get a few suggestions then I can google how to

If access to camera's is mission critical during the very rare times Internet is not available then redundant Internet is justified. A fixed wireless fail-over from the UFB is not difficult to do but incurs a cost. There is always a cost to system redundancy, Internet based camera's give you high end features for a low cost but require Internet and this is the trade off.

Could I trouble you to either point me to information online as to how this done or expand on what and how it would be achieved

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Spyware

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#3385995 21-Jun-2025 17:51

gnfb:

Could I trouble you to either point me to information online as to how this done or expand on what and how it would be achieved

A little Mikrotik to fail-over between fibre and cellular.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuMt8ZU_cf4

Spark Max Fibre using Mikrotik CCR1009-8G-1S-1S+, CRS125-24G-1S, Unifi UAP, U6-Pro, UAP-AC-M-Pro, Apple TV 4K (2022), Apple TV 4K (2017), iPad Air 1st gen, iPad Air 4th gen, iPhone 13, SkyNZ3151 (the white box). If it doesn't move then it's data cabled.

noroad

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#3386098 22-Jun-2025 06:50

Spyware:

gnfb:

Could I trouble you to either point me to information online as to how this done or expand on what and how it would be achieved

A little Mikrotik to fail-over between fibre and cellular.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuMt8ZU_cf4

Yes, also most 4G/5G routers now days also have fully functional Ethernet (UFB) internet and can do this fail over. Personally I normally use the Mikrotik Chateau line of routers to do this, but your average tp-link, d-link or Huawei is perfectly capable of doing simple link failure fail-over.

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