Ring doorbells are smart security devices that can help you keep your home safe while you’re away by watching your front door and alerting you to any activity via phone call, text message, or mobile app notification.
But if someone has malicious intentions, there are ways they can sneak past Ring’s cameras without being caught.
To prevent this from happening to you, here are a few ways to sneak past Ring doorbells that you should be aware of before buying one of these devices yourself.
How to Sneak Past a Ring Doorbell
There are a few options for sneaking past a Ring doorbell without being noticed.
Some of the ways listed include are sneaky ways to prevent triggering motion detection that you should be cautious of if you have a Ring doorbell or a similar video doorbell.
Ways you can sneak past a Ring Doorbell:
- Interrupting Ring Doorbell WiFi connection
- Physically defacing the doorbell
- Using a cover to block the camera
- Sneaking just out of sight of the wide-angle lens
- Moving very slowly
Interrupting Ring Doorbell connection
Disconnecting the Router Temporarily
If you’re using a wireless router, disconnecting the router can effectively disable the connection to the Ring doorbell.
There are several ways to disconnect the router. The first of course is simply unplugging it from an outlet. This will essentially cut off Ring’s WiFi connection so it won’t broadcast its signal to any devices in your home.
If you plug the router back into the outlet the Ring should be back online, with no detection or recording during when you disconnected the router.
The Ring app performs a terrible job of notifying when their doorbell goes offline because the owner won’t even receive a notification!
Switching Off The Router From The Router Firmware
The second way which is more lucrative, commonly used by intruders is to gain access to your home WiFi. This could be done through social engineering, a weak wifi password etc. From there, they could connect to your router’s admin panel.
Most routers use an address of 192.168.1.1. Many people do not bother changing the manufacturer default admin panel password and username but rather only changing the WiFi password. Someone with malicious intentions could use either the default username or password or brute force attacks to access the router admin menu.
From here is it easy to restart or turn off the router, allowing for ample time to sneak past a Ring doorbell. With this method, restarting the router can be done all remotely without anyone suspecting it.
To protect yourself from this, you should first always set your own username and password on the router’s firmware.
To find your router’s IP address, you can follow this easy guide. The default username and password should be on your router box or in a manual inside, but not to worry if you lost it! – you can find your router manufacturer’s default credentials here.
Setting a strong wifi password is also highly recommended and changing the password every few months.
To prevent someone from breaking in and obtaining physical access to your router/modem can be done by securing all of your doors and windows and installing an alarm system.
You may even go one step further and conceal your modem/router so that it’s difficult to spot.
Use a WiFi Signal Jammer To Take Ring Doorbell Offline
If you don’t have access to the router/modem inside the house, another effective approach is to interfere with your WiFi signal and bypass a Ring doorbell is to use a signal jammer.
Signal jammers have been used for decades, to intentionally jam, obstruct, or interfere with wireless communications.
You can use a signal jammer or blocker to disrupt Ring’s WiFi connection. The range of these devices typically depends on how much you are willing to spend. Some are strong enough for outdoor use, while others are only effective indoors.
Make sure you have a way of knowing whether your signal jammer is working properly or not so that you don’t knock out other people’s wireless connections too! This might be an issue if you live in an apartment building, for example. If using a signal jammer isn’t an option, look into other ways of blocking/disabling WiFi signals.
Please note that using a signal jammer is illegal in some states and countries and you should consult your relevant authority before attempting this.
Unfortunately, there is little you can do to defend yourself against a signal jammer, if anything at all.
The most one can hope for is that Americans are scared enough of breaking federal law to avoid purchasing a signal jammer.
Using a Physical Barrier to Cover the Camera Lens
Covering Ring’s camera lens with a piece of duct tape or adhesive film might sound like something out of Mission Impossible, but it could be your best bet and cheapest for sneaking past your front door.
This only works if you have one of Ring’s battery-powered cameras since connected models are always watching for intruders. Before covering anything up, though, make sure you read up on all applicable laws about home surveillance. Just because there aren’t any local restrictions on hidden cameras doesn’t mean there aren’t any rules about how they can be used.
Instead of disrupting wifi connections to sneak past the ring doorbell, the easiest would be to cover up the camera lens with a sticker. This is an obvious solution, but it may still be rather effective.
The doorbell will continue to work normally, but you won’t be recorded by Ring. The owner will see a black screen as the recording, however, it can be easily noticed that someone has tampered with their camera lens.
To avoid this, make sure you have motion alerts set up on your Ring doorbell. This way, you’ll get a notification on your phone if someone goes near or in front of your door, and you’ll be able to assess the situation promptly.
Sneaking Just Out Of Sight Of The Wide-Angle Lens
Another solution is to wriggle your way just out of sight of Ring’s wide-angle lens.
While Ring’s computer vision algorithms are very accurate at determining when people (and cars) enter its field of view, they aren’t quite as skilled at detecting when someone moves away from that area.
Ring doorbells have a 160-degree viewing angle so it covers a large field of view. If you can assume the field of view where the camera is pointing, you could squirm your way along a passage or behind a tree just out of range of the camera.
Conclusion
Ring doorbells are a popular way for homeowners to see who’s at their door, but there are ways you can avoid being seen or recorded.
In summary, the following methods can be used to sneak past a ring doorbell:
- Interrupting the Ring Doorbell WiFi connection
- Physically defacing the doorbell
- Using a cover to block the camera
- Sneaking just out of sight of the wide-angle lens
- Moving very slowly
While these methods aren’t foolproof, they will help you evade detection from Ring devices and protect your privacy from strangers on your doorstep. As a homeowner, you should be well-versed in each of these techniques so that you can do all possible to avoid it!
