Ring Stick Up Cam (Battery)

This review is for the Ring stickup Camera with solar panels and the Ring stickup plug-in model as well. Do not buy this item with solar panels or think long & hard before you do. In Nov 2024 I ordered 2 ring stick up cameras, battery operated with the small solar panel. They were delivered in early December 2024. We didn’t try to begin installing them until sometime in late January or early February. Because we just didn’t need them right away. Don’t ever do that ! We had issues right away. The solar panels were draining the batteries instead of keeping them charged. I had Ring technical assistance on the line constantly. They wanted me to reset the cameras, unplug and plug the solar panels back in again, re boot the cameras, turn the cameras off and back on again, remove the battery & put it back in, . Every action other than rebooting the cameras and turning the cameras off and on, required us getting up on a ladder to complete the action. HOLD ONTO YOUR CAMERA BOXES ! Instead of climbing up a ladder to scan the QR code for the camera setup , that code is on the bottom of the box the camera arrived in. Finding that out saved me a huge headache……but I didn’t realize it right away. It took several calls with technical assistance……taking up more an hour of my time each call… and their time too for them to finally tell me that the solar panels were not charging the batteries. They said they would replace the panels. That was on March 15, 2025. As of April 6, 2025, I still have not received those replacement panels. It appears as though those panels were out of stock until March 26. In the meantime, I have received 4 emails…..one email for each solar panel which were sent on 2 different occasions telling me that I need to return my replaced solar panels. I have 1 month to do it or I will get charged for the replacements. The last reminders I received were today, April 6, 2025. To say that I am disgusted with Ring security cameras would be an understatement. I also purchased a plug-in stick up Ring camera in addition to the 2 battery operated cameras since I do not feel confident that even the replacement solar panels ( if I ever receive them, that is) will keep those batteries charged and the whole idea of buying security cameras is for security. By the way, I am in Florida, where the sun shines every day. The solar panels get plenty of sunshine. So once I received my plugin Ring stick up camera, we installed in right away. We had issues right away with it. I could set it up, connect it to wifi, designate my security recording zone and then nothing. I have a good Wi-Fi signal on all of the cameras. It did actually start working at one point for a few days, but we had rain (and it is partially protected under a roof overhang) and then it just stopped working again…no blue light…..nothing. I reset it twice and could set my security zone but then it just went to sleep. I called Ring technical assistance again and they told me to return it to Amazon & get a replacement…….almost missed my return window again.…so I ordered a replacement. I received that replacement today April 6, 2025. I installed the new stickup camera and set it all up. Wi-Fi signal is good & It appears to be working fine. Hopefully it will continue to run accurately. If you buy any of these cameras, install them immediately or you may lose the ability to get a replacement. In stark contrast, my partner purchased the spotlight Ring camera hardwired for his home so we could see what was going on there in Indiana while we are in Florida. We have had absolutely no issues with it at all. And according to the Wi-Fi parameters for a ring cameras, his Wi-Fi signal is weak. That camera has never failed to give us a ring notice or to allow us to see a live view of his yard. Once I receive my replacement solar panels, I will update this review. In the meantime, the 2 Ring cameras with the solar panels are turned off so I do not have to recharge the batteries again before I connect the new panels. Elderly people climbing up and down ladders isn’t really a good idea. Hopefully Ring will send those solar panels this coming week so I can make sure that they work properly. Think long and hard before you get yourself involved in installing Ring security cameras…….battery, battery w/ solar panels and plug-in stick up cameras. There must be a bunch of duds out there.