If you're experiencing issues with accessing your doorbell, problems generating motion clips and thumbnails, or the Blink app indicates that your clips "time out" when you are trying to view them, then it is possible your wireless internet speed is too slow.
A message can also sometimes display, telling you that the connection is not working: "Unable to communicate with the doorbell. If your device is having trouble connecting please follow the directions on our help page".
A Blink system needs a high speed network connection of at least 2 Mbps upload speed. It is possible your Blink app shows Wi-Fi connectivity with signal strength of 3 bars when the upload speed is well below 2 Mbps. It is also common that home network speeds drop quickly when multiple users appear, even with broadband connections. If the Wi-Fi network is "open" and , then a neighbor might even be using your bandwidth.
Frequent disconnections can indicate the doorbell is too far from the Wi-Fi router. To test the doorbell, move it closer to the Wi-Fi router for a time, and contact us if the issue continues.
Obstacles and distance reduce signal strength. Placing your devices behind dense building materials such as brick, stone, concrete, steel, and aluminum can interfere with signal strength as well. Some examples of a poor location are behind a television, inside a basement or attic. Click to learn more about troubleshooting connectivity issues.
Streaming music or movies, video calls, and gaming all consume bandwidth on your network. At times this can create a "bottleneck" of traffic, causing your wireless network to slow down. Please consider the following troubleshooting steps:
- Temporarily stop streaming music, movies, video or games to reduce the amount of traffic on your network.
- Reach out to your Internet Service Provider and confirm that your connection meets the minimum 2 mb per second of upload speed.
- Determine the age and quality of your routing hardware and make sure that it is right for your style of use.
If you continue to have difficulties with your doorbell, please contact Technical Support.