Was SMART meter understanding - Download data

I suspect the former, since if the householder lives in a 'difficult' property they're more likely to have improved their wifi (eg fitted a mesh network) which might work better than a single widget creating a new SSID at the router, which could be too far for the wifi signal to reach.

If they were doing the ethernet dongle thing I'd have thought they would be doing it with the existing Zigbee HAN, perhaps giving them a cheap Zigbee repeater or two if the distance is too far.

Theo

I wonder if they'll 'expect' to be given access via your WiFi router, or will want to plug into an ethernet port and create their own SSID from that just for the smartmeters?

Well, that is what might be the fall-back. The only drawback I can see is that of sharing the Wifi password.

The upside might be if I can then blag a 4G booster ;-}}

The internet here is a Smartphone acting as a hot-spot, so no ethernet access. I guess that Octopus fitting a booster to my smartphone and then them using the hotspot could be a win-win setup - if that is possible.

Though, presumably, they'd have to know my password?

Providing fibre is available.

Yes, I have take note after you raised the booster issue earlier, Tim.

I guess that the best outcome would be that they use my mobile phone hot spot and fit some kind of 4G signal-received booster - passive or active

- to that mobile phone.

Cheeky Bastards,

Just received:

"Hi Peter Able,

"We are sorry to hear that you are unhappy with our service. As a result of your feedback we've opened a complaint for you, which is complaint reference #xxxxxx

"As a company we pride ourselves on outrageously good service ,,,,,"

Thinking about it, it seems the Octopus Home Mini does everything they need

- a bridge from the meter's Zigbee to your home wifi that you can locate anywhere that has both signals available. It's already certified for use on the secure HAN, and in theory can extend its range via Zigbee repeaters. It also has a way to reconfigure it if you change your wifi SSID. The only thing currently is it isn't certified for sending billing-grade meter readings, only informational ones. But that's just a matter of software and/or approvals.

Theo

The Octopus Home Mini should be able to do that. You configure it via their app, which tells it your wifi password (likely not sent to Octopus, just used by that device). Then it connects to the wifi and relays meter readings to them over the internet. At present it's not rated for billing readings, only for monitoring your consumption, but that could change in future.

As long as you can position the hotspot somewhere with internet signal and the Mini can reach both it via wifi and the meter via Zigbee (which is typically longer range) then it should work.

There might be a slight complication if you're using the same smartphone to provide the hotspot as configure the Mini - the juggling of switching around wifi networks during initial configuration might prevent that. But that would just be a case of doing setup with a different smartphone, which is only needed for a few minutes to teach the Mini your wifi setup.

Theo

In general more places have fibre than cellphone coverage in the UK A study was done n in which street lamps would be used for 4G/5G and wifi coverage. Shared between companies. Customers would all get better service. Company costs would reduce.

They all objected.

I think radio cellphones will go the way of broadcast TV. Once you have better internet access to more bandwidth, it's an expensive waste of time.

Octopus can only use solutions that fit with that DCC have designed, they're not going to be interested in "random" suggestions anyone here may invent, it's not supportable for them.

Does your mobile get good Lebara/Vodafone 4G signal where the meter is? If so, see if you can angle to be pushed up the list of meters to have the comms hub upgraded to 4G, they've got 180,000 of them sitting in a warehouse ...

Sounds like they'll want to know your standard wifi credentials, and maintain the Virtual Wide Area Netork Device using your wifi and internet.

"What if change my router?"

"3.34. Changing Tenancy / Changing Supplier: Questions were raised over what would happen if there was a change of internet provider or a change of tenancy. In cases of change of internet provider, the consumer would need to re-connect the VWD in order for the Smart Metering System to be capable of communication to/from DCC. In cases of Change of Tenancy, it will be necessary to seek consent from the new tenant to use their internet connection. Section 4 includes further proposals in relation to changes of tenancy."

(it remains to be seen how you will tell it your new wifi credentials if you change your router)

Theo

On my router I could give them access to the 'Guest' network which permits access to the internet but nothing else (I believe I can also limit the bandwidth available to the Guest network, but I haven't had reason to do so. The Guest and main networks have different passwords.

I don't know if this option is available on all routers.

Having a complaint reference number is good. Means that they’re obliged to get on and fix it or provide compensation.

Tim