[despairingcustomer]

Hi well the technician (a different one this time) has installed our third set of Smart Meters:
with the aim of improving the reliability of the link between the Meters and the IHD.

This time he managed to get the gas meter to talk to the elec meter and the elec to talk to both the IHD and the DCC system.

The new meters should be dual band - how could I tell? - with the aim of improving the signal at the IHD so we can move it away from the kitchen window sill.

But in the kitchen the IHD still has no only one bar of signal at about -80dbM signal strength.

Apparently the utility suppliers can control the DBCH and tell it to use the 2.4GHz or the 868MHz or both.

How can I tell what freq is being used?

[despairingcustomer]

I can find little detail on the comms hub wnc ubc-t868

[retrotecchie]

You have a dual band hub. This means nothing as far as the connection to DCC goes as it uses cellular communications via O2 for WAN.

The dual band bit refers purely to the HAN communication. You can identify the frequency you are working with because it should say on the IHD.

The meters and the hub will all be talking to each other on 2.4GHz Zigbee. The IHD may be running on 868MHz.

Very little information available from WNC

[despairingcustomer]

This all the SmartView 4 displays.

The System menu needs a PIN which I don't have!

[retrotecchie]

@despairingcustomer

I suspect the PIN number is something that the engineers use when initially pairing the IHD to the meters and is not given to the customer.

-82 dBm is low, but I work with systems at much lower power than that. But for Zigbee, that is very close to the noise floor. Your meter cubby is outdoors, yes? How recent is your property. Chances are your walls are full of foil-backed PIR insulation which doesn't do much for RF propagation on very low power systems like Zigbee.

[despairingcustomer]

Hi the meters are in outside on the far wall of the garage which is as a crow might fly about 11M from the kitchen window. The meter was sitting on the window sill when I took the photo. The property was built in 1991.

I may take the meter for a walk about to see how the signal drops off both inside and outside the building.

I did wonder if you can get a zigbee repeater / booster which could go in the garage somewhere. Or may be I hold out until the AltHAN is available.

Re the PIN number if it's unique to EON then I'll need it and the meter system PINs when I change supplier? I'm not at all certain how the utility companies have worked out how they'll support software based systems over their lifetime. Apparently they can forced switch to pre-payment meter, maybe forced disconnect remotely. The for dual band hubs they can control which frequency to use etc!

[despairingcustomer]

Maybe the channel display refers to channel 0 on 868MHz and channel 25 on the 2.4GHz set?

https://www.rfwireless-world.com/Ter...-channels.html

[retrotecchie]

Originally Posted by despairingcustomer

I did wonder if you can get a zigbee repeater / booster which could go in the garage somewhere. Or may be I hold out until the AltHAN is available.

Re the PIN number if it's unique to EON then I'll need it and the meter system PINs when I change supplier? I'm not at all certain how the utility companies have worked out how they'll support software based systems over their lifetime. Apparently they can forced switch to pre-payment meter, maybe forced disconnect remotely. The for dual band hubs they can control which frequency to use etc!

To answer your first question about Zigbee repeaters, yes and no. Yes, they exist. However, they just relay digitally encrypted Zigbee information and without being able to 'program' the encrypted information, it's not as simple as just 'boosting' a radio signal. No, ZigBee repeaters can't 'relay' the encrypted data from smart meters.

As for the PIN, that applies to the HAN. Once the meters are properly paired to the IHD they will stay paired. Supplier changes only affect the communications from DCC which is all handled upstream of the meters. Changing supplier is simply a case of DCC knowing who allow the meter data to be accessed by.

This is why SMETS2 makes switching easier. DCC have all the data by default. SMETS1 relied on the data being communicated directly to a supplier, hard coded into the SIM card in the cellular comms hub. The migration process for SMETS1 involves the DCC 'dialling in to the hub', taking control of the SIM, reprogramming it with a new number to 'phone home', i.e. directly to DCC rather than the original supplier and once the communication link has been established, updating the meter firmware remotely. Unless you have an EDMI meter in which case all bets are off.

[retrotecchie]

@retrotecchie

11m as the Crow flies is pushing it. That's 35 feet, plus attenuation through obstacles.

There is one trick that I would try if I was in your position. But I'd try it purely as an experiment to see if it worked. I'm also an electronics engineer so it's exactly the sort of pottering about I'm used to.

Find an old 'scrap' WiFi router that has two external antennas with TNC or BNC connectors. That is to say, the antennas are removeable.

Get a roll of thin coax cable and run out a suitable length. Crimp or solder on a matching connector at either end. Fit the antennas.

Run the cable from the garage to the house in such a way as the antenna in the garage is within two or three feet of the meters.

Likewise, at the house end, fit the antenna somewhere that suits the rough location you want to use the IHD.

The theory being, the antenna in the garage gets a better signal strength than the remote IHD, feeds it down the coax to the other antenna which then re-radiates the raw RF signal. As it's only 'passive' you won't get a huge amount of gain, but my betting is you could gain an extra 10-20dBm. You could add an RF amplifier to just boost the raw signal a little, but that may also increase the 'noise' level. It's something I would play about with, just for gag value.

I'd be willing to bet just a passive system 'might just work' if the Gods were playing nicely and the wind was in the right direction...

[despairingcustomer]

I've got an old DAB aerial would that work?