[superdave]

Good afternoon

I'm hoping that I might get some help from the community, I have SMETS 2 smart meters which communicate through a SKU1 Cellular hub.

Been in since early 2020 initially with British Gas, who supplied the IHD, switched to Eon early 2021, the BG IHD has worked flawlessly since then.

Approx 3 weeks ago the IHD went blank, rebooted it and it attempted to connect with the smart meters but then switched itself off, tried numerous times, same result.

Suspected that the IHD was now kaput but thought that I'd try and confirm that the meters were ok, installed both the Bright and Loop apps on my phone and left them for a few days to populate the data stuff.
After 4/5 days there was still no data available on either app, had a look at the SKU1 and all lights are flashing green every 5 seconds or so.

Spoke to somebody at Eon 12/06/25 and asked them to confirm that my meters were functioning normally, which they said they were

I had ordered an ivieBud, which I received 12/06/25, absolute nightmare trying to get this thing working, got it connected to my wi fi and eventually activated however, like the BG IHD, it will not connect to the meters, it just constantly reboots itself, left it for almost 24 hours doing this

Have had a number of instructions from Ivie custmer care such as to try and reboot it, place it closer to the meters, at one time it was less than 6 inches from the SKU1, all carried without success.

Finally yesterday, I was instructed by them to do a full reset and try again, which I did with exactly the same result, and if that failed to contact my energy supplier to confirm my meters are working correctly.

At the moment, I am stuck between a rock and a hard place, I suspect the meters are not working correctly, is there anybody here who can elevate this in an attempt to absolutely confirm the state of my meters.

I look forward to any advice

[meldrewreborn]

@superdave

Contradictory information. The lights flashing ever 5 seconds indicate all is well with the comms hub, but no information from the IHD and lack of data from bright indicate the exact opposite.

I would suggest you take regular ( at least every 2 or 3 days) readings from your meter just in case of future disputes.

Then ask customer services to pull some readings from you meter(s). If they are able to do that, but the other problems remain it would seem likely that there is a partial failure in the comms hub - a bit unusual. The solution would involve replacement of the comms hub ( not the meter) and pair the IHD afresh.

[geoffers]

Originally Posted by meldrewreborn

@superdave.... The lights flashing ever 5 seconds indicate all is well with the comms hub, but no information from the IHD and lack of data from bright indicate the exact opposite

However the HAN light flashing 5 seconds doesn't mean you're connected to the IHD : just that the HAN is active and available for connection (turn off your IHD & you'll see that it still flashes OK)

Presumably the same would be true of the WAN light, flashing 5 secs meaning it's up and working OK (maybe even connected to the cellular network) but doesn't necessarily mean the supplier/DCC/third party can access the meter.. which appears to be the case here.

If Bright can't contact the meter, you won't see data in the app or via the GlowAPI - the same will be true for the supplier (EOn)

Just another theory, but I don't have a clue why this should be 🤔 If it was previously working I wonder if there's the possiblity of some of the security certificates/ keys/ credentials in the Comms hub having somehow become corrupted, thus preventing remote access to the meter 🤔

The lack of connectivity via the DCC would also explain why you can't connect your Ivie Bud, since Ivie have to push the security credentials for the Bud (via the DCC) to the comms hub so that it can then allow the Bud to join the HAN 🙄

[meldrewreborn]

@superdave.

I think you need to contact Customer Services (my preference is by email as you then have a full record of advice given) and follow the advice given above.

just out of interest you didn’t have a power cut before the IHD packed up, as others have reported troubles after them?

[geoffers]

Originally Posted by meldrewreborn

@superdave.....just out of interest you didn’t have a power cut before the IHD packed up, as others have reported troubles after them?

there is thinking that some Comms hubs may get their security credentials reset/corrupted on loss of power, with people reporting no IHD connection after an outage - even 2 separate IHD/CADs losing connection which clearly points to a Comms hub fault, not IHD itself (though EOn always blame the IHD)

However, when my main supply fuse was disconnected for unlooping my supply from my neighbour, the Comms hub rebooted OK👍

So it could be a certain make of hub which is susceptible to this. Or... I read that there's an internal battery/capacitor to keep the hub alive for a short period - maybe the if the power is out for too long the memory could be lost/corrupted ...

Though the comms-hub spec does say

A CH shall be capable of automatically resuming operation after a power failure in its operating state prior to such failure

[superdave]

Good morning and thankyou both for your help.

We have not recently had a power outage, however; and I can't remember the actual date, our steam iron did trip the main RCD 3-4 weeks ago but that would be no different to switching things off and on again as it didn't effect the supply side.

In further developments, yesterday I once again installed the Bright app on my phone and low and behold, within an hour it populated the electricity usage data, as I type, it is still working.

The Ivie app is still reporting "We're having trouble getting your smart meter data", this was mentioned to Ivie customer care but they made no comment, absolutely nothing constructive from them beyond rebooting or placing the Bud closer to the meters.

As geoffers said, 'Eon always blame the IHD', so true, when I spoke to them the other day, as soon as I said that the IHD wouldn't connect, they referred me back to Ivie, in actual fact my query was whether or not my meters were transmitting data as neither IHD were connecting.

I will take your advice and contact Eon customer care by email and report a possible Comms hub fault and take it from there.

Thanks once again

[geoffers]

Originally Posted by superdave

... I once again installed the Bright app on my phone and low and behold, within an hour it populated the electricity usage data ...

Good news on getting Bright up and running - at least that proves that your meter is visible over the WAN via the DCC, so EOn have no excuses for not being able to access it

The Ivie app is still reporting "We're having trouble getting your smart meter data"

I downloaded the Ivie app myself, but never got beyond this stage so gave up and uninstalled it.

Just out of interest - what is the Ivie process for registering the Bud with your Comms hub?

I'm waiting for an (currently out of stock) Glow IHD/CAD, and I know that when you purchase it they send a remote SMETS command to register it with your meter/comms, so that when you receive it - it connects immediately. If you buy one from a third party/ebay etc they charge a further £35 for this procedure.

[WizzyWigg]

Hi @geoffers This link shows how to set up the Bud:
https://ivie.co.uk/blog/ivie-bud-ihd-set-up/

[superdave]

To be quite honest, I find the whole process of getting the Bud connected a pain in the backside, the user guide, in my opinion, is useless, the link which WizzyWigg has mentioned gives instructions to connect to wi fi, why on earth does one need to connect to ones router to get it connected to the comms hub.

In my case, I did get it connected to my wi fi after which I was presented with a screen which said that it was connected to my router and below, on the same screen was a box with the words 'Leave network' enclosed, as there are no instructions whatsoever as to what one should do next, I left it for maybe 15 minutes expecting it to automatically carry on to the next step.
It didn't do anything at all so I clicked on 'Leave Network' and the thing started the whole connect to wi fi all over again, after once more connecting to my router and being faced with the same screen, nowhere in any of the user guides is any mention made of how to proceed from here, this time I rebooted the thing and after the reboot was presented with the activation screen.
To get it activated, one is required to input the GUID Reference which is on the side of the box the Ivie Hub came in, this proceedure, which I managed, is carried out on line or through the app
As I said, I find their installation instructions, such as they are, leave a lot to be desired, I say this as someone who spent over 25 years at the pointy end of aviation, I have seen lots of technology
Thanks again

[geoffers]

@superdave - It does sound laborious, however the GUID is required as that gets installed in the Comms hub with a SMETS command sent from Ivie via the DCC - once this is uploaded the Bud will be allowed to join the HAN

The WiFi is so that the meter's 10sec updates over the HAN can be uploaded to the cloud, giving you real time access in the the app.

With the Glow CAD this is all done for you before they send it out, so hopefully when(if) I receive mine it should be truly plug-and-play