[theunknowntech]

No worries. The Comms Hub you'll get would either be Toshiba or WNC branded, most likely an SKU1 Cellular as well. There's not much difference between the two, beyond the fact it's a different manufacturer, but they all have to follow the same spec anyway. Two manufacturers rather than one simply provides a stronger supply chain with more redundancy, just in case.

The Wide Area Network (WAN) is for the connection to DCC, which would go over GPRS via the Telefonica WAN that runs alongside the O2 network. If you're able to get an O2 signal in the meter cupboard on just about any phone, that should be sufficient for a Smart Meter. The Home Area Network (HAN) however, is used for the local comms between the meters and IHD. As long as they're close enough to each other, they will connect. There's also new Dual-Band Comms Hubs coming out, which will resolve most HAN signal issues in places like blocks of flats.

I've hardly heard any reports of boilers not working after a Meter Exchange. However, if that has happened, it's probably due to unrelated matters and not because of Smart Meters. As for commissioning, the full process takes six weeks, but sometimes you can start getting usage data through much faster than that. My friend Blastoise186 literally managed to start getting data in just two weeks - and I've heard of a few cases where it was just 48 hours. Depends on circumstances really.

[Queenie]

@theunknowntech Hi,
Thanks for info again. I should be ok with WAN as my phone is with O2 and signal strength is usually ok .

[theunknowntech]

Yup, you should be good then. The Telefonica WAN relies purely on GPRS/GSM only and doesn't use 4G or 5G. So for the most part, as long as you're getting a reasonable O2 signal, that should be sufficient. If you'd like to make sure, there's an Android app called Ubiquiti WiFiman on the Google Play Store, which can test mobile signal strength (obviously only useful for Smart Meters if your phone is on O2). The app itself is free and there's no adverts, but in full disclosure I am a Ubiquiti customer and I use their stuff a lot. Use of the app doesn't give me anything in return, but I believe in transparency anyway.

If you'd like to run this test, once you've got the app head into Status > Cell Signal > Request Permission (and approve it) and then you'll see Cellular Signal show up on the chart. Please tell me what the reading is in dBm for that Cell Signal. The app does request phone permissions, but it won't make phone calls or rack up any charges. You can also uninstall the app once you're done if you'd rather not keep it around.

In short though, if it's green and/or anywhere between 0dBm and -100dBm, that should be good enough.

Most of the time, the only reason a boiler would stop working following a Meter Exchange is actually a pretty simple one - the pilot light was extinguished and hasn't yet been re-lit. Quite a few modern boilers are capable of automatic pilot light ignition/re-ignition, but not all boilers support this feature. It is obviously irrelevant for any boiler that doesn't use a pilot light though.

However, if your boiler does have a pilot light that's not capable of automatic ignition... I think it'd be fairly obvious why the boiler stops working after a MEX. You probably just forgot to re-light it! XD

[Queenie]

@theunknowntech Hi again,

I'm not sure I need all this tech but I downloaded the app just to see the result. I can't equate what you're telling me about the cellular signal. The app does not show me the cell signal and request permission prompts after clicking Status.
What I do get is all the data about my wifi signal (-55dBm)which is probably why it's called Ubiquiti WIFIman! There is no access to just my mobile signal.

[theunknowntech]

No worries. It's possible that the app might not have been able to get the permissions it needed, but it was only a quick test anyway and not the end of the world. It usually works fine for me, but I'm seeing a similar issue right now. I'll probably bug report that at some point... If you go into App Info for it (long press the app icon) and manually grant Phone permissions, it should work.

When it works though, you should see something like this.

[Queenie]

@theunknowntech Hi,
The app is not working. It started ok but when I did what you suggested and gave phone permission it refused to open. I sent a feedback report and cancelled phone permission and re-installed to no effect. I am not going to waste any more of my time on this.

[Beki]

@theunknowntech Loving the pokemon references 😎

[Queenie]

@theunknowntech Hi,
I just tried a different app (called Signal Strength) and my cell signal is registering a good 3G signal -82 dBm. It started off with 4G which registered an ok signal but it was more than -100 dBm.

[theunknowntech]

Yeah, that sounds about right. I'll bug report the issue with WiFiman later when I get chance.

-82dBm is perfect for Smart Meter WAN purposes. While not the strongest signal ever, it's more than sufficient given the low volumes of data being transferred. :)

[Queenie]

Originally Posted by theunknowntech

Howdy!

You've discovered theunknowntech, mysterious evil genius and forum volunteer, at your service. How may I be of assistance? :)

I think I can figure this out, but if you could post some photos of the meter in question as well, that would really help a lot. Just so you know, I have no connections to E.On or E.On Next at all and I'm actually supplied by another supplier so I'm completely independent. That does mean I can't access your account, but that also means I'm able to be more flexible in how I reply. Once I've seen the photos of your meter, I can verify what you've got and confirm if it's supposed to be a Smart Meter if you'd like me to. Clearly you've done your research though, which is great! What resources did you use, if you don't mind me asking? Me and my friends use ones like SmartMe, but we're always looking out for more to add to our toolkits.

I can also provide the instructions on how to take a manual reading as well. I know the process for quite a few meters and I can often locate the details for almost anything, should that be needed.

Based on what you describe, it sounds to me as if the engineer didn't install the meter properly. SMETS2 installs are only supposed to go ahead if advance checks confirm - or at least indicate - that there's sufficient WAN coverage to get things working, and to abort upfront if it's clearly impossible. If you're in an area with WAN coverage but the signal is just a tad weak, booster aerials do exist which can help to fix that - as long as you're in the Southern Territory. If you're in Scotland or Cumbria for example, then booster aerials aren't an option I'm afraid. However, I'd be disappointed if they could have been used but weren't.

At the moment though and without further context, my guess is that you probably do have S2 Smart Meters, but they're running in "Offline Mode" as a Comms Hub is required in order to enable Smart functionality and provide an IHD. No Comms Hub unfortunately means no IHD will work either. The engineer should at least have tried to fit one and get it working to at least some extent!

I'm also going to tag this thread for a moderator to step in. I can only apply two tags at once due to my forum permissions, so I'll have to sacrifice the other tags I'd normally apply to a thread like this for now. If you'd like me to remove the tags at anytime, please let me or a moderator know.

Hi,
I know it's a while ago (4 weeks) since I first posted but I thought you might be interested in the results of my meter engineer's visit yesterday.He spent 3 hours with me!
Just to remind you first that Beki told me that the previous engineer had signed off the installation.
The new engineer called it an 'install and leave'.
The first issue he encountered was that the previous engineer had taken away the IHD without de-programming it for my installation. In his talk to the tech guys my engineer was told that the IHD was now somewhere else but obviously it didn't work. He said he had not come across this problem before. Once that was fixed, he carried on with pairing up the two meters and the new IHD to the WNA(?) comms hub. This took a while but it eventually happened.
The next step - connecting up the installation via DCC to E.ON Next. It failed several times. There was no explanation from the tech side about why this was happening. It seems to me this is the problem the original engineer had and nobody had bothered to investigate it. So I am back to square 1.Obviously all this is now logged and my engineer said I would be given another appointment but he had no answers to solve the issue. He took the comms hub away and left the IHD. I wondered why he took the hub. Surely no one at E.OnNext is going to solve the problem remotely if there is no hub in place. Another engineer is going to find the same problem if they turn up.
I have sent Beki a private message explaining the outcome and asked her to see what she can do. I'd appreciate any thoughts you may have. Thanks