Octopus Smart Meter problem

[Deleted User]

Deleted_User said:

[Deleted User] said:

Deleted_User said:

[Deleted User] said:

Deleted_User said:

I asked this and was told "the Bright App does not belong to us, we unfortunately are not yet connected to your meter however we are looking into this for you"

Although as far as i am aware the display unit readings are correct and tally with bright 

As indicated above, Bright App gathers its data separately from the way Octopus does. To pull your data from the meter, Octopus has to send out a security certificate to your meter, and it has to be authorised by the DCC network to do this. The principle being - one supplier/one meter. The function of the security certificate is to ensure that messages received by the meter from the supplier are indeed valid requests. For example, if I hacked your meter and sent out code to disconnect your meter from the Grid, then my request should be ignored as it will be a request that doesn't carry the appropriate amount of layered security.

If data can be seen on the N3rgy website, then you do not have an issue with the DCC connection to your meter. 

So are you saying that my last two months readings are invalid and my useage may be incorrect ?

Not at all. Your meter is a meter and it is programmed to hold 4 registers worth of daily 30 minute data for 13 months. Octopus uses a single register for billing purposes. Once Octopus has established a sound connection to your meter, they can initiate a manual recovery of any data that they are missing. This is happening at the moment for some of us with a Kaifa MA120 meter. When data is requested once per day, the meter is sending out the correct meter reading but the XML file that accompanies it is empty. Octopus can recover the missing data in 30 day blocks by initiating a manual recovery process. After 7 months, Kaifa has identified what the problem is and if DCC testing is successful, the fix will be deployed next month. Even Octopus has admitted that resolution of the problem has taken far too long.

Right - so its not something simple liike a poor radio signal - I understand that SMETS 2 uses the power line for transmission ?

If you set up a N3rgy.com account using the ‘I am a consumer’ link, you can see whether your meters are sending data to the DCC. The supplier connects to the DCC to access that data. To get that data, as I said, the supplier has to deploy security certificates to each of your meters AND it has to use secure access software known as an Adaptor.

Depending on where you live, your comms hub connects to the DCC in one of three ways: it can be via a mobile signal on the O2 network; via a network link (called a mesh) to another smart meter - if enabled, or if you live in the Northern Region to a radio mast using long-range UHF transmissions. Unlike the French, the UK doesn’t use power lines for data transmission.

Both the gas and electricity meters pass data via a single comms hub which sits on top of your electricity meter.

[Deleted User]

[Deleted User] said:

Deleted_User said:

[Deleted User] said:

Deleted_User said:

[Deleted User] said:

Deleted_User said:

I asked this and was told "the Bright App does not belong to us, we unfortunately are not yet connected to your meter however we are looking into this for you"

Although as far as i am aware the display unit readings are correct and tally with bright 

As indicated above, Bright App gathers its data separately from the way Octopus does. To pull your data from the meter, Octopus has to send out a security certificate to your meter, and it has to be authorised by the DCC network to do this. The principle being - one supplier/one meter. The function of the security certificate is to ensure that messages received by the meter from the supplier are indeed valid requests. For example, if I hacked your meter and sent out code to disconnect your meter from the Grid, then my request should be ignored as it will be a request that doesn't carry the appropriate amount of layered security.

If data can be seen on the N3rgy website, then you do not have an issue with the DCC connection to your meter. 

So are you saying that my last two months readings are invalid and my useage may be incorrect ?

Not at all. Your meter is a meter and it is programmed to hold 4 registers worth of daily 30 minute data for 13 months. Octopus uses a single register for billing purposes. Once Octopus has established a sound connection to your meter, they can initiate a manual recovery of any data that they are missing. This is happening at the moment for some of us with a Kaifa MA120 meter. When data is requested once per day, the meter is sending out the correct meter reading but the XML file that accompanies it is empty. Octopus can recover the missing data in 30 day blocks by initiating a manual recovery process. After 7 months, Kaifa has identified what the problem is and if DCC testing is successful, the fix will be deployed next month. Even Octopus has admitted that resolution of the problem has taken far too long.

Right - so its not something simple liike a poor radio signal - I understand that SMETS 2 uses the power line for transmission ?

If you set up a N3rgy.com account using the ‘I am a consumer’ link, you can see whether your meters are sending data to the DCC. The supplier connects to the DCC to access that data. To get that data, as I said, the supplier has to deploy security certificates to each of your meters AND it has to use secure access software known as an Adaptor.

Depending on where you live, your comms hub connects to the DCC in one of three ways: it can be via a mobile signal on the O2 network; via a network link (called a mesh) to another smart meter - if enabled, or if you live in the Northern Region to a radio mast using long-range UHF transmissions. Unlike the French, the UK doesn’t use power lines for data transmission.

Both the gas and electricity meters pass data via a single comms hub which sits on top of your electricity meter.

02 signal is very poor around here! 

[Deleted User]

Deleted_User said:

YDolor said:

Deleted_User said:

Dolor said:

Deleted_User said:

Dolor said:

Deleted_User said:

I asked this and was told "the Bright App does not belong to us, we unfortunately are not yet connected to your meter however we are looking into this for you"

Although as far as i am aware the display unit readings are correct and tally with bright 

As indicated above, Bright App gathers its data separately from the way Octopus does. To pull your data from the meter, Octopus has to send out a security certificate to your meter, and it has to be authorised by the DCC network to do this. The principle being - one supplier/one meter. The function of the security certificate is to ensure that messages received by the meter from the supplier are indeed valid requests. For example, if I hacked your meter and sent out code to disconnect your meter from the Grid, then my request should be ignored as it will be a request that doesn't carry the appropriate amount of layered security.

If data can be seen on the N3rgy website, then you do not have an issue with the DCC connection to your meter. 

So are you saying that my last two months readings are invalid and my useage may be incorrect ?

Not at all. Your meter is a meter and it is programmed to hold 4 registers worth of daily 30 minute data for 13 months. Octopus uses a single register for billing purposes. Once Octopus has established a sound connection to your meter, they can initiate a manual recovery of any data that they are missing. This is happening at the moment for some of us with a Kaifa MA120 meter. When data is requested once per day, the meter is sending out the correct meter reading but the XML file that accompanies it is empty. Octopus can recover the missing data in 30 day blocks by initiating a manual recovery process. After 7 months, Kaifa has identified what the problem is and if DCC testing is successful, the fix will be deployed next month. Even Octopus has admitted that resolution of the problem has taken far too long.

Right - so its not something simple liike a poor radio signal - I understand that SMETS 2 uses the power line for transmission ?

If you set up a N3rgy.com account using the ‘I am a consumer’ link, you can see whether your meters are sending data to the DCC. The supplier connects to the DCC to access that data. To get that data, as I said, the supplier has to deploy security certificates to each of your meters AND it has to use secure access software known as an Adaptor.

Depending on where you live, your comms hub connects to the DCC in one of three ways: it can be via a mobile signal on the O2 network; via a network link (called a mesh) to another smart meter - if enabled, or if you live in the Northern Region to a radio mast using long-range UHF transmissions. Unlike the French, the UK doesn’t use power lines for data transmission.

Both the gas and electricity meters pass data via a single comms hub which sits on top of your electricity meter.

02 signal is very poor around here! 

The installer should have carried out a signal check before installing your smart meter. They also have the option of fitting a SKU2 comms hub with an external aerial or, where it has been set up, use the WAN function built into the comms hub.

[Deleted User]

I now cannot even get a response from Octopus - re this !

[Deleted User]

Deleted_User said:

I now cannot even get a response from Octopus - re this !

Try smart@octopus.energy if you haven’t done so already. FWiW, I would agree that Octopus’ email response times have fallen off a cliff as customer numbers have increased.

[Deleted User]

[Deleted User] said:

Deleted_User said:

I now cannot even get a response from Octopus - re this !

Try smart@octopus.energy if you haven’t done so already. FWiW, I would agree that Octopus’ email response times have fallen off a cliff as customer numbers have increased.

OK There appears to be a problem with Octopus responding to emails - I started with them 5 months ago and they responded almost instantly to HELLO - but now are not

Is it worth my emailing AES-SMARTMETERING who did the initial installation ?

[Deleted User]

Octopus have got back to me - asking how far my two meters are apart - I replied "about  12 feet"

I guess that they are going to try to blame distance !

[Deleted User]

What sort of meter boxes do you have? Metal is a Zigbee killer. Many IHDs will not work in homes with metal-backed insulation.

[Deleted User]

[Deleted User] said:

What sort of meter boxes do you have? Metal is a Zigbee killer. Many IHDs will not work in homes with metal-backed insulation.

Plastic and gas is.on the wall round the corner 

[Deleted User]

Deleted_User said:

[Deleted User] said:

What sort of meter boxes do you have? Metal is a Zigbee killer. Many IHDs will not work in homes with metal-backed insulation.

Plastic and gas is.on the wall round the corner 

You may have your answer. By the sounds of it, the Zigbee signal has to pass through two walls and no doubt some insulation.