Smart Meter UHF Radio Network Coverage

Reed_Richards

I'm in the North of England.  Apparently in the North of England and in Scotland smart meters "phone home" using a UHF radio network provided bu a company called Arqiva.  It was in the planning stage in Scotland in 2013 but I have not been able to find out how much of this network actually got built and how widespread the coverage is.  It did not seem to cover where I live in 2019 but has there been progress since?  Any information gratefully received.    

Rodders53

https://www.arqiva.com/news-views/views/second-generation-smart-meters-pass-2-million-mark-top-10-localities-revealed 

99.3% of the population in the two regions they claimed in late 2019.  They are contracted to provide 99.5% or more by the end of this year https://www.smartme.co.uk/technical.html

The smart meters allegedly can work as a mesh network to pass data from home to home until one can communicate with the main transmitters.  But that relies on proximity of one meter to another meter and the installation of them near yours.

Reed_Richards

@Rodders53 I had already found your first reference but cannot see anything relevant there.  The second one about 99.5% coverage is of interest.  I wonder if I am in the 0.5% that still has no coverage or the 0.2% that will have gained coverage between 2019 and the end of this year.  

matelodave

Here's the relevant bit - 

Wide Area Network

The Smart Metering Wide Area Network (SMWAN or WAN for short) is the name given to the communications network between the communications hub sitting on top of your electricity meter and the company responsible for collecting the data and passing it on to other businesses such as suppliers. This company will usually be the Data Communications Company (DCC) which the government has set up especially for the role of supporting SMETS1 and SMETS2 meters. Depending on the Communications Service Provider (CSP), which varies by areas of the UK, the technology can change depending on what works best in a local area. Sometimes your comms hub will communicate directly with DCC and sometimes it will talk through other comms hubs around you to reach a particular comms hub which has direct communications with DCC. This form of communications looks like a mesh when you draw out the possible links between meters and is therefore known as a Mesh network.

Scotland and the North of England

Long-Range Radio communications (LRR) is used by Arqiva Limited in Scotland and the North of England. The LRR system uses infrastructure and technology similar to that already used for other important national communications networks, such as those for emergency services and keeping lifeboat stations connected. Communication towers communicate directly with smart meter Communications Hubs in homes.
By 2021 Arqiva Limited will have achieved their contacted coverage of at least 99.5%.

Rest of England and Wales

The 2G/3G cellular radio communications network is used by Telefónica in the rest of England and Wales. This system is commonly used by mobile phones. In a cellular system, geographical areas are divided into regular shaped "cells".
Additionally Telefónica also use local mesh networks to fill in the mobile coverage gaps.
By 2021 Telefónica will have achieved their contacted coverage of at least 99.25% in the Central and South Regions.

Home Area Network

The Home Area Network or HAN is similar to your home broadband wireless network and will be used to communicate between the meters, the In Home Display (IHD) and other items as and when they become available.

Read more at: https://www.smartme.co.uk/technical.html © SmartMe.co.uk

Dont forget that radio isn't an exact science and there will allways be "not spots" however good the coverage is.

As Rodders says, if they are using a mesh to try and cover some of the infill then it does rely on others in your area to have smart meters as well.

If you live in a community of deniers then you might find that there are an inadequate number of meters to provide either a signal booster/repeater or set up a decent mesh that covers all areas.

I'd guess that if a sufficient number of failed installations are blamed on poor wireless coverage then something will be done about it but I can't really see them justifying spending lots of money for a very small number of meters that can't connect.

Rodders53

Reed_Richards said:

@Rodders53 I had already found your first reference but cannot see anything relevant there.  The second one about 99.5% coverage is of interest.  I wonder if I am in the 0.5% that still has no coverage or the 0.2% that will have gained coverage between 2019 and the end of this year.  

My link has the following text:

David Crawford, Managing Director, Telecoms at Arqiva said:

As the SMETS2 roll-out gathers pace, energy companies and their customers will increasingly see the benefits that the smart meter programme brings. We all need to be more aware of the resources that we are using in our daily lives and smart meters are a significant factor in increasing that awareness. Arqiva, alongside our partners, has been working incredibly hard to ensure that the network for smart meters in the North of England and Scotland reaches as many consumers as possible and is delighted that the network now covers 99.3% of the population in these regions.

as Matelodave says - other near to you will need smart meters installing and/or you may always be outwith coverage.

Just as some are outwith UHF TV (Freeview) coverage, and mobile phone coverage and...

Reed_Richards

Indeed.  I have to walk down to the road to get any mobile phone reception and hitherto I had always thought that was the reason why smart meter don't work in my area.  Now it seems I am in a separate black spot for this UHF radio network.  Mesh networking is unlikely to be beneficial; my village might be able to mesh but there is no way out if we all share the same black spot. 

Rodders53

Reed_Richards said:

my village might be able to mesh but there is no way out if we all share the same black spot. 

That's a very big if.   BBC, Ofcom and Arqiva have the tools and spectrum planning experts to predict reception at UHF frequencies.  That goes down to 100m x 100m squares on the OS grid and they predict %age of locations within that grid - so likely to 10m spots.
Thus, you get different returns at one end of a village to the other. 

Just like UHF TV reception... one dwelling may have a clear view to a transmitter while next door is blocked by the local cliffs, or farmer's barn...

Depending on the numbers it's possible a tower may be built to serve the area?  Check out your Council's planning portal to see if any applications have been made nearby?

Reed_Richards

Not such a big if.  I asked two years ago; two households have smart meters that are dumb, in another two cases the installer came to install a smart meter but abandoned the attempt due to lack of signal.

C_Mababejive

Do we know what frequencies are used for the WAN and what type of modulation?

matelodave

Page 7 of this suggests that its between 412 and 455Mhz at a max of 1 watt - https://www.edmi-meters.com/europe/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/EDMI-Variant-450-DB-Comms-Hub-User-Manual-v1.2.pdf

Reed_Richards

Some details are given here: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/77732036/#Comment_77732036