Bulb Energy - Smart Meters - no WAN connection

HeyTC

I've been with Bulb Energy for a while now and have smart meters installed.  All has been fine until I noticed that estimates had been used for my last two bills.  My IHD displays all the meter and usage information correctly, and the meters themselves are displaying usage locally OK.  However the communication hub on top of the electricity meter indicates a WAN connection fault (WAN LED flashing once a second, it should be about once every 5-8 seconds I believe).  I reported the problem to Bulb when I first noticed, they said they would 'reboot' the hub in 2-3 weeks which would fix the problem.  Not sure how you can remotely reboot a device you are not connected to, but there you go.

After receiving another estimated bill I contacted them again.  I've now been told that they will request a 'reboot' again but not for another 5-6 weeks.  I was also told that this is a problem with the data collection company they use and is out of Bulbs control.

Given that Bulb is in administration I'm not holding my breath, however my understanding is that for my part of Southern England meter readings are transferred from the communication hub using he WAN connection, via a Telefonica mobile network to the Data Communication Company (DCC), and then on to Bulb for billing purposes.  Bulb seem to be blaming DCC for my particular problem.  Does anyone know if there is some sort of 'Service Status' page available for the UK SmartMetering network, that I can use to verify that Bulb is not telling porkies?  Do other Bulb customers on the forum have a similar problem at the moment?

TimB5604

I have exactly the same problem. I've been with Bulb for several years, but switched to Smart Meters in October last year. All ok for about 6 months, but at approx 01:00hrs on 9th May 2022, my Meter Readings stopped being received by Bulb (according to the graphs in my Bulb Phone App). I only realised there was a problem 5 days ago, when Bulb sent me a Bill based on estimated readings. I then checked my Meters and discovered that my Comms Hub's WAN light is flashing every half second, indicating an Error state. The other LEDs are correctly flashing at 5-second intervals (apart from MESH, which is correctly off). I haven't contacted Bulb yet (apart from sending them accurate Meter Readings), but I've read elsewhere that some people have experienced this situation for several months, despite complaining to Bulb, and despite Bulb requesting DCC to carry out multiple resets ...so I'm not hopeful! I'll contact Bulb about it next week.

[Deleted User]

HeyTC said:

I've been with Bulb Energy for a while now and have smart meters installed.  All has been fine until I noticed that estimates had been used for my last two bills.  My IHD displays all the meter and usage information correctly, and the meters themselves are displaying usage locally OK.  However the communication hub on top of the electricity meter indicates a WAN connection fault (WAN LED flashing once a second, it should be about once every 5-8 seconds I believe).  I reported the problem to Bulb when I first noticed, they said they would 'reboot' the hub in 2-3 weeks which would fix the problem.  Not sure how you can remotely reboot a device you are not connected to, but there you go.

After receiving another estimated bill I contacted them again.  I've now been told that they will request a 'reboot' again but not for another 5-6 weeks.  I was also told that this is a problem with the data collection company they use and is out of Bulbs control.

Given that Bulb is in administration I'm not holding my breath, however my understanding is that for my part of Southern England meter readings are transferred from the communication hub using he WAN connection, via a Telefonica mobile network to the Data Communication Company (DCC), and then on to Bulb for billing purposes.  Bulb seem to be blaming DCC for my particular problem.  Does anyone know if there is some sort of 'Service Status' page available for the UK SmartMetering network, that I can use to verify that Bulb is not telling porkies?  Do other Bulb customers on the forum have a similar problem at the moment?

The DCC is responsible for all communications hubs, and meter and device manufacturers build and certify their own devices for use on the DCC Network. This includes rolling out new firmware. To communicate with your meters, the supplier uses secure software known as an Adapter. Some suppliers develop their own Adapter and others use an Adapter provided by a third-party. As you can see, Bulb may well be right. Suppliers are dependent on others to make smart metering work.

FWiW, Bulb is NOT in administration. It is being run as a functioning and licensed supplier by a Special Administrator. Suppliers in administration have their licences revoked by Ofgem.

MWT

Dolor said:

FWiW, Bulb is NOT in administration. It is being run as a functioning and licensed supplier by a Special Administrator. Suppliers in administration have their licences revoked by Ofgem.

Bulb is very much in Administration, the 'special' part is that they did not have their licence revoked.

rjmachin

TimB5604 said:

I have exactly the same problem. I've been with Bulb for several years, but switched to Smart Meters in October last year. All ok for about 6 months, but at approx 01:00hrs on 9th May 2022, my Meter Readings stopped being received by Bulb (according to the graphs in my Bulb Phone App). I only realised there was a problem 5 days ago, when Bulb sent me a Bill based on estimated readings. I then checked my Meters and discovered that my Comms Hub's WAN light is flashing every half second, indicating an Error state. The other LEDs are correctly flashing at 5-second intervals (apart from MESH, which is correctly off). I haven't contacted Bulb yet (apart from sending them accurate Meter Readings), but I've read elsewhere that some people have experienced this situation for several months, despite complaining to Bulb, and despite Bulb requesting DCC to carry out multiple resets ...so I'm not hopeful! I'll contact Bulb about it next week.

I am experiencing exactly the same, except I am with Octopus Energy, and, like you, my last 30 minute reading was at 01:00hrs on 9th May 2022.

I emailed Octopus on 17th May to report it and they replied the following day that they would get the smart metering team to take a look but may take 4-6 weeks due to a large number of requests.

TimB5604

rjmachin said:

I am experiencing exactly the same, except I am with Octopus Energy, and, like you, my last 30 minute reading was at 01:00hrs on 9th May 2022.

I emailed Octopus on 17th May to report it and they replied the following day that they would get the smart metering team to take a look but may take 4-6 weeks due to a large number of requests.

That's really interesting. It sounds like DCC attempted some kind of update (firmware upgrade maybe?) to the Comms Hubs of multiple Energy Companies at 01:00hrs on 9th May ...and it went wrong! I'll contact Bulb tomorrow and post their response on here :-)

Srdl

Shell hasn’t received any communication from my Smart Meter since 26th May, Their website suggests it a big issue across the industry. As far as I’m concerned, it's their meter so their problem. I will bother to send readings in if it’s in my interest but certainly won’t be doing it monthly like they suggest.

rjmachin

Srdl said:

Shell hasn’t received any communication from my Smart Meter since 26th May, Their website suggests it a big issue across the industry. As far as I’m concerned, it's their meter so their problem. I will bother to send readings in if it’s in my interest but certainly won’t be doing it monthly like they suggest.

It is in your interest to send readings in each month so that you keep track of your bills going in to the winter months and don't receive an unexpected massive bill.  That way if you find you are using more, you can increase your payments to cover it and spread over a longer period