Comms Problems with Aclara Smart Meters

Qyburn

Hi,

Is anyone aware of ongoing communication problems with Aclara meters, starting mid June? 

In my case the first thing I found was Bright stopped working on the 15th, showing the error "We currently can't show your recent daily electricity usage. please try later".

At that time I tried "n3rgy" and it was still working, but now has not been able collect data since 24th June.

Octopus seemed to be OK but has started showing 24 hour gaps. Three times now it gets only 00:00 and 00:30 then misses the next 48 readings before resuming at 01:00 next day.

I have I registered with loop but it's too soon to see if that works.

The problem started at exactly the time the export MPAN was enrolled by Octopus. However Bright think that maybe a coincidence, and suspect a general problem ..

"That Export MPAN may just be a coincidence. We've had at least half a dozen people in the past few days report that their data has stopped - and everyone has an Aclara electricity meter and apparently the same model as yours."

Ildhund

Yes. I know of several users in the same situation, including me.

I don't think it's been established that the fault lies with Aclara meters. It's more likely that the communications hub (mine is a WNC SKU1) is at fault, and that's DCC's headache to remedy. n3rgy say that their attempts to access meter data are being stymied because their credentials aren't being accepted. Hugo say the same.
 
Because DCC don't have any contact with consumers - only suppliers - we're limited in what we can do. My supplier (OVO) isn't particularly bothered, because the data that the 'other users' are collecting and providing is available on their account website. 

Hugo maintain that refusing access to an authorized third party is a breach of the standard licence conditions. That may well be true, but it doesn't get us any closer to solving the problem. And DCC are notoriously slow at fixing things - they do have more than 30 million meters to deal with.

At least you know you're not alone.

Qyburn

Ildhund said:

I don't think it's been established that the fault lies with Aclara meters. It's more likely that the communications hub (mine is a WNC SKU1) is at fault, and that's DCC's headache to remedy. 

Our comms hub is EDMI, using the wireless network, rather than cellular.

Reed_Richards

What should happen if there is a loss of comms is that the gaps should fill in from the stored data on the meter once comms is restored.  There is a post here from a month or two ago where that happened.  In my case I lost a block of data for 12 days in March that was never restored.  I don't know what happened then and fortunately the problem has not recurred.  My meter is made by Kaifa, 

Qyburn

Loop still hasn't been able to read anything. Octopus is continuing to retrieve data but it gaps, always exactly 48 readings missing from 01:00 to 00:30 next day. Some of the gaps have filled but not all. A real pain because I deliberately charged from th grid on the really cheap day.

Just as an aside, apart from the recent change that's broken Bright, N3rgy and Loop, it must be a really crappy protocol to leave these data gaps. Or a really crappy implementation.

NedS

Are your meter lights flashing normally? Mine flashes 3 green lights (including the WAN light) every 5-6 seconds when working normally.

Have you spoken with Octopus? When I've had missing data in the past, a quick call with Octopus got it resolved - they were able to remotely get the data flowing again, and then re-request data for missing days. It took a couple calls, but they were pretty good at getting it resolved. Mine is also a Aclara SMETS2 meter, in southern UK.

Qyburn

Only two comms LEDs on mine as far as I can see, HAN and WAN both blink green every couple,e of seconds.

I've been dealing with Octopus by email, they keep saying they're putting thorough a request and it does appear they're filling some but not all the gaps. Back to my previous comment, a crappy protocol or implementation that needs manual intervention before it retries.

Interesting that the gaps in export and import don't coincide, surely if it was a comms issue it would affect both at the same time.

And still nothing to explain why all third party services have been stopped working more or less simultaneously. 

Ildhund

Qyburn said:

Our comms hub is EDMI, using the wireless network, rather than cellular.

OK, thanks. So much for my CH theory. If it's also affecting EDMI hubs on LRR, then the ball is either in Aclara's or DCC's court. n3rgy did tell me that "a smart meter determines which credentials it uses to authenticate requests based on those held in prescribed 'trust anchor cells' stored by the meter, for these different party roles." [Party here includes suppliers, DNOs and 'other users' like nr3gy]

Does anyone know how to contact DCC to ask them what's going on? Neither n3rgy nor Hugo seem to be getting anywhere. My query to Aclara is outstanding ... 

mmmmikey

Ildhund said:

Qyburn said:

Our comms hub is EDMI, using the wireless network, rather than cellular.

OK, thanks. So much for my CH theory. If it's also affecting EDMI hubs on LRR, then the ball is either in Aclara's or DCC's court. n3rgy did tell me that "a smart meter determines which credentials it uses to authenticate requests based on those held in prescribed 'trust anchor cells' stored by the meter, for these different party roles." [Party here includes suppliers, DNOs and 'other users' like nr3gy]

Does anyone know how to contact DCC to ask them what's going on? Neither n3rgy nor Hugo seem to be getting anywhere. My query to Aclara is outstanding ... 

Thanks for your posts which help paint the picture, be great if you can keep us updated with anything else you find on this.

This sounds like an issue somewhere between Aclara and DCC. I'd bet on an Aclara firmware issue related to authentication and you can bet that they're fully aware and working on it alongside DCC.

DCC don't engage directly with members of the public and I suspect it's the same for Aclara. That's probably a good thing IMHO. Much better that they're focusing their attention on fixing the problem than trying to explain it to hoardes of angry customers most of whom won't understand the techie details anyway. Ultimately it's your energy supplier's meter and your route to getting this fixed is via them.

As far as the missing data is concerned, whether it is recoverable is going to depend on where the problem lies. If this is a comms issue (i.e. moving the data from the meter to it's destination) then as long as the data is on the meter it should be possible to recover it. But if the meter is so badly broken that the data isn't there any more then it will be lost forever. Properly working meters do store the data for some time but the key words there are "properly working" - the communication protocols will happily fill in any gaps as long as the data is there, but if the meter's stuffed it's stuffed and no communication protocol can do anything about that.

IIRC the Octopus T's & C's allow them to charge you on the basis of estimates in the event of missing data and I woud imagine it's the same for other vendors.

PHoppers

I'm another that's been having issues in June and July. I think I'd previously lost maybe 5 days data in the last 12 months to June and then in the last 2 months I've probably lost 5 weeks data. I've not had any data since 22nd July.  
The little lefthand comms light is always flashing every 5 secs, which I'm told means it's connected (flashing every 2 secs means it isn't), so it should be communicating. 
I've communicated with Octopus a few times by phone and email, but don't feel I'm getting anywhere. They keep telling me not to worry the data is stored on the meter and they can retrieve it. i also got an email saying, "A quick update from here, we have now obtained the missing data and been able to bill you upto the end of June",  and then they charged me full Flexible Octopus tariff (rather than Agile) for the missing dates that they claimed to have obtained, so clearly they haven't obtained the missing data.
I'm north of the M62, so Arqiva radio comms

mmmmikey

PHoppers said:

I'm another that's been having issues in June and July. I think I've lost maybe 5 days data in the last 12 months to June and then in the last 2 months I've probably lost 5 weeks data. I've not had any data since 22nd July.  
The little lefthand comms light is always flashing every 5 secs, which I'm told means it's connected (flashing every 2 secs means it isn't), so it should be communicating. 
I've communicated with Octopus a few times by phone and email, but don't feel I'm getting anywhere. They keep telling me not to worry the data is stored on the meter and they can retrieve it. i also got an email saying, "A quick update from here, we have now obtained the missing data and been able to bill you upto the end of June",  and then they charged me full Flexible Octopus tariff (rather than Agile) for the missing dates that they claimed to have obtained, so clearly they haven't obtained the missing data.
I'm north of the M62, so Arqiva radio comms

Is it possible that they have the missing data but there's an issue with the billing system, and/or they haven't processed it correctly? You can check that the data is recoverable by using one of the various other apps (Hugo, Loop, Octopus Watch, etc.) that use it. Also, again IIRC, I think there is (or was?) a disclaimer about not promising to re-bill even if they do recover the missing data, somewhere in the T's and C's.

BTW - do you have an Aclara meter?