What makes a smart meter go offline?

squirrelpie

I took a reading from the meter this morning to submit to Octopus, and I noticed whilst I was doing that, that the LEDs on the comms hub are all blinking green once every five seconds (apart from the gas LED).

I think that means the comms hub is working again for whatever reason, and in particular the WAN is working. I have no idea why.

TimeLord1

I think they go into a sleep mode to conserve energy and then become active to send the data. Saves whatever internal batteries they're running on.

QrizB

I took a reading from the meter this morning to submit to Octopus, and I noticed whilst I was doing that, that the LEDs on the comms hub are all blinking green once every five seconds (apart from the gas LED).

I think that means the comms hub is working again for whatever reason, and in particular the WAN is working. I have no idea why.

If it looks like it's working, has your HAN come back up? Can your IHD connect? And is there any recent smart data appearing on your online account?

tfhnota

I don't think the comms hub uses batteries for running, it is run off the main input before the meter (the gas meter does have a battery). Good to see that it came back to life, may have been the provider giving it a remote shove.

Scot_39

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81864842#Comment_81864842

Comms hubs (normally mounted atop electric meters) get their main power supply - 12V DC iirc (the dcc spec iirc says optional plug AC pin connections forbidden on comms hub) - direct from the electricity meter or iirc via a cable from the meter for the few that are mounted remotely.

And they flash leds every 5 sec to show alive and operational.

Suppliers or others via DCC can send messages to meters at any time - including requests for measurements - at any time of day or night. So yes they arent actively transmitting data on WAN "continously". But are moreso on HAN - every 10 sec or so for electric e.g. to ihd - and every 30min for gas iirc.

Only the han comms module and lcd panels on gas meters are 100% battery powered.

squirrelpie

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81864842#Comment_81864842

Maybe you're thinking of gas meters? Electricity meters and associated comms hubs are powered from the mains and don't use batteries.

If it looks like it's working, has your HAN come back up? Can your IHD connect? And is there any recent smart data appearing on your online account?

Yes the HAN light is slow flashing. No the IHD and CAD need reconnecting. No there's no data on my Octopus account or in the Bright app.

Previously the provider of my CAD (an Other User) was not able to contact my meter to recommission their CAD, because the WAN was down. I've asked them to try again now, but I don't know the result.

squirrelpie

I've heard back from the provider of my CAD now. They say they tried the Join instruction but it didn't work. So it seems that the comms hub can say the WAN is OK when in fact it is not? Anybody know exactly what the WAN light implies?

Scot_39

https://www.smartdcc.co.uk/media/kdged1me/communications-hub-supporting-information-v20.pdf

Justs says wan connected.

That could be anything from say just basic carrier network detected.

like say my router detects the adsl link - before my isp grants my access to internet over that carrier via their servers - often several seconds later after reboot.

i wonder as it took suppliers days or in past weeks to connect to a new meter if it might have been too early to try reconnecting the cad.

have you asked your supplier to try and connrct to tge meternow wan flashing healthy ?

Reed_Richards

When my comms hub lost its communication to the WAN, then the WAN light would still flash at 5 second intervals most of the time. But every so often it would flash more frequently (every 2 seconds or so) indicating that it was trying to establish a connection. It would seem that the WAN is only okay if the light flashes at 5 second intervals all the time.

Scot_39

medium frequency flash is iirc from link above trying to connect.

The mix probably a sign your borderline on signal strength.

An off hub antennae or mesh hub might help rather than direct to dcc via local main cellular mast if your supplier not already tried in the south ?

Not sure their's a mesh vn for Arqiva LRR - anyone ?

a bit like when digital tv becomes for ex noisy or heavily pixilated/streaky before failing in bad weather / wrong atmospherics at the edge of transmitter range.