Email saying Aclara SMETS2 will stop working properly on 1st June 2026 and needs replacing?

Morning ​@Buzby, I’m glad to hear the appointment went ahead smoothly. 

​@Blastoise186 is right that the IHD should start working quite quickly in most circumstances. I’m wondering whether it might be working this morning?

24 hours later, IHD still not connecting.

36 hours, still not connecting.

I thought the IHD got its numbers direct from the meter, is my understanding correct ?

Why is it taking so long ?

​@Buzby this can happen sometimes. Give our Support Team a call - they should hopefully be able to re-pair the IHD for you. Let us know how you get on when you speak to them.

Quick question…

Up until this morning, I was using a cellular hub and Smart Meter without issue.

I also recently received the email telling me it had to be replaced. I live in the north of Scotland.

The engineer arrived this morning, removed the old cellular hub and replaced it with a long-range radio hub.

It has no signal. My Smart Meter is now dumb.

When asked why it wasn’t replaced with a 4g hub, I was told the engineer was instructed not to, as there is no signal in this area.

Right now, I’m looking out my window at the local EE transmitter, which is about 500 meters from me up a hill with a clear line-of-sight.

My mobile phone is currently using 5g and I’m getting speeds of 189 Mbps.

How do I determine whether this mast (which I cannot find on any database of transmitters) also provides 4g?

It took me over 2 years and the intervention of the Kate Forbes (then Deputy First Minister of Scotland) to get my Smart Meter in the first place. I don’t want to have to go through this again.

Here are the details of the transmitter, taken from the information plaque on the fence surrounding it…

Location:          

57.30662610471163, -4.822451782731471

Google maps:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/57%C2%B018'23.9%22N+4%C2%B049'20.8%22W/@57.3066271,-4.8233363,296m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m4!3m3!8m2!3d57.3066261!4d-4.8224518?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDYwMS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

Site Reference:              (78775) FOREST WEST OF TOMICH, IV4 7LT

Operator Details:           EE Ltd & Hutchison 3g UK Ltd

Freephone:                        0808 121 4 123

Can anyone help?

​@Firedog  ?

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Unfortunately EE do not have the contract for 4G smart metering, it works on the Vodafone network.

What is the Vodafone 4G signal like at your property?

It seems to be patchy in that area from their coverage map, which may be why you chose EE for your phone?

​@monster9 Thanks for the ping! Please have a look at my signature before reading this post 🙂

I think that the 4G contract is solely with Vodafone, so unless there’s a Vodafone antenna also on that EE mast, it’s may not be much use to you. The 3G SIMs used in SMETS1 meters in the Central and Southern CSP region used to be (I understand) provider-agnostic, making connection with the strongest signal, but the contract was made exclusively with VM/O2 for SMETS2. It’s sad that DCC have cancelled their contracts to provide 3G coverage anywhere north of Manchester.

Perhaps this Vodafone coverage map includes your location:
  
 

If you’re in the green or white areas, you’re probably not going to see a good (or any!) Vodafone 4G signal. This will have been taken into account when deciding what sort of hub to equip you with.

You could wait for the VWAN solution to be rolled out more widely, but that might be a long wait. Your best (and in the long run cheapest) bet might be to take matters into your own hands and steps to improve the LRR signal at your meter. £50, a bit of manual dexterity and a lot of patience (or help from a friendly neighbour or son-in-law) could increase the signal strength at your meter to a good enough level for comms to work - others have managed. See for example posts from GT1 in this long-standing thread: 

[Please take all that I have written with a large portion of sodium chloride.]

Thanks for your help ​@Firedog and ​@Nukecad.

​@monster9 do you have another appointment booked in at all? 

I do have another appointmernt booked in.
Looking forward to seeing how it goes.
I’ll update thereafter.

Thanks ​@monster9, we appreciate it.

Fingers crossed for a positive outcome with the appointment 🤞.