If there's no mobile signal in my area, should I still get a smart meter fitted?

Thanks.

Can I access this information as it might stop wasting OVO`s time doing an installation.

It’s only available if you talk to OVO by Phone or Live Chat iirc.

Either way, it can always be fixed later if needed.

Thanks for your comments Blastoise186. 

The DCC advise that coverage is available in my postcode area with a likelihood of high connectivity.  The old mill building does have thick walls. 

I read so many comments about poor signal.  Maybe it would be useful if the DCC could add the signal strength to their box.

I should add that the mill building has windows in the thick walls in the direction of the Signal and one 100mm brick internal wall.

OVO engineers advise inability to connect to Smartmeter in this building but I know some meters are working in Smart mode (not OVO).

There are some meters which can display signal strength 

It’s not simple to get to though, even if available and then there’s the interpretation to deal with. 

-48dBm suggests the meter is extremely close to the radio of something it’s connected to. Perhaps… Too close for it to be WAN...

This particular example is the HAN signal .. I was just showing an example

Thanks. I looked at the Alcara Online Manual and seems no facility to check WAN at the meter itself.

It was on their 1300 series .. 

Perhaps it wasn’t thought needed with the new generation meters 

Ah yeah, I should have said.

In the S1 days, ALL manufacturers except L+G handled the Comms Hub integration with the Electric Meter much more tightly than what you get on SMETS2. That’s why the S1 Meters often had that ability while S2 don’t.

Blastoise, You posted this on the forum:-

I found a SGM1311 in our communal meter room. Is that the WAN signal on the bottom right and should it be adequate for communicating with Energy Company? I guess all other meters will receive this level of signal.

That’s a SMETS1 Aclara. The signal strength for it is not applicable for SMETS2 in the Northern Territory - they use a totally different system up there.

Thanks. I’m confused. So is this the WAN signal (bars) in the bottom right. This is from the Northern Region.

I think what Blastoise is saying is that any new meter install would be SMETS 2 and so that signal is not relevant 

Ok, but are the bars shown on the Alcara smets1 above a WAN signal ?

This is one of the best resources for the whole system. Because each install is a unique case, it is difficult to be certain until the installation itself

Probably, although it’s not at all clear from either the images we’ve seen or the documentation for this type of meter whether it is in fact.

SMETS1 meters like the one in your picture connect to the smart network (WAN) by means of any mobile phone network that gave a good connection. So your picture might show that there was at the time a medium-strength signal in the 900MHz or 1800MHz band. This is absolutely no indication (yet) of whether your forthcoming SMETS2 meter in the Northern region would be able to connect to the WAN, which uses a completely different system in a much lower frequency band - for most customers 423MHz. The signal is able to carry over longer distances and is better at passing through obstacles than higher-frequency ones.

As other responders keep saying, the only way to find out whether a SMETS2 meter will be able to connect reliably to the WAN is to suck it and see.

Ok, I now understand and thanks for the explanation.

Is there a WAN checker (tool / instrument) to test the signal in the meter room for smets2 ?

If you’re in the north region and you’ve got a working SMETS1 then there is no benefit to changing to a SMETS2 - and you run the risk of not being able to connect to the inadequate Arqiva WAN network. If that happens then you’re just stuck in non-smart mode and there is nothing they can do. 

I have not got a Smartmeter and was trying to find a way to check the WAN in my communal meter room before changing to Smart.

Then you’ve nothing to lose, worst case scenario you just end up with a smart meter that doesn’t work smartly - which is just the same as an old meter.

I’ve not heard of a way to test the signal, but if the signal is 423Mhz then you could scan for that?

Because we have a poor mobile phone signal here, our smart meter does not send our readings to OVO.  Is it possible to connect our smart meter to our WIFI to sort this problem out?

The smart meter doesn’t use a standard mobile signal and can’t be substituted by WiFi either.

The main reason for both of these is to ensure security of data being transmitted and to prevent any rogue connections to your meter.

You may have already been through a check but there is a guide here 

I didn't know that. Thank you.

Another thought.…

Our timber-framed home has insulation in the walls that has metal in it, which is the reason our phone signal is weak inside the house - we live in a Faraday cage.  Our electric meter is in the under-stair cupboard. Is a meter available that an external antenna can be connected to?

There are meters which have an aerial attached by a lead - many are short cables so may not help.

There is a published list of meters and signal antennas but these are not always available

https://www.smartme.co.uk/smets-2