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

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