New Pay As You Go smart meter needs another upgrade?

Hi ​@MagsMcLean ,

That’s… Really weird…

Could you show us the meter please? That’ll help us give you better advice.

Thanks

Hmm…

Lemme grab a ​@Lukepeniket_OVO for this. :)

hey, essentially yes we do need to come out and exchange the comms hub =] please book in =]

long story short is we installed 2g/3g hubs to overcome the RTS problem but its now created a new problem which will be sorted by installing a 4g hub. worth noting that it only affects smart communications come 31/12 if not swapped

Thank you all for your responses. I very much appreciate the explanation.

So I called the number on the email, who passed me over to PAYG, who said the Smart Meter Install team will call me back (I think that’s what he called them).

Why not just give me the direct line to the correct department? I explained the whole 2/3G to 4G upgrade to both of them and they both went ‘oh yes, know what you’re talking about, I’ll pass you on’.

Now I’m going to have to answer every spam call that comes in until the team calls me back

​@Lukepeniket_OVO is this a small issue in isolated areas? Mainly relating to the RTS issue? 

Seems like something that needs fixing/changing before December 31 - this is the first post I've seen mentioning it. Has everyone potentially affected been sent letters by OVO? 40ish days left given work diaries... Well, doesn't bode well. Especially as communication is one of the selling points for smart meters. If it is going to affect many, many hubs installed over a certain period of time and geographical location - then will OVO be prioritising and fixing ASAP?

Just curious as the OP mentioned it and I'd not seen anyone mention similar. 

Would be nice if there was (is there?) a way to discern whether a hub is using 2/3 or 4G by looking at it.

Any information appreciated ✌️

Howdy ​@Johnny Thunders ,

From what I’ve seen, the Forum Moderators are working on some content for this at the moment - we should have it live soon.

HOWEVER… I can tell you instantly whether you’ve got a 2G/3G Hub or a 4G one if you’d like? If you’d like me to do this, please provide us with a photo of your existing setup and we can check it for ya.

Thanks!

(Oh and this was also my 9000th comment!)

I know you asked Luke, but I’d just point out that this thread is specifically about cellular communications hubs (CH) installed in a few cases in Northern Scotland when RTS meters controlling THTC tariffs were exchanged for SMETS2 smart meters. Authority for these installations was first given in the spring of 2025. It will only have been customers in locations where the Arqiva long-wave radio signal was inadequate who had this type of CH fitted. So the answer to your question is probably Yes.  

I can imagine that there are in fact not very many cases. Are you in Northern Scotland, recently migrated from RTS with THTC to a smart meter, and with a cellular CH installed between March and July 2025? 

It’s possible that this type of CH was also fitted during that period when the meter exchange wasn’t triggered by the RTS switch-off, e.g. simply replacing a faulty or obsolete meter. 

Um, thanks ​@Firedog for the input.

Us awful lay people didn't realise the nuance of the acronym 'THTC' equating to a post described as expressly: "specifically about cellular communications hubs (CH) installed in a few cases in Northern Scotland when RTS meters controlling THTC tariffs were exchanged for SMETS2 smart meters."

Obviously, in a discussion forum where the OP wasn't denoted as such a niche topic, us terrible randoms will pop up with questions. Won't be doing that again.

✌️

Well, the OP started with “I finally got my smart meter on 11th July this year - PAYG for THTC - . ” It came to light within a day or so that the problem was with the specific type of CH installed in those few cases. 

If you’re not in the affected area, you have nothing to worry about. It’s always a good idea to read the question at the top before submitting a comment to a thread.

I read the question - there's nothing in "New smart meter needs an upgrade" that denotes marginal Scottish customers. Again, the acronym isn't obvious to lay people. But carry on doing you. 

✌️

this thread is specifically about cellular communications hubs (CH) installed in a few cases in Northern Scotland when RTS meters controlling THTC tariffs were exchanged for SMETS2 smart meters

To be fair, I didn’t realise when I asked, that this issue is specific to THTC. Total Heating Total Control is a tariff I believe to be unique to the North of Scotland (not that the customer has much control at all).

That there were problems with the long range signal, necessitating a temporary fix, comes as no surprise whatsoever. All the lumps and bumps between here and Flatland have played merry hell with radio and TV signals all my life, and mobile signals don’t fare much better!

Still waiting to hear back from the Team. I’ll brave the phone line again tomorrow afternoon if I haven’t heard by then. Only 5 weeks to go before my smart meter becomes dumb.