Scotland smart meter, no Arquiva signal

​@Kinnesswood I'm going to tag ​@Blastoise186 to see if he can remember what the right solution for this is for Scotland. When we get our Knowledge Base up and running it will be one of the subjects on there. Hopefully we can get our expert on line for you soon.

Peter

Hmmm…

This is going… To take some time...

Hey ​@Kinnesswood,

I’m sorry to hear about the issues you’ve been having with getting a smart meter installed. 

Regarding the incomplete job, have they scheduled a return visit with the correct equipment after mentioning they brought "English" comms hubs?

You can raise a complaint by contacting Customer Support, you can find out more about our Complaint Procedure here.

I already have a formal complaint in process. Unless something big changes there is no ‘correct equipment ‘ that will work in my house. The normal Scottish ones don't (I've had 4-5 all failed), and OVO wouldn't let him install the English comms hub

No solution huh, as I thought

It’s not that there isn’t a solution we can recommend, it’s just that sometimes it takes longer than we’d like. Please bear with us - we’re not ignoring you!

Ok, after digging into this some more…

The new Comms Hubs are ready for use in the Northern Territory. However, they are currently prioritised for use with RTS → Smart upgrades only due to the critical need to get those jobs done urgently. Once those are done, these new units will become available for everyone else, such as yourself.

Please hang in there for a bit longer.

Some helpful advice here from Blastoise. I wonder if ​@Lukepeniket_OVO has anything further to add?

​@Kinnesswood hello, are you able to send a photo of your electricity metering setup and the area surrounding it?

I think the problem is that I live in an 18th century house with stone walls that are about 60cm thick

Hope this pic is what you wanted ​@Lukepeniket_OVO 

Either that or there simply isn’t signal in your area. The DCC contract only requires Arquiva to reach a certain coverage and many properties just fall outside that area.

The new dual-mode communication hubs will reduce the number of these situations as they will be able to pick up 4G networks in locations that the long-range radio does not cover.

Even then there will still be a small number of properties that have both no LRR or 4G and - to start with at least - they will still be left stuck. However because 4G is obviously used for other things there is now more likely to be expansion of coverage in the future, whereas there is no reason for Arquiva to expand LRR coverage.

I am in the same situation as you, no WAN coverage despite multiple attempts and am just going to wait until all the RTS switch-off palava has died down and will then request another attempt with a 4G-compatible comms hub. 

Thanks for sending that photo across ​@Kinnesswood, ​@Lukepeniket_OVO will take a look & update you on this topic 🙂

hey all, 

Photo is great and i was hoping to be able to offer some sort of insight to be able to try to get it done, unfortunately it is as feared and unlikely to work. I cant comment if a south/central Comms Hub would work other than to call up customer services again and ask them if they would allow that type of comms hub to be used. Sorry!!

So given the RTS network is being shutv down at the end of June, presumably there is a big effort now to replace those meters with the 4G ones? And then from July onwards they will be available to the rest of us?

It’s roughly that way IIRC.

September is the final deadline before the signal gets killed for good.

That’s not likely. Kinnesswood is apparently well served by the Craigkelly TV transmitter near Burntisland, so it’s likely that the SMWAN connection is also adequate.
  

The problem is likely to be local obstruction, like those stone walls. If the meter is on the wrong (i.e. north) side of the house, you’re probably out of luck. There is the possibility of mounting a flying lead, which makes it possible to move the communications hub with its internal antenna up to 1.5m away from the meter, e.g. higher up, on the other side of the wall or even just outside the cupboard to improve the chances of being able to connect. You might also check what mobile phone networks you can connect to with your smart phone down in that cupboard.  

The meter is on the north side if the house think, how could I get get the flying lead installed?

That’s up to the installing engineer. If you think it’s possible to mount the communications hub somewhere not more than a metre or so from the meter where it’s not so hidden from the signal, document your proposal with a sketch map and photos, then contact support via web chat to ask them to add the evidence to your account for the visiting engineer to see. He could then assess the likelihood of success and make sure to have an FL with him when he comes. 

​@Firedog, ​@Blastoise186, ​@Lukepeniket_OVO thanks for all your help with this one.

​@Kinnesswood this sounds like a really frustrating saga and I hope it can be resolved soon for you. Let us know how you get on following ​@Firedog’s advice!

The fact that the Advanced Resolvers are now involved can only be a Good Thing. They can make direct contact with the internal teams involved, so they’re much better placed than the foot soldiers of Support to find a way forward. Good luck!

​@Kinnesswood that’s brilliant news - I’m happy to hear this has been escalated properly. Let us know when you get an appointment, and how it goes!

Got an appointment by text for June 6th, so will update this thread after I see what happens then!