Hey, welcome back ​@Robert44 !

Those Kaifa flying leads are designed to work with ALL SMETS2 Smart Meters, regardless of manufacturer. The only meters they won’t work on is Gas Meters, but that’s because the Comms Hub only goes above the Electricity Meter anyway.

If you need one, the engineer will equip you with one during the install.

Hope that helps clarify things! :)

Thanks Blastoise. My electric meter certicate has expired and OVO want to replace the meter.

I live in an old seven floor converted apartment block ( North England) that has all eletric meters in a communal room on the ground floor. The building being old has thick walls. 

Occasionally I see meter installers who advise that getting a smartmeter working successfully here is pot luck because of the LRR signal, thick walls and postion of the meter in the room. That's why the query about flying leads.

I also read information about the new 4G Comms hub. My phone signal is -105dBm in the meter room. Do you think I could push my supplier to install the 4G hub ?

Thanks

No worries.

You can definitely ask about the 4G Comms Hub. Can’t promise they’ll say yes, but it never hurts to ask anyway. But the Flying Leads are useful for tight installs like in meter rooms as they allow the Comms Hub to be positioned somewhere a little less… Cramped...

Morning ​@Robert44 and thanks for your post.

I can see ​@Blastoise186 has come through with some great answers here. Have a chat with our Support Team and send them some photos of the meter and its location. We’ll need some good info from you so that it can all be passed onto our engineers to give it the best possible chance of being installed successfully. Chances are there are other apartments in the block that have smart meters.

This previous Forum topic explains why meters need to be exchanged when they’re at the end of their lifespan:

Here’s an article that gives some great info on what’s involved during the appointment, and what you can expect:

Just to let you know, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll be able to have an In Home Display, however you’ll still be able to check the smart meter usage data on the ‘Usage’ pages of your online account and app. You can find out more about this here:

I hope this helps . Please let us know how you get on with booking the appointment!

Cheers!

The scenario ​@Robert44 describes (seven floors up, meters on ground floor) is just the one that AltHAN was invented for. He didn’t mention whether gas was involved, but AltHAN would help getting gas meters connected, too. 

Following on from Blastoise186 advice 8 days ago and after a bit of misunderstanding with OVO customer services I finally talked to someone at OVO today who knew what I wanted ie., 4G Comms Hub (new for North UK), Flying lead if required and Alt-Han for IHD. 

I was advised my rquirement had been sent to Fieldforce and I requested if I could talk to them prior to installation to confirm the equipment.

Anyone know how to contact Fieldforce ?

​@Blastoise186 ​@Firedog​@Ben_OVO 

I have an upcoming smartmeter appointment. I would like to discuss this with Fieldforce. Does anyone know how to contact them ?

In addition anyone know absolute minimum 4G signal for sk2 hub.

Thanks

​@Robert44 I’m glad to hear you’ve got an appointment booked in, and that the person you spoke to had a good understanding.

To confirm, there’s not a direct line I can give you to Fieldforce, however our Metering expert ​@Lukepeniket_OVO may be able to discuss this with you. I’ve tagged him here but I’ll give him a shout internally for you as well.

Thanks ​@Ben_OVO  for the reply and including ​@Lukepeniket_OVO. I get good 4G internet on my mobile phone in the meter room. I am interested to know the working range dBm for the 4G Comms Hub. Thanks

No problem ​@Robert44, ​@Lukepeniket_OVO’s aware of the situation so should be in touch soon .

hey all!!

We currently arent installing 4G hubs but will be starting soon, with 2G/3G likely to be sunsetted by 2032. In this situation I believe the engineer can try a South/Central comms hub. We do have mesh/Aerial setups aswell so im hoping this will help this situation. 

Like Blastoise said Flying leads assist with space issues but absolutely can be used to put the CH somewhere with more signal but this is a case by case basis.

If gas is involved and its outside of 20m away I would say Althan would need to be installed aswell, Althan is Data over Power communication (think TP Link devices).

Thanks ​@Lukepeniket_OVO, ​@Ben_OVO . Do you mean install the 2G/3G Comms Hub because I have been notified that this will be withdrawn soon. If that is the case then I might as well wait for the 4G Hub.

​@Robert44 Yes i do, itll be withdrawn starting 2032, if a 2G/3G is installed now then in future we can do a Trust Centre Swap Out which means just swapping the comms hub out. Ofcourse as always th choice is up to you =]

Thanks ​@Lukepeniket_OVO, ​@Ben_OVO . So from my limited knowledge 3G will be switched off this year and 2G will be withdrawn starting 2032 and that is why existing Smartmeters can still operate.

I am in the north of England and have requested OVO not to install LRR Comms Hub because I live in an old building block of flats with a communal meter room and it is pot luck if anyone can get a LRR signal. I have discussed this with OVO.

Do Fieldforce carry the 2G hubs to try this solution for installation in the Noth of England regions?

(not confident what Fieldforce will fit - no contact allowed)

we do, we follow a no WAN tree whereas we ‘should’ attempt a LRR first but if that doesnt work we will go to the Cellular equipment to use.

Thanks ​@Lukepeniket_OVO so OVO would fit Cellular in the North of England ?

Yup! If needs be, that is possible. IIRC they’ll still try LRR first, but Cellular is now the backup option if that fails. The engineer will most likely carry both types in the van.