Smart meter lost comms, effect on Charge Anytime credits

Hi again ​@TomThumb,

I’ve heard back from our Smart team, who’ve confirmed:

It looks like the issue here is signal issues. If we went down the route of another appointment we would just face these issues again. It may go in and out of comms but there’s not much we can do here. Once 4G comms hubs are fully rolled out that might be an option in the future. This seems to be one of these in-between sites where we can't consider it no WAN, as we have managed to get a meter commissioned there, but at the same time it just drops out of comms.

Not good news really I’m afraid - it seems like this might be to do with the area you’re living in having poor signal.

Cheers for the update ​@Ben_OVO 

Prior to November 2025, for many years I had no real issues with my smart meters communicating over the network.

So the 3G switch off / network tweaks from the Three - Vodafone merger are possible causes of lost comms, especially if my connection was borderline to begin with.

Either way, it sounds it’s out of Ovo’s hands for now.

Now back to my original post at the start of this thread:
If under the current conditions my smart meters don’t regain a stable / any connection back to the smart network,

What are the implications of not having a working smart meter against the use of Charge Anytime / ovo beyond  etc.

Tom…

​@TomThumb Sorry I can’t help with regard to your smart-meter-dependent schemes.
  

DB = Dual Band, i.e. a choice of high-frequency and not-so-high-frequency. You know that the lower the frequency, the longer the wavelength and the longer the wavelength, the further the penetration. That’s how people around the world could follow Test Match Special via the BBC’s 1500m 500kW long-wave transmissions from Droitwich (RIP). So while the ordinary single-band comms link is fine for most dual-fuel customers, the 2.4GHz band it uses doesn’t have the reach for those whose meters are further apart or have obstacles in between. 850MHz signals have much greater penetrating power. 

Hi ​@TomThumb,

Please could you confirm whether you use Charge Anytime through a compatible car or charger, and also which Beyond initiatives you’re signed up to? Once we know this, we’ll be able to get some accurate info about the effects of the smart meter not communicating.

 Hi ​@Ben_OVO Highlighting an example 

Taken from Charge Anytime t&c’s

5.1 To be eligible for Charge Anytime, you’ll need to meet (and continue to meet) the following criteria (Eligibility Criteria):

5.1.4 You have a smart meter that communicates half-hourly data to OVO – currently the main types of smart meters that work with Charge Anytime are SMETS2 meters by any manufacturer, and SMETS1 meters manufactured by Secure;

If you also take in to account that A Little Help With Your Heating (although now ended) / Power Move, any new incentive to save energy, all rely on a working smart meter.

At present none of my 3 meters are running smart.

My extra meter, a traditional gas meter, will never have a working smart meter, due to the limitations & inherent design flaws in the smart metering network (but that’s a different story)

To date, I haven’t missed out on any Charge Anytime (CA) credits & I have been rewarded for the A Little Help With Your Heating event, but no such reward for power move, as Ovo has not received enough data.

As my Hyundai Kona is on the beta list for CA, my now relegated Ohme charger runs in dumb mode,

so all smart charging is via vehicle integration. 

But it is unclear if I will continue to benefit from the current CA price point.

Tom…