Vodafone tower coverage causing power meter readings to not connect with monitoring company

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › Vodafone tower coverage causing power meter readings to not connect with monitoring company

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raytaylor

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#2460731 13-Apr-2020 19:01

clive100:

I love a good conspiracy theory ! Where do I join ?

Repeat after me....

- Dihydrogen monoxide in the city water is to activate the autism in the MMR vaccine
- Flouride in the city water is to activate the autism in the polio vaccine
- Chemtrails in the sky are to make you vote for the green party
- 5g is to activate the covid 19 in the common flu

Now simply go forth and spread the news.

Oh slight modification.... we are now advising customers to skip covid 19 as covid 20 will be avaliable soon and has the latest updates and patches so it is both faster and much more effective.

Ray Taylor

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raytaylor

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#2460732 13-Apr-2020 19:07

I imagine the metering company has an agreement with vodafone, which would incentive vodafone into keeping service available.

Someone once told me vodafone has more devices on its network than people. Not sure if its true or not.
But it would seem silly for vodafone to be thinking about shutting down their 2g network - though 3g scada modems have been avaliable for many years now.

It wouldnt be far fetched to assume that vodafone are reusing the channels for more modern protocols but keeping a small slice of spectrum available for older 2g devices. I cant see them reducing coverage any time soon. But its possible that there are slight changes in coverage where a modification is made and its still considered to be like-for-like.

The thought that it worked for 9 years, then stopped, and putting an external antenna on it didnt work makes me think its more a meter / modem fault than a coverage fault.

I may have forgotten but has op said their vodafone coverage around the house changed recently?
Are we sure the meter is a 2g-only device?
Different regions have different metering systems/makes/models.

Ray Taylor

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clive100

236 posts

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#2460750 13-Apr-2020 19:34

raytaylor:

I imagine the metering company has an agreement with vodafone, which would incentive vodafone into keeping service available.

Someone once told me vodafone has more devices on its network than people. Not sure if its true or not.
But it would seem silly for vodafone to be thinking about shutting down their 2g network - though 3g scada modems have been avaliable for many years now.

It wouldnt be far fetched to assume that vodafone are reusing the channels for more modern protocols but keeping a small slice of spectrum available for older 2g devices. I cant see them reducing coverage any time soon. But its possible that there are slight changes in coverage where a modification is made and its still considered to be like-for-like.

The thought that it worked for 9 years, then stopped, and putting an external antenna on it didnt work makes me think its more a meter / modem fault than a coverage fault.

I may have forgotten but has op said their vodafone coverage around the house changed recently?
Are we sure the meter is a 2g-only device?
Different regions have different metering systems/makes/models.

Totally agree that it is Vodafone's best interest to maintain the 2G network which is what I understand is the standard used by my meter originally installed by Genesis in 2011.

I was advised the modem had also been changed at the same time as aerial installed. However the question of sim card within meter/modem being faulty has also been raised elsewhere as possible cause of lost signal. I have requested that EK check with the monitoring company re sim card and should hear back after Easter.

My cellphone signal (3G) remains the same with no reception issues so no change noted there.

@raytaylor I do like your conspiracy theories but wonder if Covid 19.1 should precede Covid 20.0 ?

hio77

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Lizard Networks

#2460771 13-Apr-2020 20:31

Force your VF device down to GSM and double check it's still working fine given your 3G results..

Starting to sound a little bit like the tech has put it in the too hard basket rather than troubleshoot...

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clive100

236 posts

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#2460796 13-Apr-2020 20:52

hio77:

Force your VF device down to GSM and double check it's still working fine given your 3G results..

Starting to sound a little bit like the tech has put it in the too hard basket rather than troubleshoot...

Yes I tried that but I am with 2Degrees for cellphone & they are 3G only. Also agree that perhaps the technician has missed something.

snnet

1410 posts

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#2460810 13-Apr-2020 21:39

I think it may actually be turning off / not be as strong as it was (2g signal) - When I upgraded my cpap machine which uses vodafone they told me that I won't have an issue with this one reporting because it's compatible with 3g/4g now not 2g and that they had been told 2g was being turned off

boosacnoodle

963 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2460817 13-Apr-2020 22:19

PolicyGuy:

So now you have a situation where some retailers have installed smart** meters but if the customer changes and the new customer has a relationship with a different retailer, the meter-owning retailer sometimes won't release interval data to the new retailer, who has to send a meter reader just like in the 'good old days', so no smart meter benefit to the customer, and extra cost to the retailer.

Given that the retailer doesn't own the meter, why should they get to read the meter for free? Just because it's digital doesn't mean there's no cost associated with processing the data. I get that it's not a perfect system but what is the logic here. What I don't understand is why it costs upwards of $100 a year for all of time just for metering services alone. I already paid for the meter when I built my house, then I paid again when they switched it over to do a simple tariff change (which should be possible as a remote option, but these meters are beyond dumb so they cannot). The meters only cost a few hundred from memory, so why is the cost forever?

Re: Electricity meters last for decades and decades, and the maintenance processes are scaled around that fact.

That may well be the case, but surely there was some consideration from the outset that the radios are certainly not going to be operating using the same wireless technology in 5 or 10 years, let alone 30. Seems poorly thought out. Surely there must be another solution.

clive100:

Yes I tried that but I am with 2Degrees for cellphone & they are 3G only. Also agree that perhaps the technician has missed something.

You can pick-up a SIM from the supermarket or dairy next time you are there for $2 or so. Quick and easy test.

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clive100

236 posts

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#2460880 14-Apr-2020 08:56

Assuming the 2G signal or lack of is the problem then who is responsible to change the meter or internal modem to suit the 3G/4G network ?

As previously mentioned someone is being paid to collect & manage the data from these meters which the power retailer is paying & that cost is passed on the consumer. So am I effectively now paying a rental or maintenance charge for my smart meter that isn't working. In either case I am no longer getting the benefit of it & having to change retailer as a consequence.

Electric Kiwi is my cheapest & preferred power provider & by being effectively forced to change retailer will result is overall higher electricity cost to me. I would sooner pay a reasonable cost for the meter to be upgraded to 3G/4G as I would recoup that cost over time by staying with Electric Kiwi instead of changing to a dearer retailer.

browned

636 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2466055 20-Apr-2020 12:38

I had issues with so called signal strengh and to start with I agreed. Our situation evolved like this.

Moved into new house, previous home owner was on EK, we moved having also being with EK prior, we noticed once we arrived at the new house the phone signal strength was rubbish, but 2g was ok. After about 2 months EK emailed me saying that they could not provide power as my meter was not working. I suggested they get someone to look at it as the previous owner had no issues. If I remember nothing happened for a while and then another email, I spoke to them and said that the previous owner had no issues so it would be better if they had someone look at the meter.

I have a camera and noticed someone at home one day, went to see them (I live 10 mins from work), they said they are replacing the modem? and installing an aerial. Apparently this worked for 1 day. After that nothing and another month, another email and phone call to EK. I am a stubborn b%^&*(. I started taking photos of my meter at 6am and 7am, hour of power, and logging the details into an excel spreadsheet. Next time EK emailed that I had to move I forwarded the spreadsheet and said I had photos of the meter as well. Another month and another phone call, etc etc etc

In the end on a call one day I told them that my phone was set to 2G only and the call is awesome and clear, I was standing right next to the meter, no signal issues, I do not believe the issue is with the signal strengh as it worked for 1 day with a new modem and aerial and with the previous owner. I was not going to move to a different company until they had replaced the meter with a new one and confirmed that the issue was still happening. This of course required a very diplomatic conversation suggesting that the meter replacement company might be the problem. Once we all agreed that the meter needed to be replaced the rest is history.

New meter, aerial, no issue ever since. 4 months worth of spreadsheet and meter photos. phone calls, emails, all taking around 6-7 months to resolve in the end.

My main suggestion is the call them with a phone set to 2g only and if the call is ok then if you are standing right beside the meter it kind of proves there is no reception issues. If you work in IT that is also helpful. I believe they might be rolling out newer meters with 3g in them, if you can confirm that the meter is 2g insist they replace it, if it is a new 3g one get a Vodafone sure signal as it should be able to cover the power meter and your phones.

BTW this was all no cost to me.

Good luck.

snnet

1410 posts

Uber Geek

#2466060 20-Apr-2020 12:46

browned:

I had issues with so called signal strengh and to start with I agreed. Our situation evolved like this.

Moved into new house, previous home owner was on EK, we moved having also being with EK prior, we noticed once we arrived at the new house the phone signal strength was rubbish, but 2g was ok. After about 2 months EK emailed me saying that they could not provide power as my meter was not working. I suggested they get someone to look at it as the previous owner had no issues. If I remember nothing happened for a while and then another email, I spoke to them and said that the previous owner had no issues so it would be better if they had someone look at the meter.

I have a camera and noticed someone at home one day, went to see them (I live 10 mins from work), they said they are replacing the modem? and installing an aerial. Apparently this worked for 1 day. After that nothing and another month, another email and phone call to EK. I am a stubborn b%^&*(. I started taking photos of my meter at 6am and 7am, hour of power, and logging the details into an excel spreadsheet. Next time EK emailed that I had to move I forwarded the spreadsheet and said I had photos of the meter as well. Another month and another phone call, etc etc etc

In the end on a call one day I told them that my phone was set to 2G only and the call is awesome and clear, I was standing right next to the meter, no signal issues, I do not believe the issue is with the signal strengh as it worked for 1 day with a new modem and aerial and with the previous owner. I was not going to move to a different company until they had replaced the meter with a new one and confirmed that the issue was still happening. This of course required a very diplomatic conversation suggesting that the meter replacement company might be the problem. Once we all agreed that the meter needed to be replaced the rest is history.

New meter, aerial, no issue ever since. 4 months worth of spreadsheet and meter photos. phone calls, emails, all taking around 6-7 months to resolve in the end.

My main suggestion is the call them with a phone set to 2g only and if the call is ok then if you are standing right beside the meter it kind of proves there is no reception issues. If you work in IT that is also helpful. I believe they might be rolling out newer meters with 3g in them, if you can confirm that the meter is 2g insist they replace it, if it is a new 3g one get a Vodafone sure signal as it should be able to cover the power meter and your phones.

BTW this was all no cost to me.

Good luck.

Just a little note to add here though - if the issue was not resolved by replacing the meter you could have expected to have been charged for the saga of replacing the meter at the very least. Just want to make that clear - they discourage changing meters on the fly this way

clive100

236 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#2466124 20-Apr-2020 13:00

I have tried this same approach. 2G signal of cell phone at the meter box is typically around -89 dBm 12asu at the same time the smart meter shows sig 14 which equates to -85 dBm. According to Vodafone engineer this is ample signal for the data communication to maintain communication with the monitoring company. The meter has occasionally displayed sig 99 which is the smart meters way of saying it's not currently able to detect signal & at the same time a 2G phone at the meter box is showing signal @ -85 dBm (14). Obviously this implies a fault within the meter / modem installation.

Electric Kiwi are now pursuing the monitoring company to arrange a further onsite visit. I plan to be home when that occurs.

clive100

236 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#2466130 20-Apr-2020 13:06

@browned

Thank you for your info. It is much appreciated.

clive100

236 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#2478753 7-May-2020 15:55

A final update.

Electric Kiwi have been brilliant & kept the pressure on VectorAMS regarding meter communication or lack there of.

The modem within the smart meter has been replaced, I was told this had already been done but now informed it was just cleaned & reset which achieved absolutely nothing.

All seems OK now with new modem & I am happy that I should now be able to stay with my preferred power company.

Apologies to Vodafone as the 2G network here is rock solid & was incorrectly being blamed as the cause of the fault.

If anyone else is in a similar situation with Meter being flagged non communitive & told to change suppliers, I would suggest following up with your retailer and getting the meter checked before moving on.

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