Could my new smart meters be interfering with my router Wi-Fi?

[GEG63]

On November 6th I had electricity and gas smart meters fitted for the first time by Octopus Energy. Since then both my mobile and my notebook occasionally disconnect from the Wi-Fi network then quickly reconnect after a few seconds or a minute or two. This happens several times a day.

The router is in the hall and the wall behind it is the garage where the meters are located so apart from a brick wall they are only a few feet away from each other. I have to have it in the hall as that is where the phone line comes in to the house.

I know the meters communicate to the hub via some kind of Bluetooth and this then this sends  occasional messages directly via some wireless system to a central hub with details of my consumption which goes via another service to Octopus Energy.

Is it possible that the meters are causing these dropouts?

I have Fibre 35 and I understand have the latest TalkTalk router for that type of fibre service.. Currently it is set to send at 2.4Ghz and 5 GHz.

[KeithFrench]

Hi @GEG63 

Thanks for the PMs, I'll look at them shortly.

[Gliwmaeden2]

Yes, the WiFi, not the meters themselves, as @KeithFrench has pointed out.

[Billx]

The link does say that the independent  smart-meter network, still does use the WIFI 2.4 GHz frequency.

There is still a link to possible interference.

Bill

[KeithFrench]

No problem.

[GEG63]

Many Thanks Keith

I've downloaded the file from your PM. I will read it later and send you the info at a later date.

So far the WIFI is behaving itself!

George

[KeithFrench]

Hi @GEG63 

Do not worry about interpreting the results, I will do that for you. I will send a PM to you that contains a link for a guide of mine on Wi-Fi interference. It is quite long (about 30 pages), but you will probably only need to look at three or four pages in total. Initially look at the section called "Are you suffering from interference – prove it first". This is the first link in the table of contents. This section includes full details of free Wi-Fi analysers that I recommend for Windows, Windows phone, Android and Apple operating systems. However, I have no way of testing the Apple product. Select the analyser of your choice & my guide explains how to use it.

If you are using Wi-Fi Scanner, then please attach the zip file to this thread. As soon as I have downloaded it, I will remove the attachment from your post, to preserve your privacy.

With all other analysers, please follow my instructions below.

Collect the screenshots that I require and include them in your reply.

Please post the screenshots to me in a PM (to protect your privacy), which I have requested in my guide. No photos please as they can be difficult to read, because the text can get out of focus when zoomed in. Please ensure that the analyser window is maximised (if Windows) before taking the screenshots & upload them via the "Insert Photos" button (in a mobile browser it's the picture icon) on the post editor's toolbar with the Size parameter set to Large.

[GEG63]

Hi Keith

I sent a further message which may have crossed with yours. As you can see from my second post my smart meters communicate via the relatively new DCC network using the DCC WAN. DCC have set up there own local hubs to pick up the data and send it to their servers. No SIMS involved!

My router is  a Sagecom SG4K100206 with, I think, the latest firmware. I got that number for accessing the router via its IP address. That also gave me the standards used for each frequency.

2.4GHz 802.11 b,g,n

5GHz    802.11 a,n,ac

Thanks for your help

George

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Thanks @KeithFrench  🙂

[KeithFrench]

Hi @GEG63 

@Michelle-TalkTalk has asked me to help you. Smart meters use a WiFi network of their own to communicate between the Gas & Electric meters & then the electric (I think) communicates with your energy provider via a mobile SIM card. Therefore, it is possible that the WiFi network between the meters could cause WiFi interference with your network, depending on the WiFi band & channels that they use. However, so could lots of other things.

Slow speed, intermittent dropouts, breaks in the signal or no signal on some or all devices or no internet access might be caused by Wi-Fi interference from other local networks, which can also lead to a permanent reduction in speed. No ISP can be responsible for your local environment, this is mainly a byproduct of the popularity of Wi-Fi.

Generally speaking, the 2.4GHz band suffers a lot more from interference than the much faster 5GHz band, but the 2.4GHz one can sometimes have a better range, but this all depends on your local area.

In other words, I try to help you optimise your Wi-Fi connection. The next stage involves sending out a guide to you to help you get me some important diagnostic results so that I can analyse them for you and recommend changes to your router configuration to solve them.

What make/model of router do you have?

I only send this out to people who request it.

The information below is provided by TalkTalk, for confirmation please contact @Debbie-TalkTalk or@Michelle-TalkTalk.

KeithFrench is one of our valued Community Stars and can help with a range of issues related to wireless and networking. At times he may ask you to send him test results via a Private Message to help analyse/diagnose an issue. Although Keith does not work for TalkTalk, he very kindly shares his time and knowledge to help with others.

If you need further help or, if we need to take any details such as personal information about your account like phone numbers, account numbers etc. one of the TalkTalk team will jump in and help out.

[GEG63]

I know the system doesn't use the internet or my router. They are the latest SMETS2 meters with a  communications hub which they fitted above my electricity meter. I've read up about it and  it communicates at 2.4GHz to the WAN of the national DCC network which then sends the info to Octopus Energy. Also the meters use Bluetooth to connect at 2.4GHz to communicate to the so called In House  Monitor they gave me which I long since gave up on as it wouldn't show any data from the electricity meter even when it was next to the meter!.

Since the router also uses 2.4GHz is it possible either of these 2.4GHz signals from the meters is causing a temporary loss of signal when they send them out? If so can I just switch off the routers 2.4GHz signal or alternatively change the channel it is using?

Alternatively this could all be a red herring and there is a problem of instability somewhere along my line. I did have a couple of problems in October and earlier in August when TalkTalk had to sort out a total loss of signal. I've run a test recently and when I ran it it showed no problems but of course you really need to monitor it over a period of time to pick them up.

[Michelle-TalkTalk]

Good morning,

@KeithFrench - Would you be able to offer any additional advice please?

Thanks

Michelle

[Gliwmaeden2]

The meters shouldn't communicate with the hub. 

It's possible to have smart meters in a house with no internet because they are stand alone, as described here:

https://www.smartdcc.co.uk/our-smart-network/does-a-smart-meter-need-wi-fi/#:~:text=The%20simple%20a....

However anything from brick walls to microwaves and mirrors could affect wifi.

If the new smart meters are situated where you used to have meters anyway, there shouldn't be much difference in effect.

So there are all sorts of things to work through with staff when they reach your thread, including simply plugging in the router at the test socket and see if you continue to get disconnections on your devices.

Wait for them to pick up your post during the day.