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Octopus Smart Meter Experiences
- Thread starter DaveW
- Start date
M
A friend once described Twitter this way: "imagine gathering all the arseholes in the world in one place and then writing an application just for them".
I can't argue with the results when dealing with Octopus though!
A friend once described Twitter this way: "imagine gathering all the arseholes in the world in one place and then writing an application just for them".
I can't argue with the results when dealing with Octopus though!
john19951
Member
Octopus do do strange things.
I changed my direct debit a week ago to a new bank account - all accepted and confirmed by Octopus. Today I was sent a bill by email, and they say "As you have no Direct Debit in place" please pay off your outstanding balance.
Needless to say, I will not be doing anything, as I am sure the Direct Debit will be paid on the due date and my balance will be back in credit.
I changed my direct debit a week ago to a new bank account - all accepted and confirmed by Octopus. Today I was sent a bill by email, and they say "As you have no Direct Debit in place" please pay off your outstanding balance.
Needless to say, I will not be doing anything, as I am sure the Direct Debit will be paid on the due date and my balance will be back in credit.
ACarneiro
Active Member
I’m afraid the Emperor does not share your optimistic appraisal of the situation
The Direct Debit won’t come out, your account will be in arrears and all sorts of fun will ensue (judging from the efficiency I experienced with Octopus’ backend systems)
john19951
Member
I will report back next week.
If there is a problem with the direct debit, I'm hoping they don't bother with the 39 pence I owe them.
If there is a problem with the direct debit, I'm hoping they don't bother with the 39 pence I owe them.
MrBadger
Badger out
Long time lurker, first time poster.
Just had a similar issue with Octopus - gas bills but no electricity ones but strangely readings only automatically taken from the electricity meter and not the gas one.
I enquired with Octopus why and they are apparently investigating why the gas meter doesn't work and why i haven't been charged for electricity in 2 months - their reply was that as Octopus Go is an beta product there may be a delay to the bill.
All very strange to me - so paying my DD as usual and hoping it will sort itself out in time.
Just had a similar issue with Octopus - gas bills but no electricity ones but strangely readings only automatically taken from the electricity meter and not the gas one.
I enquired with Octopus why and they are apparently investigating why the gas meter doesn't work and why i haven't been charged for electricity in 2 months - their reply was that as Octopus Go is an beta product there may be a delay to the bill.
All very strange to me - so paying my DD as usual and hoping it will sort itself out in time.
ACarneiro
Active Member
I've finally (after 6 months waiting) had my smart meter fitted and unsurprisingly it doesn't appear to be connecting the WAN. We're quite rural and although we get a 4G signal, the meter is in the cellar. I realise it was a long shot but I figured it was worth a try.
Anyhow, the meter appears to have quite a big antenna bar that is attached by a fairly long thin wire - presumably so it can be mounted in a better location away from the meter.
I asked the fitter about this and his reply was that the antenna needed to stay next to the meter which just makes no sense to me at all but maybe I'm missing something.
Does anyone have any experience of just relocating the antenna in an attempt to get a better signal?
The cellar is right below the study where a signal should be possible and it would be trival for me to feed it up through the floor.
Any thoughts appreciated!
Anyhow, the meter appears to have quite a big antenna bar that is attached by a fairly long thin wire - presumably so it can be mounted in a better location away from the meter.
I asked the fitter about this and his reply was that the antenna needed to stay next to the meter which just makes no sense to me at all but maybe I'm missing something.
Does anyone have any experience of just relocating the antenna in an attempt to get a better signal?
The cellar is right below the study where a signal should be possible and it would be trival for me to feed it up through the floor.
Any thoughts appreciated!
Attachments
Looking at the slack wire on the antenna, it's clearly designed to be further away if needed.
However... Surely he would have needed a signal to have commissioned it. They can even fallback to 2G as needed.
I don't have a signal problem, but I'm 2 months since the install and mine still isn't working properly. So don't expect it to work straight away, I get the impression they simply can't keep up at the moment.
However... Surely he would have needed a signal to have commissioned it. They can even fallback to 2G as needed.
I don't have a signal problem, but I'm 2 months since the install and mine still isn't working properly. So don't expect it to work straight away, I get the impression they simply can't keep up at the moment.
Well, yep that was my thought as well. But he was adamant that it was supposed to stay next to the meter but I just can't see why that would need to be the case.
He said that 'they' would attempt to talk to it remotely and that they'd 'have a few things they could try' over the next week or so. As to how 'they' would do that without any kind of connection is beyond me though. Magic perhaps.
He had to keep going outside to get a connection to his PDA terminal so I'm guessing he signed it off that way.
Ultimately, without a connection it will still work as a meter, but it will just be a dumb meter.
I really just wondered if anyone else had tried moving this kind of antenna themselves?
Did a bit of Googling and found the following document which is very useful:-
https://www.smartdcc.co.uk/media/1980/comms_hub_aerial_range_v14_2018-04-16.pdf
So by the looks of it I have the 'T2 Cellular Panorama Aerial' - and it seems like there is T3 alternative that could be mounted outside.
Looking at page 5, it seems like I'll have to hassle Octopus to chase the DCC to raise a 'NO WAN incident'.
I think have a go at moving the aerial myself first though. A bit daft that the installer didn't do that himself though.
https://www.smartdcc.co.uk/media/1980/comms_hub_aerial_range_v14_2018-04-16.pdf
So by the looks of it I have the 'T2 Cellular Panorama Aerial' - and it seems like there is T3 alternative that could be mounted outside.
Looking at page 5, it seems like I'll have to hassle Octopus to chase the DCC to raise a 'NO WAN incident'.
I think have a go at moving the aerial myself first though. A bit daft that the installer didn't do that himself though.
Another document I can across that might be a useful read prior to a smart meter install for anyone that thinks their meter might struggle to get a connection.
Installer's instruction guide:-
https://www.edfenergy.com/sites/def...d_leave_-_sku_2_installation_-_final_v1.1.pdf
Installer's instruction guide:-
https://www.edfenergy.com/sites/def...d_leave_-_sku_2_installation_-_final_v1.1.pdf
Every single install I've had the moment they hit problems they walked away without commissioning the meter.
The first one didn't even tell me anything was wrong..
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