The long-awaited official Tesla Solar/Powerwall installer came yesterday from Fresno, and the first thing he did was to swap out the backup gateway (or BUG) as he called it. It was a bit of a process to take the guts out of the new unit and put them in the older metal box, drill holes for the new antennas, etc. but it got done. He seemed like a good guy. That was the good news. The bad news is that we never got the system to connect successfully with Tesla server and new firmware downloaded. The firmware we were starting with as 10. something. We tried the two Ethernet cables, my two WiFi networks which are weak at that distance and even a phone hotspot via my microcell, (also weak) all with no luck. We also tried a WiFi extender, and even a powerline adapter, again with no luck. The phone hotspot came the closest to working, but the download time, once started kept increasing.
This time customer support asked how long is the Ethernet cable we were using. It was 250 feet. They said that 100’ was the longest length that would work, maybe 150’ max. I replied that the spec is 100 meters, or 328’, but they insisted that 250’ would not work and that we would need to put in a series of WiFi extenders, and since each was good for 25’, and we would need 10 of them, each with power, etc.
I mentioned that my laptop found the Internet no problem via the Cat5e Ethernet cable, so I didn’t see why their BUG would not as well. It simply won’t work was the reply. The Tesla installer took pictures, and this will go to Tesla engineering for an official solution. I was giving the customer support number and told that I would need to call them to schedule another appointment.
Obviously my BS detector was going off again during much of this, but the local installer and I felt that either with a directional WiFi antenna and amplifier, or a fiber connection we could get the job done much more simply than 10 WiFi extenders. Today, I used my laptop to do a speed test on the 250’ long Ethernet cable and I got exactly the same down and up speeds that I do in the house (24+/2+). That cable seems fine to me.
I am hoping that tomorrow the local installer and I can try again, perhaps with another higher quality WiFi extender at the house. I would try again today, but I need the installer password.
Are there other installations out there that need to deal with distance issues? Other feedback? Thanks.
This time customer support asked how long is the Ethernet cable we were using. It was 250 feet. They said that 100’ was the longest length that would work, maybe 150’ max. I replied that the spec is 100 meters, or 328’, but they insisted that 250’ would not work and that we would need to put in a series of WiFi extenders, and since each was good for 25’, and we would need 10 of them, each with power, etc.
I mentioned that my laptop found the Internet no problem via the Cat5e Ethernet cable, so I didn’t see why their BUG would not as well. It simply won’t work was the reply. The Tesla installer took pictures, and this will go to Tesla engineering for an official solution. I was giving the customer support number and told that I would need to call them to schedule another appointment.
Obviously my BS detector was going off again during much of this, but the local installer and I felt that either with a directional WiFi antenna and amplifier, or a fiber connection we could get the job done much more simply than 10 WiFi extenders. Today, I used my laptop to do a speed test on the 250’ long Ethernet cable and I got exactly the same down and up speeds that I do in the house (24+/2+). That cable seems fine to me.
I am hoping that tomorrow the local installer and I can try again, perhaps with another higher quality WiFi extender at the house. I would try again today, but I need the installer password.
Are there other installations out there that need to deal with distance issues? Other feedback? Thanks.
