Bosch Digistat losing communication

[harveyzone]

Help!

Since installation I have been plagued by lost connections with a wrieless digistat. I suddenly find that all my heating has gone off and when I check the receiver it is indicating that it has lost communication with the thermostat.

The thermostat was originally installed in the hallway about 5 meters from the boiler, with a single brick wall and a double brick wall between. I then moved it to a worktop some 4 meters away with near line of site to the boiler (slight leg around a wall). It regularly fails at both locations. I reverted to putting it on a stool about 3 meters in front of the boiler, just to keep it running, (and even there it has lost contact a couple of times) but it kind of defetes the object a little! It is supposed to have published a range of up to 25 meters.

I have also tried new batteries.

The boiler is a Worcester Bosch 37cdi
The digistat is a Worcester Bosch DT10RF Optimising Digistat (M1)

Is there anything that could cause this? Any possibility of wireless interference? Any clues as to how I can improve the performance.

TIA
Tom.

 

[davebgas]

Yes there can be wireless interference with these units.
As they are battery powered compared to mains they can be overpowered so to speak.
Do you have broadband or any wireless internet connections nearby? Also, it may sound strange but appliances like fridges and microwaves can interfere with the signal, as can neighbours internet.
I've seen plenty of instances of this.
Is there any time of the day when signals are poor - i.e evening when internet traffic may be higher?
Most wireless things work on 2.2GHz I think so interference can be common.
You may want to think about a mains powered sender.

Try it with your modem turned off if you have one and it sends signal wirelessly.

Dave
IEng MIGEM

 

[scatmanjohn]

Is there anything that could cause this? Any possibility of wireless interference? Any clues as to how I can improve the performance.

The WB wireless products are carp.

Always loosing signal.

I'd go for a stand alone wireless stat instead of the WB one that slots into the front of the boiler.

 

[harveyzone]

Do you have broadband or any wireless internet connections nearby? Also, it may sound strange but appliances like fridges and microwaves can interfere with the signal, as can neighbours internet.

I do have a wireless router, but I am cat5'd up so don't need it, so will try switching it off for a while. There are a couple of other wireless networks nearby too which I have no control over.

Between the original location and the boiler is a kitchen so both a fridge and a microwave.

Is there any time of the day when signals are poor - i.e evening when internet traffic may be higher?

Hard to know - I only notice it in the evenings, but that is (a) when I am about most and (b) when I need the heating most, so if it happened at other times I may not notice.

Most wireless things work on 2.2GHz I think so interference can be common.
You may want to think about a mains powered sender.

Try it with your modem turned off if you have one and it sends signal wirelessly.

Thanks - I will give that a try.

Tom.

 

[harveyzone]

The WB wireless products are carp.

Always loosing signal.

I'd go for a stand alone wireless stat instead of the WB one that slots into the front of the boiler.

Thanks.

I was afraid someone might say that. I have avoided wireless for virtually everything until now. It is a real pain to get a wired conection between the two (which was my preferred method). Any recommendations on an alternative?

Is there any milage in going back to WB and complaining or will I be fobbed off?

 

[davebgas]

Its worth a try but you'll probably be fobbed off - told to replace batteries, relocate it etc etc, it might be worth trying to get a new unit out of them and try that..... I have come across units which fail all the time and when replaced work champion.

Dave
IEng MIGEM

 

[TicklyT]

If you can't turn off the wireless section of your router without turning off the whole router you could try changing the wireless channel it uses.

Maybe you could ask your neighbours nicely if they could do the same?

 

[scatmanjohn]

Worcester will claim that there is no known problem with thier wireless products.....its a lie.

My weapon of choice is.

http://www.godfreys-online.co.uk/pageview.php?page=show_product&ecommerce_stockcode=CMT927

Never come across one that has lost its signal. I have one, along with wireless tinternet, next door either side have wireless tinternet, never had any issues.
Looks nice too

 

[harveyzone]

Thanks all.

I will try the following, in this order...

a) Switch off wireless (it is an bridge/access point so will not have any impact on the network etc).
b) If it still fails regularly - complain to WB. Maybe get a replacement out of them if I can.
c) Finally, investigate alternatives. Wired if possible, or maybe the honeywell or alterntaive wireless.

Any other options that I have missed? The unit I have was not cheap so I do not want to just abandon it if avoidable, but I need it to work! I did wonder if I could switch channels on the unit itself, but I cannot see an option to do so, so I assume it just uses one.

Tom.

 

[scatmanjohn]

Save yourself the hassle and go straight to option c