Meter replacement

[JohnW2]

I believe "Dual Band Communication Hubs" have been available since 2020 - They operate at 2.4GHz to communicate on the HAN, but also at 868MHz, which is Telefonicas Mesh wireless frequency.

As I said, I knew that technology/functionality existed, but didn't know where it was a capability of a 'basic smart meter' or whether it required some 'add-on' or change of module - but, you go on to say ...

According to the attached 'EDF Installer Briefing", if WAN isn't available during installation, the SKU1 communication hub is swapped out for an SKU2 Dual band hub, with an external aerial.

...seemingly implying that the answer to my question is 'no'?

Kind Regards, John

 

[RandomGrinch]

Which suggests, that my SMETS 1 may have been remote upgraded to a SMETS 2.

Definitely possible:

Upgrading first-generation smart meters

We're working closely with energy companies to migrate millions of first-generation (SMETS1) smart meters onto our network.

www.smartdcc.co.uk

..seemingly implying that the answer to my question is 'no'?

Yes, the answer in this case is 'no'
But being pedantic,

I don't know whether a 'basic smart meter' can do that, or whether it requires some sort of 'add-on'

A 'basic smart meter', won't be able to do any communication, without an 'add-on' hub!

 

[JohnW2]

Yes, the answer in this case is 'no' .... But being pedantic,
A 'basic smart meter', won't be able to do any communication, without an 'add-on' hub!

Fair enough, but I was, of course, assuming that any 'smart' meter, as fitted, has some sort of comms facility fitted - otherwise it would not be 'smart' (if that's what one wants to call it) at all

Kind Regards, John

 

[robinbanks]

Millions of people do use, and 'rely on', the GSM networks all the time, for all sorts of purposes, and their activities could well be frustrated if those networks were asked to handle an additional 2+ billion calls per day!

We're in the perhaps unbelievable position that an appreciable portion of the population is covered by a 5G cellular signal that outpaces their fixed line broadband capacity by some considerable margin

I don't work with smart meters but I do work with electric car chargers, that are probably slightly more chatty with their meter readings and protocol fluff; a back of a fag packet calc indicates that my sole mobile phone's internet connection could meet the data transit requirements of about 5 million EV chargers

I wouldn't worry that the DCC network capacity is going to be swamped by a few billion readings

 

[RandomGrinch]

I wouldn't worry that the DCC network capacity is going to be swamped by a few billion readings

Although it's interesting that the default 'dithering' period has extended from two minutes.
The network can easily cope with all the data, but in the case of a power cut, it's preferable to not have all the data sent at exactly the same time