MikeMA
pfm Member
That's the most interesting and informative explanation of smart metering and associated communication systems and networks that I've seen so far.
Smart meters......oh dear oh dear...why on earth did I bother!
- Thread starter MikeMA
- Start date
I doubt it.
For one the gas regulations are very detailed and mandatory so if fail to safe valves were a requirement then we would all have them whether we had smart meters or not.
Secondly, if the meter also performed as a safety device then it would need to monitor some parameter related to occurrence of a dangerous situation, for example gas leak detection. No, this smart meter's software locked up and it showed an error and so it shutdown the gas supply. The person who came out to reset it confirmed this was the case.
So I conclude its just a meter, its not also a safety device.
Dozey
Air guitar member
Gave in 2 days ago and agreed to get a smart meter fitted by eon as they want to pay me £50 for the privilege. They fitted it the next day! I am not going to monitor my usage but it will hopefully stop them asking me for a reading every few weeks or phoning me up to bully me into getting one fitted.
RobFTM
pfm Member
Only £50? Eon gave us £100 late in November, but that may have been as we’re on dual fuel with them. I disconnected the in home display as soon as the fitter left as I had no desire at all to have a smart meter but I’ll enjoy my free £100.
Just had another call from Scottish Power to book me in for my smart meter in the new year.
Once again I said no and gave all the usual reasons.
They're getting more pushy as time goes on. Just been told from 2025 the old non smart meters will no longer be available so my meter will automatically be upgraded to a smart one when they say it needs changing. I'll hang on till the bitter end. Sending in regular meter readings is stress free....
Once again I said no and gave all the usual reasons.
They're getting more pushy as time goes on. Just been told from 2025 the old non smart meters will no longer be available so my meter will automatically be upgraded to a smart one when they say it needs changing. I'll hang on till the bitter end. Sending in regular meter readings is stress free....
Mike Reed
pfm Member
With you all the way; monthly readings prompted by Octopus and a statement within a day; can't ask for more, unless it's cheaper energy.
Seems other companies twist your arm, but Octopus don't; wonder why
philsparks
pfm Member
How about a hifi related smart meter issue? I got my LP12 fettled by the wonderful Peter Swain including changing the prefix from S to K. At which point it started picking up that regular "drrrrr drrrrr drrrrr" mobile phone noise every few mins.
I tuned all the house phones off, including the DECT phones. No difference. Then realised the smart meter will have a SIM in it and it's on the other side of the wall behind the hifi. Ended up lining the meter box with aluminium foil which largely solved it!
No idea if it's still communicating with eon!
Bloody progress!!
I tuned all the house phones off, including the DECT phones. No difference. Then realised the smart meter will have a SIM in it and it's on the other side of the wall behind the hifi. Ended up lining the meter box with aluminium foil which largely solved it!
No idea if it's still communicating with eon!
Bloody progress!!
John Phillips
pfm Member
A while ago I had occasion to call E.ON Next and was nagged. The call taker offered to provide answers to my security and privacy concerns. So I asked a simple question: "When (not if) a nation state hacks into your network and issues a 'supply disconnect' command to all of your smart meters, what is your recovery plan?"
I expected some waffle in reply. I did get an e-mail that may or may not have been a reply. It indicated that some technical error had occurred in dealing with my query. There was nothing else. Have I got suspicions about that? For sure.
I was at a presentation by a risk manager at a BSI conference who asserted that at least some smart meters, and perhaps many of them, needed an engineer site visit to re-connect them after a supply disconnect command. If he was right that looks like a pretty serious attack surface.
Mystic Mac
cauliflower ears not golden ears....
I believe smart meters only send the readings off to the DCC once a month.
Mystic Mac
cauliflower ears not golden ears....
As far as I am aware, all of the SMETS2 meters have an inbuilt functionality to be disconnected AND connected remotely. But energy suppliers are not currently permitted to use the remote disconnection function.
gintonic
50 shades of grey pussy cats
I believe they are not sent, but polled by the energy company, once per day. Although the meters can record usage data as frequently as every 30 mins
Sue Pertwee-Tyr
Accuphase all the way down
From the above posts, I wonder whether lining the meter box with foil might, er, foil any remote disconnect attempt? A simple mod that I expect most households living on the edge might be keen to try. And if, as is mentioned above, there is a clear and realistic attack vector, it’d be a good precaution for the rest of us too.
Mystic Mac
cauliflower ears not golden ears....
I stand corrected. Looks like the default is daily unless the customer instructs the energy company otherwise. Can be half-hourly, daily, weekly or monthly.
Mark Grant
Trade: Mark Grant Cables
With Octopus the default is a smart meter reading every 30 minutes for Electricity and Gas which is how they can offer the various smart and EV tariffs that change prices half hourly throughout the day.
Live usage display is possible for free in the Octopus app if you the customer requests an Octopus mini and follows the setup instructions.
octopus.energy
.
Live usage display is possible for free in the Octopus app if you the customer requests an Octopus mini and follows the setup instructions.
Meet the Octopus Home Mini
The Octopus Home Mini is a brand new, cutting-edge bit of tech that makes understanding your energy usage easier than ever before.
octopus.energy
John Phillips
pfm Member
Well I suppose you could wag your finger at a nation state hacker who has just abused the remote disconnect functionality, and tell them they were not allowed to do that. Tut tut.
And even if the smart meter is meant to have remote re-connect functionality it might not have that any more if a hacker has found a way to "brick" the meter after issuing a disconnect command. Or disable the re-connect function and any remote software update/recovery function. Or disable the network that was meant to deliver commands/updates.
If you are into managing security risk these are risks about which only an amateur would bury his head in the sand. And IMHO they most likely require a recovery plan rather than explicit acceptance of the risk and its consequences.
I have no idea of how much risk there is in reality. But does anyone here really think the security weaknesses of smart energy metering system are not on the agendas of the nation state hackers out there? My question to E.ON Next was perfectly professional and the lack of a response was, IMHO, pretty poor.
Sue Pertwee-Tyr
Accuphase all the way down
Completely agree. And while I think it would be unwise of a company to disclose anything about its recovery plans, I’d expect it to be able to confirm that this risk had been considered and mitigated.
I’m with Scottish Power too. For years I have been submitting meter readings via their app with no issue. Then they nagged and nagged and I relented and so a smart meter is due to be fitted early Jan. Time will tell whether I have cause to regret my decision.