SMART meters NOT so SMART without wireless connectivity

[WayneM]

....for everyone....I have done quite a bit of research to discover that SMART meters in a basement without wireless connection (NOT Wifi)...I mean mobile network connection...... does not submit data. And what happens is from day one installation you get continuous estimated reads and it is so hard to get an AGL meter reader to visit. My neighbour in our block of 5 Villas is with AGL; he has a SMART meter installed 18mths ago when he got solar....and still gets incorrectly high estimated reads. AGL have not come out to solve his issue to date. So; based on his frustration and experience with SMART meters and AGL  I have "opted out" for now and don't want a SMART meter. Although I believe SMART meters will give better accuracy due to their 30mins data upload schedule; its a waste of time if it cannot connect to a mobile network. The only solution is installation of an external aerial to basement system (the company called Vector does this)....costs are approx. AU$3000 for the unit + installation costs and AGL won't pay this!!!...............also; Legislation says ALL new meters MUST be SMART and if AGL says yours is faulty to outdated they can install it without you being able to stop it....not fair really....if they paid for the Network connection hardware costs that at least would be fairer....so BEWARE of the issues with SMART meters everyone and remember you can legally "opt out" of getting a new SMART meter via the AGL website!!

[Lester]

That would be a pain for sure, a digital meter is useless if it isn't uploading the data, as most that go to smart meters are automatically put onto a TOU plan, and that revolves totally around blocks of time for peak, off peak, shoulder, and solar feed in.

It could be that you can stay on a single tariff wit hsuch connectivity issues, unless you have solar . . . it would be painful for a contractor to have to go out periodically and download the data for TOU.

They must have a plan for this to be fixed somehow, as AEMC has mandated all meters will be digital from 2030, new installs, faulty meters, or when you get solar, all are now updated to digital meters by default.

Before we went solar, I opted out of 3 digital meter upgrades over a period of a few years.

[WayneM]

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