Have a question or want to start a discussion? Post it! No Registration Necessary.
Now with pictures!
Subject
- Posted on
- danny burstein
August 28, 2017, 11:40 pm

About a month ago the utility swapped out
all the meters here with "smart" ones, and
ever since... I've had 803.11 problems.
We were away when they did the replacement, and
while we had to reset a bunch of clocks, things
in the house were ok.
However, ever since then, my laptop loses connectivity
to our wifi base. This typically happens (very roughly)
for ten minutes a couple of times/day. (Maybe more).
When this if going on my usual list of "in range"
wifi choices goes down from the half dozen to
maybe one or two. And the signal strength (as
measured by Apple's visual display, yes, I know..)
on my base, which is maybe 20 feet away, goes from
all five "cones" to maybe 1 or 2.
(This happens with all the laptops and desktops
in the house. Mostly Apples of various types, but
also a "smart phone")
Sometimes it's totally gone.
So my ques:
a: could this be a symptom of the electrical meters
getting polled and transmitting their data?
If so,
b: how best to verify this is the case?
Thanks
_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dannyb@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]
all the meters here with "smart" ones, and
ever since... I've had 803.11 problems.
We were away when they did the replacement, and
while we had to reset a bunch of clocks, things
in the house were ok.
However, ever since then, my laptop loses connectivity
to our wifi base. This typically happens (very roughly)
for ten minutes a couple of times/day. (Maybe more).
When this if going on my usual list of "in range"
wifi choices goes down from the half dozen to
maybe one or two. And the signal strength (as
measured by Apple's visual display, yes, I know..)
on my base, which is maybe 20 feet away, goes from
all five "cones" to maybe 1 or 2.
(This happens with all the laptops and desktops
in the house. Mostly Apples of various types, but
also a "smart phone")
Sometimes it's totally gone.
So my ques:
a: could this be a symptom of the electrical meters
getting polled and transmitting their data?
If so,
b: how best to verify this is the case?
Thanks
_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dannyb@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]

Re: Electric Co. just installed "smart meters", and...

[snipppppp]
WIth somedifficulty (expletive feleted light gray
lettering that's way too small for people to read)
I was able to get the meter info.
It's (and the ones my neighbors received)
are Centrons, with lots of FCC IDs listed
on them.
The basic Centron info page talks about lots
of options for remote reading, monitoring,
and control, ranging from Verizon LTE
to lots of others.
So it certainly seems pluasable they're
the cause of my WiFi interruptions.
if anyone's interested, I put a picture of
the nameplate up at:
http://www.dburstein.com/images/smart-meter.png
--
_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dannyb@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]

Re: Electric Co. just installed "smart meters", and...
On Mon, 4 Sep 2017 20:23:43 +0000 (UTC), danny burstein

The meter is made by Itron, Inc as an "Itron OpenWay Centron
Smartmeter".
<http://www.smartmetereducationnetwork.com/uploads/how-to-tell-if-I-have-a-ami-dte-smart-advanced-meter/Itron%20Centron%20Meter%20Technical%20Guide1482163-201106090057150.pdf
<https://www.itron.com/na/-/media/itron/documents/openway-centron-meter-spec-sheet.pdf?la=en-US
Home Area Network (HAN)
Every OpenWay CENTRON meter includes a ZigBee radio
for interfacing with the HAN, in-home displays and load
control devices
The OpenWay CENTRON can store consumption from 2.4GZ
OpenWay gas modules utilizing the ZigBee radio
This means that if you have a natural gas meter with a Zigbee radio,
it too can interfere with wi-fi.
This is the FCC ID data for the utility part of the radio running at
900MHz Spread Spectrum, which is unlikely to be causing Wi-Fi
interference on 2.4GHz:
<https://fccid.io/QHC-OW35SE
This is the LTE data part of the radio, which uses LTE data on 777-787
MHz and 1710-1755 MHz. This is unlikely to cause wi-fi interference
on 2.4GHz:
<https://fccid.io/N7NHL7518
This is the Zigbee SE radio operating on 2405-2475 MHz and is probably
what's causing the interfernce on 2.4GHz:
<https://fccid.io/SK9ITR24
--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

The meter is made by Itron, Inc as an "Itron OpenWay Centron
Smartmeter".
<http://www.smartmetereducationnetwork.com/uploads/how-to-tell-if-I-have-a-ami-dte-smart-advanced-meter/Itron%20Centron%20Meter%20Technical%20Guide1482163-201106090057150.pdf
<https://www.itron.com/na/-/media/itron/documents/openway-centron-meter-spec-sheet.pdf?la=en-US
Home Area Network (HAN)
Every OpenWay CENTRON meter includes a ZigBee radio
for interfacing with the HAN, in-home displays and load
control devices
The OpenWay CENTRON can store consumption from 2.4GZ
OpenWay gas modules utilizing the ZigBee radio
This means that if you have a natural gas meter with a Zigbee radio,
it too can interfere with wi-fi.
This is the FCC ID data for the utility part of the radio running at
900MHz Spread Spectrum, which is unlikely to be causing Wi-Fi
interference on 2.4GHz:
<https://fccid.io/QHC-OW35SE
This is the LTE data part of the radio, which uses LTE data on 777-787
MHz and 1710-1755 MHz. This is unlikely to cause wi-fi interference
on 2.4GHz:
<https://fccid.io/N7NHL7518
This is the Zigbee SE radio operating on 2405-2475 MHz and is probably
what's causing the interfernce on 2.4GHz:
<https://fccid.io/SK9ITR24
--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

Re: Electric Co. just installed "smart meters", and...

[snip]

A Texas sized tip of the hat for your assistance.
Thanks
--
_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dannyb@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]

Re: Electric Co. just installed "smart meters", and...
On 8/28/2017 6:40 PM, danny burstein wrote:


Sounds like you have the problem pretty much identified.
What I would do is to do a WiFi scan of the available channels.
If you are presently using channel 1 switch to ch 6 or ch 11, if on Ch 6
switch to ch 1 or ch 11, if on 11 switch to ch 1 or ch 6.
Basically move your current current radio frequency to one of the three
clear channels farthest from your present channel and see if the problem
goes away.
The only other thing I can think of is to run one of the WiFi channel
scanners that has a logging feature and let it watch and see what
frequencies/channels they are hogging when your meter is polled. The
meter itself might have a FCC label on it showing what frequency or
channel(s) it is using but it can also be hidden on an internal panel of
the meter.


Sounds like you have the problem pretty much identified.
What I would do is to do a WiFi scan of the available channels.
If you are presently using channel 1 switch to ch 6 or ch 11, if on Ch 6
switch to ch 1 or ch 11, if on 11 switch to ch 1 or ch 6.
Basically move your current current radio frequency to one of the three
clear channels farthest from your present channel and see if the problem
goes away.
The only other thing I can think of is to run one of the WiFi channel
scanners that has a logging feature and let it watch and see what
frequencies/channels they are hogging when your meter is polled. The
meter itself might have a FCC label on it showing what frequency or
channel(s) it is using but it can also be hidden on an internal panel of
the meter.

Re: Electric Co. just installed "smart meters", and...
wrote:

What maker and model meter? If unavailable, the utility company name.
If the smartmeter has Zigbee activated, that's probably your problem.

The bars or cones do NOT always indicate signal strength. They
usually indicate the SNR (signal to noise ratio). If there's any
nearby source of interference, the SNR will drop.

Well, since the half dozen other wireless routers also drop in SNR,
it's not your router. Since it happens to all your devices, it's your
laptops, tablets, or smartphones. By default, that leaves the
smartmeter.
Duz your unspecified service area offer wireless power monitoring?
It's an overpriced wireless receiver that tracks the readings on the
power meter. Something like these:
<https://www.nts.com/services/certification_services/pge/han_devices

No. That would be intermittent and only ocurr ocassionally in a
single family dwelling. However, if you're in an apartment building,
and happen to be very close to the usual wall full of power meters,
you're likely to see almost continuous traffic, simulating what you
seem to have observed.

Spectrum analyzer or Zigbee sniffer. You won't see Bluegoof or Zigbee
with a typical wi-fi sniffer application. The protocols are very
different. You'll see everything with a spectrum analyzer. I haven't
done anything with Zibgee interference issues. I found this, but
don't know anything about it.
<http://www.ebay.com/itm/Zigbee-package-Sniffer-CC2531-USB-Dongle-CC2531EMK-USB-compati-/291802327167
<http://www.ebay.com/itm/CC2531-Sniffer-Protocol-Analyzer-Wireless-Module-USB-Interface-Dongle-For-Zigbee-/142209126323
Good luck, but offhand, I think you're screwed.
Switch to 5GHz wi-fi.
--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

What maker and model meter? If unavailable, the utility company name.
If the smartmeter has Zigbee activated, that's probably your problem.

The bars or cones do NOT always indicate signal strength. They
usually indicate the SNR (signal to noise ratio). If there's any
nearby source of interference, the SNR will drop.

Well, since the half dozen other wireless routers also drop in SNR,
it's not your router. Since it happens to all your devices, it's your
laptops, tablets, or smartphones. By default, that leaves the
smartmeter.
Duz your unspecified service area offer wireless power monitoring?
It's an overpriced wireless receiver that tracks the readings on the
power meter. Something like these:
<https://www.nts.com/services/certification_services/pge/han_devices

No. That would be intermittent and only ocurr ocassionally in a
single family dwelling. However, if you're in an apartment building,
and happen to be very close to the usual wall full of power meters,
you're likely to see almost continuous traffic, simulating what you
seem to have observed.

Spectrum analyzer or Zigbee sniffer. You won't see Bluegoof or Zigbee
with a typical wi-fi sniffer application. The protocols are very
different. You'll see everything with a spectrum analyzer. I haven't
done anything with Zibgee interference issues. I found this, but
don't know anything about it.
<http://www.ebay.com/itm/Zigbee-package-Sniffer-CC2531-USB-Dongle-CC2531EMK-USB-compati-/291802327167
<http://www.ebay.com/itm/CC2531-Sniffer-Protocol-Analyzer-Wireless-Module-USB-Interface-Dongle-For-Zigbee-/142209126323
Good luck, but offhand, I think you're screwed.
Switch to 5GHz wi-fi.
--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
Site Timeline
- » Re: Ubiquity wifi access point
- — Next thread in » Wireless Networking
-
- » wireless network transfers
- — Previous thread in » Wireless Networking
-
- » Can you get a USA Ham Radio license WITHOUT giving the gob'ment your SSN?
- — Newest thread in » Wireless Networking
-
- » possible tt0 run First alert personailty disk on win 10
- — The site's Newest Thread. Posted in » CCTV, Alarms and other Physical Security
-