If you have flaky wifi connections it’s best to hard wire the units together, using cat5 cable.
it’s always the most reliable method.

 

My Zappi installer used UltraEV cable but only the single twisted pair version and it's being used for the CT clamp. One day I'll maybe run CAT 5 but it needs buried through the garden and it's a hassle...

Anyway the Zappi and Eddi seem to be communicating with each other fine on the 868Mhz channel, which I presume has a longer range than WiFi.

So the question still stands, will the Zappi still communicate with Octopus with this setup? (Eddi as master and Zappi as slave and Zappi both v2.1)

 

I've been having real problems recently with my Zappi disconnecting and reconnecting to the WiFi multiple times a day.

Hmm... I've been getting lots of "comms errors" recently too. Only started in the last week or so. Was wondering if it might be temperature related.

At time of install, installer did express concerns about wifi signal - his phone couldn't see my SSID, though my own phone had no trouble - but it's been fine for 3 months.

 

Marginal WiFi connections are always susceptible to moist weather, snow especially.
We have had a bit of rain here and there.
There's also the introduction of new routers for neighbours or a neighbour who is one of the "switch it off when not using it" idiots.

Depending on the property layout you could benefit from either an indoor repeater or WiFi extender or an outdoor one which need not be very expensive or difficult to install.

Another thing you might care to look at is the 2.4 ghz channel being used by your router. Often these automatically change the channel to get the best signal. Problems arise when a channel is selected which certain devices fail to work very well on, typically channel 1 is pretty useless, sometimes you might see channel 13.
Ideally you would be able to do a site survey using wifi software which shows what's around but difficulties arise when you have one of the neighbours mentioned earlier.

If you can set a channel in your router such as 6 or 11 it might just make all the difference without any cost or the inconvenience of installing further hardware.

Gaz

 

Well tonight the Zappi is drifting in and out of comms with the Eddi as well, so that clearly isn’t going to work.

Perhaps one of the neighbours has got a new router, who knows. I do actually have a wireless mesh system with the Zappi set to always connect to the nearest node. This worked for a long time and just seems to have become unreliable recently.

I guess I’ll be running cat 5 cable to the Zappi when I have time. I run cables for a living so I’m fine with doing that. Is it easy enough to open the Zappi and plug ethernet in without needed an electrician?

 

Is it easy enough to open the Zappi and plug ethernet in without needed an electrician?

yes, I replaced the tethered cable on mine when it went faulty as it was quickest solution. Myenergi posted next day.
other stuff is straightforward just check out the instal guide for info.

 

The Zappi is a potentially good device ruined by flaky WiFi - hindsight says Cat-5 was the best way, my experience is seriously marred by unreliable comms.
Reducing bandwidth to 20MHz and choosing a channel away from neighbouring stations helps, but at the end of the day it’s rubbish WiFi that will always make the Zappi unreliable.
When warranty ends my intention is to cable it with Cat-5 and try to forget that it ever had WiFi. Until such time my device remains a dumb and disappointing charge station.

 

I wouldn’t worry

I wouldn’t worry about waiting till the end of warranty, just hard wire it now.
Myenergi are unlikely to quibble about a later warranty issue just because it’s been hard wired due to the wifi being pants.

 

Just been planning how to run Cat 5 to my Zappi. Should be easy enough to run the cable.

Is there a cable gland that will allow me to put the cable through the same hole as the electrical feed? I don’t particularly want to have to drill another hole in the case. It’s the Doncaster ultraEV cable that has been used if that helps.

My Zappi is post mounted so entering on the rear is not an option and it may look a bit silly on the side.

 

My ethernet cable enters through the same cable gland as the power cable. Ethernet cable was inserted before being terminated.

Only things to watch for in opening Zappi are
Isolate from power
Be careful with ribbon cable between front cover and main circuit board
Ensure screws are torqued up evenly when replacing front cover

 

My not very old Zappi 2.1 started dropping the wifi recently. First time with this Zappi or my previous broken Zappi 1 that this has happened in over 3.5 years. Very odd. Luckily, I had a couple of old Devolo power line units hanging around, one of which had wireless capability. Set this up close to our detached garage, where the Zappi is, and all seems good for now.

 

The previous version 2.0 which I have has a dedicated Ethernet board as an option…

zappi 2.0 Ethernet Board | myenergi GB

If radio connection issues between myenergi devices are faced in customer's home, the Ethernet board provides the option to install a hard-wired link through the customer's router.

www.myenergi.com

So I would expect there to be an Ethernet RJ45 port to connect to in the v2.1 as the ‘hub’ is built in.

 

I had a little peek inside my Zappi this morning whilst the rain was off. I was struggling to find the RJ45 port until I noticed it is mounted on the front removable panel which I was trying to hold still so as not to damage the ribbon cable.

I also had a friendly electrician take a look (he was here for other reasons) and he reckons a cable won’t fit through the existing gland, but it’s not a problem to bore another hole in the bottom between the 2 existing cables.

So I just need to order all the parts and tools and find the time now 😀

 

Well it was a little bit scary taking a 12mm hole saw to the bottom of my Zappi’s case, but it’s done now.

With a bit of effort I was able to take an Ethernet cable through the ducting that the installer used and up the inside of the post that the Zappi is mounted on. I fitted a toolless RJ45 plug on the end of the cable.

Just got about 10 metres to dig in now to get to the house but that’s a job for tomorrow. For the house end, I plan to remove a redundant phone socket and repurpose the recessed back box for an RJ45 faceplate which will be close to the router.

 

@Hugo A-Go-Go You are leading the way here and are probably right about me just going ahead and cabling too. I’ve got the CAT5-e reel, connectors and crimp tool, long masonry bits, low torque range wrench, sealant, etc - it’s a matter of routing the cable somewhere appropriate; there may be a spare port on a hub about 15ft away which is direct cabled to the serving router. A job for later on this week once there’s a cable gland in stock.

From recollection the Zappi has a stick on WiFi antenna on the lid; if this could be replaced by a directional antenna on top that may work too. Just not as well as a cable.

Having the Zappi upgraded to ‘reliable‘ is a little more imperative now there’s another EV in the family.

 

@Hugo A-Go-Go A job for later on this week once there’s a cable gland in stock.

Gettint an appropriately sized cable gland was a small problem. All the traditional places like Screwfix and B&Q only sell larger sizes. Before proceeding, I tried an M16 size but I didn’t feel it was sealed tight enough on the cable. I managed to order a 2 pack of M12 glands on Amazon and they provided a relatively snug fit around the cable before it was tightened.

Same issue with a hole saw, nowhere sells them as small as 12mm so that was another Amazon purchase.

 

A form of madness descended today (!) and the job is now done. There was a nice route through a floor so the hard bit was drilling and lining through a cavity wall; Wickes had a connector and enough 20mm conduit (overkill!) which matches existing, there was indeed a spare hub port.

The Zappi is clearly far happier on LAN than struggling with 2.4GHz WiFi. Hopefully Intelligent Octopus Go 'Can connect to device' now

@Hugo A-Go-Go your approach and documenting it here is appreciated, it gave me the final shove to do the right thing - so thank you

 

Excellent, trust you all have a reliable and happy charging from now on. 👍

 

We got a Zappi a few months ago and it's always dropping off the WiFi, even though the display always says "CONNECTED".

There's a WiFi extender not far away, so the signal is fine. No other devices have this problem. We have no neighbours, so there's no other interference. If I reboot the Zappi it stays online for a few hours or days, then it's off again.

Any suggestions other than cabling it, which I'm not up to doing?

 

This was another thing that was happening to me. I never did figure it out, but my theory was it was caused if the Zappi was connected by WiFi to an extender, and the main router was rebooted for any reason (as the BT ones seem to do periodically) the Zappi would struggle to pick up an IP address again and need restarted.

Short of cabling it, I honestly don’t know how to fix it.