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Smart meters to cost the UK billions: 2G switch-off means replacing 12-13 million (www.theregister.com)
submitted 1 day ago by to c/technology@beehaw.org
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[–] 4 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Wait, why are the individual meters wireless at all?

It seems like if you're running a power cable for ~200 A service (Idk what UK standard is, but that's what I used to in US), running a small fiber cable in parallel would be trivial - and I expect the data rates coming from these would make a fiber connection "future proof" in the most literal sense of the word.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 day ago

    Here in Italy meters talk over the power line itself, like the PowerLine you use in your house. It even allows (but nobody bothers) to connect a user device by plugging it into an outlet (different networks though)

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  • [–] 2 points 1 day ago

    That would mean digging up existing powerlines into every home though. Making them wireless v8a cellular modem makes them independent enough and avoids depending on WiFi which would place the burden of connectivity on the residents.

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