IotaWatt Installation Pains

🛎️ Get Help Devices
1

Just got my new Iotawatt package in the mail and the initial setup has left a btiter taste in my mouth. I hope my problems are mostly due to my lack of understanding but the instructions provided by IotaWatt leave a lot to be desired. Before I contact their C.S I thought I would get some feedback from those of you using this device within your home.

  1. Connecting to Wifi - Manual says use either you mobile phone or tablet so I grabbed my iPad. The iotawattxxxx sidd shows up no problem and I can connect to it. At this point a new page should appear. Nothing!! I disconnect it from my iPad and grab my iPhone 12 (same version ios as iPad) . Same problem, Can connect to the sidd but no new page appears. Fortunately I had an old Android phone and it worked as described in the iotawatt manual.

  2. Configuring the WiFi - My home has several routers installed each with the same ssid name but different channels. I select the ssid, enter the password and I get the "Configuration saved" page and nothing else. No error. I connect to the ssid in my garage (different name/channel, same password) and bingo. It connects and the LED grows a dull green, I can now connect to the iotawatt with a web browser. Problem is I dont want this unit connected to the ssid in my garage (weak signal from where the iotawatt will eventually be installed).

I retry connection to the ssid in my home but it will not work. I rename one of the these ssids and connect to it. It works. Problems is I now have 2 ssids for my home only because the iotawatt would appear not connect to a wifi environment with multiple ssids with same name but different channels.

  1. Voltage Calibration - Do I really have to go out and buy a meter? Might be less than $20 US but twice that in $CAN

Hoping to get some feedback from those of you who may have encountered similar problems and found workarounds/solutions

2

In general, you'll probably get much better support by posting IoTaWatt specific questions in their forum at. Bob is very responsive to user questions.

If you purchased the Voltage Reference Transformer from IoTaWatt, there should be no need to calibrate it, IMHO.

As for the WiFi question... It sounds like you've got an interesting network setup. :thinking: The IoTaWatt uses an ESP8266 NodeMCU board as its main processor and WiFi radio. The code for connecting to your home network is from a standard ESP8266 WiFi library. It is nothing really custom to the IoTaWatt, and thus I am guessing - it is what it is. I agree that it can be a little clunky to initially get it connected. But once connected, it has been very reliable for my two IoTaWatt unites. I have a pretty solid Ubiquity UniFi WiFi network with multiple Access Points.

I found the IoTaWatt documentation to be pretty darn good, especially considering the size of the company (i.e. one guy! )

https://docs.iotawatt.com/en/master/connectWiFi.html

2 Likes
3

I used my iphone to connect to it and it connected right up. Do you have any content blocking going on or have java script turned off in safari? As to the calibration, that's up to you. If you're looking for triggers you don't have to. If you're looking for accuracy then yes, you need a multimeter. This pretty much applies to any meter you get so that you can set offset. A lot of iot devices have issues with same SSID on both 2.4 and 5 channels. This is because in a lot of instances the AP tries to push all traffic to the faster channel (5ghz) and some devices don't like that. It's always recommended that you keep different SSID's for 2.4 and 5. Have you posted in the forums at iotawatt? They're very responsive there.

2 Likes
4

Likewise. Why I think my problem here is odd that I have never had this issue with any other wifi devices. For instance, adding a new camera has never been an issue. It simply picks the ssid with the strongest signal. If that signal drops it just picks up the next ssid with the same name.

Anyhoo, thanks for the link to their forums. I will continue my rant there :rofl: :smile: :rofl:

5

If I do it is because that is the way it came. :smiley:

6

Check your safari settings in advanced for your Java script turned off or on. Needs to be on

2 Likes
7

It's on and I also confirmed that Safari is the default browser even though I only ever use Chrome