Extending my system into an area of poor reception

JohnPerriam

I have been running a Tado system for about 2 years now. I originally developed the current system from simple beginnings with just a downstairs temperature controller and a wireless receiver. I now have both upstairs and downstairs radiators separately controlled with 4 smart radiator valves upstairs and 6 smart radiator valves downstairs. This system is Tado V3. Barring the very occasional loss of signal to the wireless receiver this system has worked well.

I was not able to connect the Master Bedroom to the system as, I believe, it is in an extended part of the house and I think that an RSJ blocks the signal from the bedroom’s smart radiator valve to the upstairs wired smart thermostat. I still have the smart radiator valve that was intended to control the Master Bedroom and would like to try again to connect it to the overall system.

My thoughts are that I might fit a second wired thermostat in the master bedroom to separately control the radiator in that room, thus getting around the RSJ blocking the signal (if that is indeed the cause of the problem). My thinking is that this wired thermostat somehow becomes a slave to the main upstairs wired thermostat. Does this sound like a feasible work around and if so your advice on how to proceed would be appreciated.

Many Thanks

John P

wateroakley

@JohnPerriam Hello. IIRC, the TRVs talk to the Internet Dongle using the IEEE 802.15 and 6LowPan standards that are designed for low-power/low-data-rate IOT devices, with a range of up to 10 metre. If you are having wireless range issues reaching the TRV in the master bedroom, I can't see how adding a wired thermostat in the room would help?

A summary of user comments to improve the wireless range:

• Position the Internet Dongle higher and vertical.
• Locate the Internet Dongle centrally in the home.
• Extend the wiring to the Wireless receiver and locate it nearer to the Dongle.

Three methods to relocate the Internet Dongle in the home:

• Ethernet extension cable.
• Wifi extender with an ethernet port.
• Powerline adapter.

Suggestion … Use the 'Off-line scheduling' feature:

• Request the off-line scheduling feature from this forum and wait for confirmation that is enabled for you. The request is dealt with manually and could be a couple of weeks.
• Zones/devices in the App configuration. There is maximum of ten 'zones' and 25 devices. With 12 devices, you'll create the new Master Bedroom Room. To keep to ten zones, set one of the Rooms as 'Independent'.
• Schedule. Create your schedule for the Master Bedroom in the App.
• Mount the new TRV on one of the other rads. The 'off-line schedule' for the Master Bedroom should be downloaded to the TRV.
  (I don't know if mounting the TRV is necessary. Nor how long the schedule download will take, whether that's an hour or a day?)
• Dismount the new TRV and fit it on the rad in the master bedroom. The Room should show as 'off-line' and should be using using the 'off-line schedule' that you created.

Let us know how you get on.