Radiator Thermostats out of Range
I have bought a full kit with boiler control and radiator thermostats. I did ask before buying if it would work in our house with thick stone walls and I was told the radio signal was quite good and should cope, being more powerful than ordinary wifi.
The internet bridge is in the middle of the house, but the radiators furthest away seem to be out of range.
Would I be correct in thinking that the thermostats out of range would still control the temperature of the individual radiator at the temperature it was set to? This would be better than the arbitrary number the old ones were I guess!
At some point in the future will you be able to do something about the range? Either with a bridge extender or somehow getting each radiator thermostat work in a mesh style network so they can directly communicate with each other?
Hope I get my appointment to setup the boiler soon too!
Thanks
Answers
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Hello @KeithFachwen
Thank you for your question.
Our Internet Bridge normally has no problems with bigger houses - even two our three storey buildings, but of course it is always possible that the connection is impaired by specifics of your building.
As the signal can be blocked by large metal objects (e.g. fridges) or other devices that use radio frequency (e.g. cordless phones), please make sure that the problematic device is not within about three metres of anything of the sort.
It is also possible to improve the connection by placing the Internet Bridge a bit closer by connecting it to a powerline adapter or a WIFI repeater.
If that does not work, you can always use the Smart (Radiator) Thermostat like a conventional thermostat, just operate the device manually and it will remain at the set temperature (just make sure you choose the right setting in your app, where you can define that a manual command made directly on the device should remain active until changed again by the user).
However, please feel free to contact our tech support if you want us to have a look at your specific situation.
There are currently no plans for an Internet Bridge amplifier or anything similar to enhance the signal, I am sorry. If you want to stay up to date with our new development plans you can have a look at our Roadmap or subscribe to our newsletter on our website.
We hope you will enjoy tado° with your boiler as well!
Best wishes,
Julia
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Hi Julia,
Thanks for the reply and your suggestions.
Moving the Internet Bridge won't really help me as it's already in the middle of the house and the furthermost radiators at either end of the house can't connect as it is!
So, I'll just see how it goes.
What might help is if I could use a 2nd or even 3rd Internet Bridge? But I think someone has already said your system is currently limited to make use a single bridge.
It might further your business model long-term if you could overcome this limitation and re-engineer the Bridges so more than one could be used in the same installation. Just imagine the possibilities. You could control the heating of much larger buildings, including commercial ones and keep customers like me very happy!
Regards,
Keith
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Hi @KeithFachwen ,
Thank you for your reply and your input.
What you're saying is true: only one Internet Bridge per account is possible, and there is no way of enhancing the signal (yet).
Any suggestions you might have are very welcome - if you submit a Feature Request through our contact form, our developers will be made aware of your suggestion and they will discuss whether or not it is something that we should work on (and if it is possible to make it happen, of course).
We rely greatly on our users' feedback, as this is the most efficient way to identify and prioritize the points that we need to work on.
For now, I wish you good luck with your existing system!
Best,
Julia
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Having the possibility to manage more than one bridge per account is a solution not always feasible: a bridge needs ethernet connection that means the you must have an ethernet network in your home (in 2019?!) or you must use powerline, but it is ridiculous to advertise a "consumption saving" telling to the user to install e fixed powerline network....
Tado system seems born without a good vision of the future...
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"If that does not work, you can always use the Smart (Radiator) Thermostat like a conventional thermostat, just operate the device manually and it will remain at the set temperature (just make sure you choose the right setting in your app, where you can define that a manual command made directly on the device should remain active until changed again by the user)."
I Think that people did not buy a (more than) 70 euro SRT to use it as e simply 10 euro thermostatic radiator valve...
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I am also struggling with internet bridge range in my 3 bedroom cottage. Choose tado specifically because it advertised a better range due to different radio signal. Cob walled house but not a mobile blackspot or anything silly.
Disappointed that second internet bridge cannot be used to extend signal throughout the house. Surely it can't be much different to having a wifi booster?
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Hi @ziki
Thank you for expressing your concerns.
Obviously, using the Smart Radiator Thermostat like a conventional thermostat is not conceived as a permanent solution. I was merely pointing out that this would work as well, referring to @KeithFachwen 's question.
In our experience, most households still have a router with an Ethernet hub, a Wi-Fi repeater, a switch or a powerline adapter to connect our Internet Bridge. But of course, future developments will have to adapt to future requirements and conditions. Check out our Roadmap if you want to find out more of what is planned!
@CHAPPERS Technically, there should be absolutely no problem with maintaining a stable connection between your Internet Bridge and your devices. Please contact our support so they can find out what might be causing this issue and help you fix it.
Best,
Julia
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I bought and still be with Tado for the only reason that the bridge has the ethernet connection, I do not leave the WiFi net on all the day, but only when I need it.
I have a lot of doubts about the fact that most households have beside the router with an Ethernet hub also a Wi-Fi repeater and switch or a powerline adapter...you can open a poll in the community if you want...
A chinese weather station with radio frequency external sensor is able to get signal sensor till 50m far...the expensive Tado devices no...
Roadmap is totally not trustworthy, it is the same since 3 years ago, without any planned date for feature release and no one of the features reported 3 years ago has been released till now.
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We are also struggling to heat our 5 storey townhouse. We had the tado bridge installed via an Ethernet powerline on the middle floor but it drops out up to 3 times a day. It’s now installed at the top of the house directly into a repeater router and it can’t reach the bottom floors. It’s not possible to have two internet bridges to extend the range (WHY NOT??) though we do have two boilers so we could set it up as two systems but then you can only access one via the app and there’s no possibility to switch between the two in the same app. Right now our €1500 investment in tado is feeling like money down the drain. Nest software and inter communication between devices is much simpler. Too bad they don’t offer room by room thermostats or we’d move back in a flash.3
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I have a grade 2 listed building over 3 floors with walls up to 6 feet thick. My boiler is on a outside wall as is my router but opposite sides of the building. I had issues with connection and Richard at Tado told me the aerial is thin and worked best with the bridge unit vertical not flat as I had it. Now all working perfectly Worth a try!1
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We moved the bridge from the router at the top of the house to the one at the bottom. Still drops out a bit and the bathrooms are not always connected but the connection is much better than it was in the last two locations! I'll try making the bridge vertical. Thanks for the tip.
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I have also had all sorts of problems with getting the Tado system to work across all of my smart rad stats. Our hose is a bungalow so I have put the bridge device in the loft so that it has maximum chance of communicating down over the walls rather than through them. Before I put it in the loft then I could simultaneously have both ends of the house out of communication with the system. I messed around with the bridge suspending it in the loft moving it 20-30 cm at a time, up and down as well as left/right forward/backwards and eventually got all smart rad stats connected, only to find a couple of days later one of the furthest had lost touch and wouldn't regain it. I gave up with it then as summer was on us and now had a new try to get it connected with fresh batteries etc. Still nothing. This system needs a range extension option. We have super WiFi all over the house with several APs and I can easily run ethernet cables in the loft. The only thing I can't fix here is the fundamental range of the system. When will there be a range extension option. A second bridge restricted to slave off the main should be possible or an antenna connector or...
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Same problem here, I have two rooms in my house where I can't place radiator valves due to range limitations. If the thermostats could act as mesh nodes / repeaters that would be a big help.
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Home Made Tado Range Extender
I had major signal problems with Tado initially, I have a large house with solid walls.
However, I positioned the Tado bridge in the loft via a powerline adaptor, then approx 150mm above the bridge I positioned 300mm square board wrapped in tin foil laid flat (hole in the middle for the bridge power cable).
This made a massive difference. The foil board has the effect of reflecting the device signals and increases the signal power in the correct direction.
Only issue is that every few months the Tado needs to be switched on and off and being in the loft is a pain. I found the correct breaker in the circuit board so I can switch the loft off and on now from the fuse board.
Job done.
Having said this. Ability to add more bridges would be a much better solution for most people.
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I too have installed a full house smart radiator thermostat system using 15 units, there are two radiators in some rooms. Since installation there are always 2 rooms where the thermostats are out of range. I have moved the internet bridge numerous times to all possible positions around the house with the same result. There is full coverage internet to every room. I have invested heavily in the Tado system, as has everyone. Tado claim that this type of issue is rare but the number of posters on this topic highlights it as being more common. They show no intention of addressing this issue which I find shocking.
The Tado app shows my supposed savings since installation which are laughable, our quarterly energy suppliers readings show practically the same energy usage as pre Tado. Tado claim a money back guarantee on the percentage saving which I am about to investigate. I look forward to removing the whole system which I regard as a waste of money.
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I too have spent many hours trying to find the optimal position for the bridge in our cottage to connect reliably to radiator thermostats at either end of the house didn't keep losing signal. I raised the issue with Tado when I first installed the system but they just come back with the usual unhelpful advice. The system needs a repeater!
I bought into the Tado system due to the promised roadmap developments, none of which have materialised, which is very disappointing. It seems they have very little interest in developing the system further. I've just about given up hope that they will ever address the issues or fulfil their roadmap commitments.
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I have similar issues in my house. The house has solid brick walls but not only that, I have another wireless system that runs off the same frequency 868 Mhz. I've tried moving the hub all over the house but I still lose signal to at least one or two devices intermittently. I've also asked the question about having the option of a second hub or the use of Zigbee technology which would eliminate this issue but to no avail. It seems as if they have stopped developing their system. There are a few things they could do to improve the app as well. I hope they invest more in development soon and start listening to their customers.
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Again, similar issues in my house. Losing connection at a distance of about 15 m, so no hope of reaching my furthest radiator at 25 m. I can't believe that there isn't a way to extend the signal. Also, no indication on the website as to how far the signal reaches - just will cope with "a typical house".
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Im also having the same intermittent connection issues and have tried numerous times to move the internet bridge and still no success in getting it to remain reliable. I agree tados support gives the same answers every time I've contacted them and don't seem interested in solving the issue.3
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If only Tado used zigbee or z-wave protocol, then *any* such device could be used as a repeater (and we could use any home automation platform we desire to make any of the bazillion missing features in tado's walled garden). But apparently, even Tado's very own devices dont act as repeaters for their own hardware? Thats just lazy.
Someone seriously needs to make similar hardware that fully embraces open standards. Please, someone do a kickstarter.
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I also have this issue. A smart radiator valve, less than 15 m from the bridge intermittently loses the signal every day.
I'm very disappointed. My apartment is about 70 m2 and the bridge located in the middle, so I thought before buying all the tado system (5 valves and 4 thermostat) all the area would be covered by the bridge signal.
Alessandro.
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I managed to get the technical team change the radio frequency on my internet bridge and so far so good no lose of connection. Fingers crossed it continues. Worth contacting them and asking them for the same if u have already tried their other suggestions.2
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Yes I had a change of frequency also and it resolved my problem
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We have a large spread out house and smart thermostat controlling it. Was going to invest in fitting out all radiators with smart thermostat valves, of which there are many. But looking at this and having tried a test with one the furthest ones cannot reach the bridge in middle of house.
seems mad why these can’t connect to WiFi like Sonos has moved to for instance rather than relying on communication to own bridge.
is there any plan to fix this, as don’t want to invest in these to then find it doesn’t work.
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Enquired about Tado using mesh networking which would basically solve this problem. Had a somewhat promising response from their customer support:
we are always working on improvements, so I hope it might be possible in the near future, for tado° to operate in mesh network mode. I do not have exact dates, sorry, but we'll make sure to update all our customers once we have some new features available :)
From a technical perspective they already use a 6LoWPAN for their wireless networking, which is the basis for Thread, a mesh networking stack. Tado are even part of Thread Group, the consortium behind Thread! https://www.threadgroup.org/thread-group#OurMembers
The optimist in me hopes their TRV firesafe (£32 each today on Amazon) is a clear out of existing inventory before they launch a mesh enabled TRV. Wishful thinking? Probably...
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Under the hood, the antenna on the Internet Bridge is really minimal. It is simply impossible to broadcast an area beyond a couple of rooms.
For reference, I post two images: the first represent the IB antenna (maybe mm 30), and the second represents the double Pyronix WE antennas (maybe mm 70 each), from a device that works on the same frequency 868MHz FM Transceiver Narrow Band, but states a range of 1.6km!
I think that has no sense to put a bigger antenna in a small case: you lose the beauty of Tado. It should be better to implement a sort of mesh or server-replica on the ethernet LAN. Cheap and reliable, and very user friendly. Obviously who owns a big house has already implemented a wired LAN, before thinking of buying a Tado system.
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Based on lots of experimentation I can say with some degree of certainty that installing the Internet Bridge ("IB") in a vertical position generally improves the reliability of connections to my most distant Smart Radiator Thermostats ("SRT").
And positioning the IB upside-down also improves said reliability if the distant SRTs are installed below the IB. In my house, the IB is upstairs, and most of my more distant SRTs are downstairs. My most distant SRTs are only able to connect to the IB when it is positioned vertically, and upside-down.
Perhaps Tado can confirm that this is expected behavior and not unique to my house.
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Thanks joead this is very good news...
“we are always working on improvements, so I hope it might be possible in the near future, for tado° to operate in mesh network mode. I do not have exact dates, sorry, but we'll make sure to update all our customers once we have some new features available :)”
I hope it doesn’t take too long 😮
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Another with the same issue. I live in a large converted barn and the Tado Bridge is as centrally placed as I can get it. One of the Radiator Valves in the living room frequently drops the connection. If I move it 10ft to the other side of the hallway then one of the Radiator valves in the Dining Room drops out.
Some form of mesh system would be great as I already have for WiFi - using a total of 6 Google Wifi hubs.
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