Launch a range extender or upgrade to mesh network

145791023

Comments

  • Had Tado for 1year, plug and play it is not. Long thin house with 500mm thick stone walls, so definitely challenging. Have managed after much trial and error to get an optimum bridge position, centre of house upstairs and pointing down, reaches all TRV’s and stats apart from intermittent drop out on one edge case TRV at end of house. But what I cannot get is the wireless receiver to work (what calls for heat to the boiler), it’s in same room as TRV’s that happily connect to the bridge, but whenever I pair the receiver (which it seems to do successfully) I just end up with no remote connection and all devices have no remote connection shown in app (but work from previous set schedules). I basically have to hardwire the heat on command to boiler and just run the TRV’s independently at the moment. Tech support seem no help, just keep asking me to re-pair and reset.

    any ideas?

    by the way wholeheartedly agree with all comments about need for extender or handling two bridges for one home in backend architecture. Let’s face it, stable and comprehensive connectivity is THE basic requirement for any IOT system. The length of time this thread has been running speaks volumes of Tado’s commitment to its customers. everyone on here has spent as a minimum +£500 on a smart heating system, it’s just not good enough Tado.

  • Pete
    Pete ✭✭✭
    @Elizabeth
    I'm concerned that your batteries are only lasting 2 weeks with poor communication TRVs.
    Some of mine communicate poorly but the batteries still last 6+ months.
    I'm wondering if it is worth switching the TRV with another (closer to the bridge). 2 week battery life sounds like it might be faulty.
  • Pete
    Pete ✭✭✭
    @badfly
    I had this problem.
    Set zone controllers to 'independent' for ALL TRVs and stats. Then reset and pair the extension kit, then reassign the zone controllers.
    This resolved it for me.
  • @badfly During one of my many contacts with tado over my problem, they suggested that the TRV might be too close to the bridge - perhaps yours is too close to the receiver?

    @Pete I've swapped it out (I have a couple spare) and it doesn't help - it just flattens the batteries and after that it will periodically work for a bit until nothing.

    Hey ho.

  • badfly
    badfly
    edited November 2021

    @Pete @Elisabeth thanks for the tips, actually I can get the receiver to pair successfully and even update the wireless receiver to latest firmware 89.1 when in line of sight +3m of the bridge I.e, in same room. I can see everything in app working ok as well, but as soon as I move the internet bridge back up stairs, after about 30mins I lose wireless receiver connection and then of course cannot see anything else in the app. I know I can make them independent of the wireless receiver to see them again, but that makes the boiler control part redundant as I have to have it forced on. I am now buying 3m Ethernet cable and usb lead to give more flexibility with positioning bridge upstairs to see if I have a sweeter sweet spot to get stable connection to receiver.

    It a none sense really, all this faffing about. Imagine buying a car and then having to take advise on how many bricks to put under one wheel to make sure the fuel in the tank can reach the engine. That’s how fundamental the connectivity requirement is for IOT.

  • @Pete I was reading your passive repeater comment. Did that set up work fine for you long term, it’s seems a cheap and simple method to try

  • Pete
    Pete ✭✭✭
    @badfly
    I've positioned my bridge in the loft with a foil wrapped board 150mm above it (that made a massive difference).
    The passive repeater helped to improve signal further but did not fix it completely.
    I also tried soldering a longer antenna onto the bridge circuit board but managed to break the antenna all together so had to buy a new bridge (which took ages to get working). I'm going to try soldering a new antenna again but this time extending the existing antenna rather than replacing existing antenna.
  • This is absolutely appalling
    The most disappointing thing really is that Tado are really "too quiet" about their customers concerns over this "massive" Tado system inadequacies.

    COME ON TADO...... Time fir an honest and accurate update on exactly what your customers can expact......even if you say that you are technically incapable of fixing this......just make an announcement. It's the very least you can do....isn't it.
  • @ badfly

    If it works, get yourself some powerlines as that will get rid of the cable being a trip hazard.

  • Couldn't agree more with the comments. Range extender is badly needed. I've moved theBridge around the house but it always misses one or two of the radiators. Please sort this out extender or mesh required.

  • We’ve setup Draton Wiser in my brothers house a month or so ago including their range extenders. So far so good.

    If no range extender materialises from Tado by the end of this heating season then I’m switching our house over too in the spring, assuming all going well with Drayton. Already too chilly to have any boiler down time this year!
  • X6TUS
    X6TUS ✭✭
    edited November 2021
    As per my other discussion on here I managed to solve my range issues by orienting the bridge horizontally in parallel to the width of my bungalow.
    In my previous house that was a 3 storey town house I had to position it vertically on the bottom floor to get full coverage.
  • Can we turn this thread into suggestions for alternatives to tado that actually work, I live in a 40sq meter apartment and can’t get it to work properly (my apt. is basically a square evenly divided into 4 rooms) I’ve tried a bunch of things, different angles, locations, …
    I can easily return it and get my money back (the website I’ve bought it from has excellent customer service) I’d just like to know if any of the alternatives are better. So far I’ve found netatmo to be offering the same deal (that is radiator valves and a wall thermostat controlling the boiler)
  • I haven’t tried installing my bridge in my upstairs neighbors apartment facing down, that might be it 🤔
  • @Pete what's the orientation of your house? I could ask the landlord to turn the building 4 degrees...🤔
  • @Joead

    ooer! I just had a look at the Wiser and it looks good. I love their clever idea of smartplugs that double as range extenders.

  • A month later and my 12 TRVs and Wired Thermostat are still working correctly, no gaps in the graphs. I don’t know if it’s a combination of the magnetic forces over Berlin having aligned with the tectonic plates but I am so damn happy it’s finally working as (mostly) advertised, 12 months after first switching. I wish I could provide more useful info but the Bridge hasn’t moved, nor has my router. This may all be down to the firmware updates released in the last months.

    Surprisingly all the batteries are still the originals, only 1 is reporting low battery now (in the kitchen, where it usually is the coldest due to the tiles).
  • Please make an range extender, or at least allow us to link a second bridge to extend the range of the system. Thank you!

  • Lately I have constant stable connection to the TRV that normally has connection problems.

    But now I have other TVR's with connection problems. It seems that the bridge sometimes can't connect with all the TRV's at the same time. There's always one left behind. And one of the TRV is not too far away from the Bridge. Very strange.

  • Hi . Just bought 3 weeks ago a set of TADO .

    We all have the same issues. very dissapointed.

    Why can't TADO open THREAD protocol like EVE https://www.evehome.com/

    This can bring a real solution to everyone.

    Worse TADO seems not to offer any good solutions to that issue since years.

  • If it’s with 28 days you can return it under distance selling regulations. Go get a better system as tado seem to have no plans to fit their broken product.

    Maybe we should try a class action like they do in the US? As their product has flaws that they do not tell new customers about and that they clearly have no plans to fix?

    Steve
  • @wafergold Quite frankly I’d be amazed if Tado wasn’t actively looking at adopting Thread - I seem to remember seeing somewhere on here a mention from them of new hardware in the works.

    The problem is the complete silence from Tado means unhappy existing customers thinking they are shafted with a product that doesn’t work left thinking about leaving Tado for another setup, and potential new customers being put off.
  • Robbie
    Robbie ✭✭✭
    It’s so cold today when I arrived home. 3 out of 5 rooms were offline… No matter how I position the hub, the valves are never online all together at the same time.

    Tado, please, develop a range extender that can communicate with the hub over a wired network. Please!
  • yes to a wired network!! that would make me very happy!

    Also, I've just noticed that you can no longer change the temperature offset in the app. When did this vanish?

  • @Elisabeth temperature offset is still there for me? (Android)
  • I also suffer from poor connectivity at the ends of my house.


    Please, tado add an extender or second bridge to the base system.


    This has been a long term request and it's about time that tado delivered!

  • @johnbur found it.. it's not where it was the last time I looked (which was probably 3+ years ago)

    Also... I got my hands on some Duracell Optimum AA Alkaline Batteries 1.5 V LR6 MX1500 today and tried them out. They connected first time (unusual) and so far (ok all of around 6 hours) haven't dropped the connection once - despite me constantly changing the temp, schedule etc. On normal form, the trv should start dropping connections in a few days and be dead within a week - we'll see.

  • Jurian
    Jurian | Admin
    edited November 2021

    @Pete Thanks for your comment. You made my day!

    We are still monitoring the situation.

    As with any wireless device, range can be impacted by many factors. What our data shows is that the vast majority of our customers (even when connecting many tado devices) do not have significant (or none at all) issues with the radio connection.

    The best way to do something now is to rotate, change orientation, and move your internet bridge.