What they up to today? The noise on the 900 band exceeds the signal strengths everywhere around here.
Goddam billion dollar bastards should have to pay for their own spectrum.
just pile dog poop by your meter, I doubt they will install a new one then.
They should also lower the rate with them selling all your private info to others without ones consent. It’s scary that they know your routines like when the house is empty and when someone is there, this info should be kept private and not info they should be selling and sharing with others.
The meter belongs to BCHydro. If you dont want the new one they could take there meter back and you would be in the dark unless you have a genterator. All they have to say is its defective and give you smart meter. If you refuse the smart meter you could get nothing. Its not like you have a choice in the governments monoply.
Sure it is. You can vote out the gov’t in a couple months. Can’t do that where there’s a private enterprise monopolies elsewhere.
You can vote out the gov but will the next guys chang back to none smart meters…You are already screwed my friend…sorry to say.
I got a notice from city-tel saying they are replacing my rotary dial phone with a push-button phone.
No way. I hear push button phones cause cancer and that the phone company can tell who you are calling. There is no way they should have this private information.
[quote=“words”]I got a notice from city-tel saying they are replacing my rotary dial phone with a push-button phone.
No way. I hear push button phones cause cancer and that the phone company can tell who you are calling. There is no way they should have this private information.[/quote]
Ditto
get over it people smart meters are standard throughout North America… they aint going anywhere… I could care less if hydro knows what hours I use the most power… in other areas there are peak and off peak power rates that is on it’s way as well… that part sucks, but it’s real life as well…
My gripe isn’t the moron with an access point in his home, a wireless keyboard, wireless mouse and wireless speakers claiming hydro meters cause cancer.
It’s with those so careless they’re endorsing mega-corps gobbling up public spectrum so they can make even more profits.
You could meter peak and off peak usage with a mechanical stopwatch if you wanted to - the smart meters are TO LAY OFF THE METER READERS.
Yet like the banks, they won’t be paying for wages, coffee breaks, holidays, maternity leaves, EI deductions and they WILL soon convince you there’s a “cost” to those meters so they can charge you even more.
You KNOW IT.
[quote=“herbie_popnecker”]My gripe isn’t the moron with an access point in his home, a wireless keyboard, wireless mouse and wireless speakers claiming hydro meters cause cancer.
It’s with those so careless they’re endorsing mega-corps gobbling up public spectrum so they can make even more profits.
You could meter peak and off peak usage with a mechanical stopwatch if you wanted to - the smart meters are TO LAY OFF THE METER READERS.
Yet like the banks, they won’t be paying for wages, coffee breaks, holidays, maternity leaves, EI deductions and they WILL soon convince you there’s a “cost” to those meters so they can charge you even more.
You KNOW IT.[/quote]
If that is your gripe, then all new technology must drive you crazy. Automation in factories is the most obvious example, but if you look around it is easy to see technology replacing humans everywhere. From grocery store self checkouts, airport self check-ins, self serve gas stations, etc. But even everyday use on your computer has put people out of work. For example; online shopping, booking travel, doing your income tax, renting/buying/stealing music or videos, the list is endless. So replacing 40 or 50 year old technology with something that does way more with less work is nothing new.
[quote=“crazy Horse”]
[quote=“herbie_popnecker”]My gripe isn’t the moron with an access point in his home, a wireless keyboard, wireless mouse and wireless speakers claiming hydro meters cause cancer.
It’s with those so careless they’re endorsing mega-corps gobbling up public spectrum so they can make even more profits.
You could meter peak and off peak usage with a mechanical stopwatch if you wanted to - the smart meters are TO LAY OFF THE METER READERS.
Yet like the banks, they won’t be paying for wages, coffee breaks, holidays, maternity leaves, EI deductions and they WILL soon convince you there’s a “cost” to those meters so they can charge you even more.
You KNOW IT.[/quote]
If that is your gripe, then all new technology must drive you crazy. Automation in factories is the most obvious example, but if you look around it is easy to see technology replacing humans everywhere. From grocery store self checkouts, airport self check-ins, self serve gas stations, etc. But even everyday use on your computer has put people out of work. For example; online shopping, booking travel, doing your income tax, renting/buying/stealing music or videos, the list is endless. So replacing 40 or 50 year old technology with something that does way more with less work is nothing new.[/quote]
you missed the part about hydro using public spectrum instead of leasing their own and bringing up the noise floor significantly.
The great thing about the unlicensed spectrum and low power of these things is that they’re easy to drown out.
I put a couple of mesh access points with huge antennas near my smart meter, and voila, the BC Hydro guy was forced to drive down our street, park in front of my house, walk to the meter and read it. Nobody else on the street needed their meters read this way except our house 
I am actually glad I have a smart meter. Means I dont have to build new stairs right away or relocate my meter thats on the second story.
[quote=“jesus”]
you missed the part about hydro using public spectrum instead of leasing their own and bringing up the noise floor significantly.[/quote]
You’re right. I have to admit that is all Greek to me. What does that mean in lay terms?
[quote=“crazy Horse”]
[quote=“jesus”]
you missed the part about hydro using public spectrum instead of leasing their own and bringing up the noise floor significantly.[/quote]
You’re right. I have to admit that is all Greek to me. What does that mean in lay terms?[/quote]
Ill do my best.
our frequency (radio) spectrum is split and licensed to parties who need to transmit data wirelessly with a few small portions that are unlicensed (public). wifi runs on unlicensed (public) spectrum as do cordless phones etc. instead of hydro licensing their own frequencies they chose to use the public frequencies (okay the smart meter manufacturer did). The more devices communicating on a frequency the more “noise” (interference) there is. So basically these meters add a bunch of interference on our very limited public spectrum and is pretty much a dick move. I live on the border of cell reception and when my smart meter was installed It was very noticeable. I lost a full bar of reception.
Interesting info below:
Or like this: in 2008 we got some grant money so some remote users could get Internet access they couldn’t before.
Some of your tax money paid for 900 MHz transmitters and receivers. It worked great in treed areas for years. Then as smart meters went in, they started crapping out. It ain’t cordless phones (900 ones are really ancient) or baby monitors causing it!
There is no other public spectrum available that can do this - and licensed spectrum and equipment is prohibitivr in cost for small areas. In the USA they reserved some of the freed up analog TV spectrum for exactly this purpose: community last mile internet. No plans to in Canada, they’ll auction it off to the highest bidder when analog tv is ended and so far no plans to reserve any or to require "other’ users get spectrum. The big guys will buy it up and might not even use it.
In the USA where there’s more competition there is already one (cell) carrier offering LTE service on the 700 MHz range.