Display Unit very limited range

[crna1]

FYI, my range seems fine (able to roam around 1st flr >25ft and Bsmt (GW in basement)) .. but my battery only lasts about 5-10mins. Since it will normally be cradled, I'm not too concerned.

My display also has good range..gateway is on second floor hallway, display on ground floor kitchen.  I never take it out of cradle, its there so we can check usage in an area used most.
If I want to check out specific loads, I just carry my laptop with me

[Realseabee]

Had my display for over a year and it works just fine. Two story house and can read it all over. I agree the battery life has never been great, never timed it but probably like others around 10 minutes. Not sure what battery type it uses, but I'm sure a lithium battery would greatly increase its life.

[Jim]

I've had my display unit since last February and it works well anywhere in the house and even outside.  I have used it outside by the meter to compare to the PG&E readings on my digital meter.

[arungupta]

I also observed that beyond a certain point, the range cuts off very sharply. I have placed mine at a location directly above the gateway. If I move the display even a couple of inches away, it stops receiving updates from gateway. TED has misleading information about display range and display battery life. TED should provide a fix to the users.

[SherlockOhms]

There is no misleading. We've been working with people that have had issues with the display and have been replacing the hardware.  Wireless is not something that you can troubleshoot over the phone, it takes specialized equipment to get a 'picture' of what's going on. There ware several cases where a display returned for poor range and tested excellent once we tested them here. In those cases the local wireless "saturation" is so high that there is really nothing any one can do.  Here is a perfect example. Apple had quite an embarrassing moment there but proves the point perfectly.  You could be a CEO of a multi billion dollar corporatin and be sitting stuck with nothing that can be done about it other then asking other users to "get off" the band.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/steve-jobs-wifi-woes/8567

That is the result of 500 devices trying to talk on 14 channels available to the 2.4ghz specturm.

Zigbee is on 2.4ghz spectrum also.


Again, any one that has an issue with their display can contact us and we will resolve the issue.

I also observed that beyond a certain point, the range cuts off very sharply. I have placed mine at a location directly above the gateway. If I move the display even a couple of inches away, it stops receiving updates from gateway. TED has misleading information about display range and display battery life. TED should provide a fix to the users.

[arungupta]

The Apple example does not work here. Steve Jobs was surrounded by hundreds of wireless devices. I do not live in a conference center. It is a single family home and the wireless concentration is zero in the basement (I have tested with NetStumbler). The gateway is installed in basement and my wifi router also operates out of basement. The wifi router has signal going all the way up to the second floor. The gateway does not work unless the display is directly on top of it on the first floor (even with wifi router turned off). The TED5000 product information seems to suggest that the display can be located anywhere (of course within a reasonable range but I don't expect it to be 6 feet).

If the quality of hardware is not consistent that it allows this information to be true, then it is misleading. Before releasing a product out to the market, all the factors which can negatively influence the device performance should be studied and the device designed so as to operate in a normal home and not in a dust free lab. The kind of issues I have seen, make me think that this device is still in beta stage.

I have already obtained a replacement unit and EnergyCircle seemed to be reluctant to send me a second one. I had to spend extra money for X10 filtering not to mention the amount of time spent in wiring the X10 filters. I hope you do not call X10 interference an artificial issue also. How much time and energy do you think a customer should spend on something which should work out of the box?

Anyways, I am returning my TED5000.

[rsl360]

It's to bad  that the display seems to have all these problems.  It certainly can work well, mine does.  But while I'm not in the middle of nowhere, I am pretty isolated.  A lot of folks complain that they don't run anything that should interfere with the wireless broadcast and it does not work, "therefore it's (the display) a piece of junk".  Certainly there is plenty of oppurtunity for interference from other items in the 2.4Gh band, enough that I think things could be forgotten or overlooked.  And it seems like any interference has to be coming from something that's broadcasting all the time.  Wireless speakers?  Bluetooth head sets?  

Most folks are looking for interference from other items that are also in the 2.4Gh band.  But there is another possibility, de-sensing.  A strong transmitter on a different frequency can de-sensitise a receiver.  People who live near radio transmission tower are probably all to aware of this problem.  

Another possible problem is badly designed or defective receivers.  XM and Sirius receivers are in a nearby band and a defective receiver could cause some problems, again, probably through de-sensing.

So, does anyone have a handy gigahertz rated spectrum analyzer?  Look around and see what you find.

rsl360

[NightTripper]

I have been watching the display for a week now.  It works when it wants to and stops when it don't.  I have noticed that the gateway does not blink at the same time the display stops working.  No wifi withing a block of me.  No x10 automation devices.  And I don't have any blue teeth

Mark

[NightTripper]

Found the solution to the display problem.  Toss the 40$ display in the drawer.  Buy a 9" mini netbook on ebay.  Use the mini to watch the "footprints".  Problem solved.

I can not believe that TED did not know this display was a problem.

Mark

[smckown]

Again, any one that has an issue with their display can contact us and we will resolve the issue.

Hi Sherlock, thanks for the forum response.  I am a new TED5000-C owner.  I too am suffering from low (1min) display battery life and very poor radio reception (sometimes works at 1-2').  I've sent in an e-mail and look forward to talking to someone soon.

While there appears to be an issue with some displays, I'm finding the quality of the rest of the system to be quite good.  I was able to compare TED's output data against a calibrated Fluke handheld under a controlled load condition.  TED's output was well within its published specs for accuracy.  I'm quite happy with the core system performance.