Honeywell Evohome - Multiple Bindings

For a while now each evening there's been a Comms Fault message on the Evohome Controller. But the heating has been working fine, so I've pressed on the checkmark and ignored it, thinking that some random external interference had interrupted communication between the Controller and the heating BDR91 wireless relay in the airing cupboard.

But looking at the system log this fault was happening at exactly the same time every evening, which made the chances this was random very slim.

Some searching on the internet brought up some advice from Richard Burrows at the Evohome Shop, which suggested that the Controller and BDR91 could have multiple duplicate bindings. Thinking back I did have to rebind the BDR91s after a power cut, and I've probably got the system into a situation where the Controller and BDR91s are bound to each other twice. So the solution is to clear the bindings, and rebind the Controller and BDR91s afresh. However the key is clear the bindings at both ends, i.e. not just at the BDR91s.

So first use the long press on the Settings button on the Controller to get into the system settings. Then set the System Devices and set the Boiler Demand and Sundial Valves to None.

The inconsistent naming in the Evohome Controller really annoys me. "Boiler Demand" on the System Configuration page becomes "Boiler Heat"...

... and "Sundial Valves" becomes "Hot Water Configuration".

Both Boiler Demand and Sundial Valves set to None.

With the two BDR91 bindings cleared at the Evohome Controller, now pop off the front fascia and remove the batteries.

To clear the bindings at the BDR91s in the airing cupboard, hold the button on them down for about 15 seconds. After about 5 seconds the lower red light will "long flash", and then after 15 seconds the red light will "short flash". Once in "short flash" the binding has been cleared.

Back at the Controller I replaced the batteries and fascia, confirmed the date and time settings, and then long pressed the Settings button to get to the system settings and the System Devices page.

I rebound the hot water BDR91 first by setting it to Stored Hot Water. The first thing to rebind is the CS92 storage cylinder water temperature sensor. Hold the button down on the CS92 for about 5 seconds, when the button/light will start alternating between green and red. Then press the button again, and the controller should detect the CS92.

Next the Controller asks whether you've got a "2 or 3 port valve" or a "hot water valve". Our system is a Sundial Y-Plan, so the correct setting is a "hot water valve", but it is a little confusing as it has a mid-position valve, which is a valve with 2 ports. Anyway, a 5 second press on the hot water BDR91 to get it into binding mode, and then a press on the Bind button on the Controller and the two are paired again.

Likewise the Boiler Demand is set back to Boiler Relay, and a 5 second press on the heating BDR91 and a press on the Bind button on the Controller, and everything is re-binded (rebound?). Hopefully this has done the trick, and regular Comms Fault messages are a thing of the past.

IGMP and WiFi

Since the arrival of BT TV we noticed an interesting/annoying behaviour with our WiFi. All of the non-FreeView channels are streamed to the YouView box over the internet. As mentioned in the last post, to get this to happen I needed to enable an IGMP proxy on our DrayTek Vigor 2860ac router. This lets the YouView box join the multicast group for the channel we want to watch. Initially this appeared to be all that we needed to do. However we found that when watching an HD channel delivered this way all WiFi traffic ground to a halt. Wired computers and gadgets didn't have a problem, but anything connected via WiFi would essentially see their data connection time out. The WiFi itself was still up and broadcasting, and our phones and tablets could see the signal, but with no data traffic. Switching to a streamed SD channel got the WiFi working again, so initially I thought this was a bandwidth issue, with the YouView box commandeering all the available broadband bandwidth. However according to the router's traffic graph an HD channel is only about 6.5Mbps, leaving more than enough bandwidth for other devices. And all the wired computers were able to use the internet just fine, so bandwidth wasn't the issue.

A knowledge base article from DrayTek states that only the IGMP proxy on their routers "need typically be enabled on a home network". However the router offers two optimisation settings for IGMP; Snooping (the ability to only forward multicast packets to LAN sockets that have devices that have subscribed to that multicast group) and Fast Leave (the ability to stop forwarding multicast packets when it detects there are no more multicast group subscribers). These two options "could be useful on larger networks or networks with a large quantity of IGMP packets that could limit normal LAN throughput".

I guess we have one of those networks then, although DrayTek don't specifically mention WiFi in their article. Our YouView box was already connected to a different LAN socket on the router to the other wired devices, and by enabling both IGMP Snooping and Fast Leave the ability to simultaneously watch streamed HD channels and surf the internet on our phones and tablets was restored. My best guess is that previously when the YouView box subscribed to a multicast group, the multicast packets for that channel were sent to all connected wired and wireless devices, which swamped the WiFi. Now they're not even going to the other wired connections let alone the wireless connections.

BT fibre shambles

Fibre has arrived in our neck of the woods! Wohoo!

Now, let the fun and games begin. So, off to the BT website I go and look at the packages available. First a bit of a speed check:

So given that I'm currently paying £45.99 per month for my copper broadband and BT Sport (for the MotoGP) via an app, when I see that I could go to fibre, get BT Sport in 4K UHD, and 100-odd other TV channels with a PVR for £54.99 per month I'm definitely up for it. Even though it appears I could get the 76Mbps service, it is £10 a month more expensive than the 52Mbps deal, and a quick reality check shows that 52Mbps is more than sufficient.

And this is where the disappointment begins. So first of all, this deal is only available to new BT customers. If you're an existing customer, then you have to pay more. I'm not sure why you'd penalise your existing customers and incentivise them to check out the competition, but there you go.

As an existing customer I can get fibre for £44.99 per month, and BT TV with all the channels for £19.99 per month, for a total of £64.98. And these two deals are only available if you phone BT, rather than use their website, which are about £1 per month more expensive. I found this out when I phoned them up to find out why I couldn't get the banner deal on the website. Eventually I managed to get the bad taste out of my mouth, and Sky is even more expensive, so phoned back and placed the order.

Six days later ParcelForce arrive with the VDSL2 router (which I'm not going to be using) and the PVR (which I am). But the PVR is the YouView+ box, rather than the YouView Ultra HD box.

Given how much money this is all costing, I definitely want the full monty PVR, so I get back on the phone with BT. The first person on the line puts me through to someone who can check the status of my order, and confirms my fear that the order has placed incorrectly. But their job is only to report on the status of orders, not do anything about issues, and I'm informed that there are two options. Let the order proceed and then upgrade to the UHD box, or cancel the order and start again. As they can't confirm whether I'd be charged for upgrading to UHD from HD, I decide that cancelling and starting again is the way forward, so I'm transferred to the cancellation department. There's a brief glimmer of hope when they realise that this should be easy to sort out, but after a chat with the manager I'm told that cancelling is the only option. And... I have to wait for 24 hours to make sure the entrails of this order have fully passed through BT's system before I try and place an order again.

So I arrange for ParcelForce to come back and take the YouView+ box away, take the Smart Hub to the Post Office, and two days later start the whole process again. This time I see that the website is offering an upgrade for £34.99 per month, which given the BT TV Max bundle is £20 per month, means we're back to £54.99 all in. Confused? Me too.

This time I decide to take things one step at a time. Get the fibre broadband first, then add the TV package. So I placed the broadband order online and got my confirmation email, with further details to come.

Then... nothing.

A week later I phone back to find out what has happened to my order, and they can't find it in the system. I'm transferred to the Customer Options team, who start the order process again, for the 4th time. This time the chap on the phone offers me fibre for £34.99 and the Max bundle for £15, the cheapest combination yet. After a couple of explicit queries to confirm this includes the Ultra HD box, I went ahead with the order. Just as the chap was completing the order his system wanted to boost the price of the fibre up to £49.99, so I was back on hold while he talked to his manager. The manager agreed to apply an In Flight Save, to bring the monthly cost of the fibre back down to £34.99, but I'm warned that the confirmation email will reflect the higher price.

Over the next few days some confirmation emails come in from BT. They confirm the activation date for both the fibre and the TV, and inform me that the kit will arrive the day before the activation date. Which, of course, it doesn't. This isn't a major issue, as the DrayTek router is set up to automatically switch to the cellular modem when the copper broadband is disconnected, and then switch back to the fibre as soon as that is connected. BT were helpfully imprecise with letting us know how long the switchover would take, and when during the day it would happen: "anytime up until midnight". But if you were a regular domestic broadband customer, you'd be left without any internet while you waited for ParcelForce to deliver the new Smart Hub.

To give BT some credit, the service did actually switch over on the day they predicted, and the switchover took about 15 minutes from ADSL disconnection to VDSL connection. The cellular modem kicked in as predicted, albeit it did drop the VoIP phone mid-call, but all in all the switchover was about as smooth as I could have hoped for.

Everyone I had spoken to at BT had gone to great pains to let me know that the fibre speed would fluctuate over the first 10 days of use, so if I didn't get the contracted speed immediately I shouldn't worry. But also, if it wasn't up to speed after 10 days to get in contact so they could troubleshoot it. Given that I had asked for the 52Mbps service I was surprised to see that the modem initially connected at 80Mbps, with a 20Mbps upload rate!

However the DrayTek diagnostics page was even more optimistic, with an "Attainable Rate" of over 100Mbps for downloads and over 30Mbps for uploads! Given that previously the router was connecting to ADSL kit in the exchange over a mile from house, whereas now the router is connected to VDSL kit in the cabinet less than a quarter of a mile away, it is no surprise to see much lower SNR on the line, so those speeds are entirely believable. I'm sure that at some point in the next 10 days BT will artificially cap the connection speed, once they're happy that the line is trouble free.

Later in the day ParcelForce did turn up with the YouView Ultra HD PVR, but not the Smart Hub. The PVR was fairly straightforward to set up. I did my usual thing of binding the PVR's MAC address to a predefined IP address, and also enabled the router's IGMP proxy. Outside of the FreeView channels coming in via the terrestrial aerial, the other channels are streamed in via IPTV. This means the PVR needs to be able to join IP Multicast groups, which by default the DrayTek router does not pass through from WAN to LAN. But with one click the proxy can be enabled, and the full channel lineup become available.

Now I'm left to wonder if/when the Smart Hub will arrive.

(Edit on 27-Nov-2017: Having given it a couple of weeks and no Smart Hub I called BT. Somehow the hub had been missed off the fibre broadband order, so a new order was created and a couple of days later the Smart Hub arrived.)

(Edit on 1-Dec-2017: The first bill from BT since placing the order has arrived, and sure enough the In Flight Save I was promised when placing the order has gone missing in action. Instead there's a £3 "special offer discount", bringing the monthly broadband fee down from £49.99 to £46.99. Additionally the router is still connecting at the 80Mbps/20Mbps speeds of Infinity 2 rather than the 52Mbps/10Mbps speeds of Infinity 1. I fire up the chat window with BT and get talking with Aparna, who just confirms what my bill has already told me, and so she connects me to the Retention Team. Another chat with a manager ensues and I'm promised that the original £34.99 deal will be honoured and my bill updated.)

(Edit on 7-Dec-2017: Money has now left my account and the £46.99 for Infinity has been taken. Started a chat window with Robin and asked him to transfer me to the Retention Team. Yet another conflab with a manager, and I'm told that there isn't the option on their system to charge me £34.99 per month for 18 months anymore, so by way of an apology I'm going to be put on a £30.99 tariff for 12 months. If I'm automatically bumped up to the £49.99 tariff after 12 months then I'm going to about £50 worse off over 18 months. But I guess I'll have the option to depart BT after 12 months and go elsewhere if there isn't a better deal available.)