Hi,
I installed the EVCS into my system last week and I’ve had intermittent issues every day since then.
FW on EVCS and CerboGX are latest versions.
I get the system set up fully, Wifi connected, Modbus interactions running, everything working nicely. Then, some time later it all falls over. The EVCS still appears on the router list at the correct IP address, but no communication on the network, not even a ping reply. Understandably the error message W-104 appears (when I check the EVCS using bluetooth) and the modbus interaction disappears from the CerboGX. I get a sense that this may be related to unplugging and then re-plugging the car after driving somewhere but I can’t tie that down conclusively as it may just be that I’m looking after plugging the car in to make sure its going to be charged.
To get it running again, sometimes I just need to power-cycle the EVCS, but sometimes that doesn’t work and I end up power-cycling the router, the cerbo and the EVCS. As a daily occurrence this is getting rather tedious.
I have seen other threads about this issue, but not a conclusive answer.
Is this something that Victron are working on for a fix, or do I need to return this EVCS and find a more reliable solution. I like the way it interacts, but I (and SWMBO) can’t live with the unreliability.
Fingers crossed for some positive news.
Cheers all.
Hi @Mariner62, could you please provide more information about your network setup, especially:
- What is the EVCS WiFi signal strength when it is connected?
- What is the router model?
- Which WiFi security mode is used (WPA2\WPA3 …)?
- Are both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz enabled, and do they use the same SSID?
- Is the EVCS connected directly to the main router, or through a mesh node, repeater, or additional access point?
- Does the EVCS receive its IP address via DHCP, or is a static IP configured?
- How far is the EVCS from the router, and are there walls or other obstacles between them?
If possible, please also share screenshots of the router’s WiFi settings.
Hi Nicolas,
Thanks for your response, good questions, answered below. Some screenshots, but difficult to screen grab all the settings with the Deco App.
Cheers
Dean
- What is the EVCS WiFi signal strength when it is connected? -53dBm
- What is the router model? TPLink Deco BE25 mesh system with 2x satellites, FW Build 1.1.0
- Which WiFi security mode is used (WPA2\WPA3 …)? WPA2/WPA3 Personal
- Are both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz enabled, and do they use the same SSID? Yes and Yes.
- Is the EVCS connected directly to the main router, or through a mesh node, repeater, or additional access point? Connected to a mesh satellite node.
- Does the EVCS receive its IP address via DHCP, or is a static IP configured? DHCP, the address has not changed since install.
- How far is the EVCS from the router, and are there walls or other obstacles between them? About 3m from the satellite station with one brick wall between. The station is outside with the router satellite inside on the other side of the wall.
Okay, thanks for the detailed description.
The instability may be related to the mesh configuration and the use of a combined 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz network. Since the EVCS supports only 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, connecting it to a dedicated 2.4 GHz network and keeping it associated with the nearest Deco satellite may improve the connection stability.
Please try the following:
- Create a separate IoT network with a unique SSID. This option should be available in the router settings, for example under More → IoT Network. Set it to use the 2.4 GHz band only.
- Connect the EVCS to this new Wi-Fi network.
- Open Online Clients, select the EVCS, and open Connection Preference. Select the Deco satellite located closest to the EVCS.
This should help improve the connection stability.
Could you also share a screenshot of the EVCS Wi-Fi settings here?
