Add Upload Speed Data to "my home - monitor - network" information on app

Product Wishlist
1

11/18/2022 1100 EST
A support tech informed me that my upload speed was 48.1 kbps and therefore inadequate for the Sense Monitor.

I sought additional info and was finally told that Sense records upload speed data: “30 days, 7 days, 2 days, and hours” (via request # #325007 re: power quality data drops).

I think many customers would value having access to that information via the phone app and/or web portal.

I have never received a “low” connection speed test result via the monitor app; it always report “good” upload and download. One would think “Good” was enough for the Sense monitor to stay on-line.

So why did the support tech tell me my upload speed was 48.1 kbps?
He said that is why I have gaps in the power quality data graphs.

But if that is the case, why does the Sense power meter, devices, etc. never show any interruptions in data flow?

In addition, my repeated phone app speed tests showed 640 - 790 kbps upload speeds during the time I was in communication with the support tech and still connecting via wifi with the monitor.

Nonetheless, I connected a Cat5 ethernet cable from the Sense monitor to the Router.
However, I will not know if that will solve my power quality data drops (Power quality lab currently down since 11/10/2022).

I also won’t know if there was actually a problem with my internet wifi speeds.

And, I still wanted to know how and where the support tech was getting the 48.1 kbps upload data.

The person had difficulty answering my questions; although it felt more like a refusal.

The support tech simply said to keep the monitor connected via ethernet and it will work “flawlessly”, and went onto say that upload speed data is therefore “irrelevant”.

I do not think it is irrelevant!

I still don’t know what is happening with my rural internet wifi speed, why the power quality data drops, and I would prefer not having to use the ethernet cable for my connectivity unless absolutely necessary.

I want access to the upload speeds, etc.

If it is available to the service techs, wouldn’t it be reasonable for customers to also have access to the recorded data over the past “30 days, 7 days, 2 days and hours” ?

Is it downloadable?
Could the info be included in the app: Settings - My Home - Monitor - Network section?
Could the info be included on the dashboard, possibly with a running graph?

The support tech told me to contact my internet provider about my low upload speed but still refused to tell me how, when, where he got the 48.1 kbps upload speed.

I would have a hard time making a case with my internet service provider without the upload speed data evidence in hand.

And, has the upload speed actually improved with the ethernet cable or is my rural internet service actually inadequate for the Sense Monitor to function properly?
If it is inadequate, then I could pass the monitor onto someone else who might have better results with it.

But, again how can I make such decisions without the actual data.

I think having accessible upload speed information would be helpful for a lot of people who are troubleshooting their system.

At the very least, it seems like it should be available upon request.

I am asking here because I could not find any reference for this or similar prior via a search.

Thank you.
Kathy

4 Likes
2

Hi @Kathy,
You are definitely asking the right questions and trying to check the right things give what I saw in your posting here. I took a quick look at the FAQ and the Chatbot to see what Sense currently lists as speed requirements - not enough to really make a determination in your case.

The Sense monitor does have the ability to test network speed from its vantage point, so I suspect that a support person can actually see more speeds details. Looks like you are already using the Network test under Settings>Monitor>My Home>Network Connections and running “Network test” and seeing Good like I am.

image
image1334×263 36.5 KB

The challenge with rural service is that speed might be more highly variable depending on ISP and their forms of connectivity and loading - could be good at some point in time and poor at others. Not sure if you have the ability using your modem/router to watch speedtests over the course of the day to see if you have any incidents of far lower speed.

One other thing to try, just to eliminate issue local to your network. You can try “pinging” Sense from a computer close to your modem, just to make sure you aren’t seeing dropouts or high latency.

1 Like
3

From:

Wireless
802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi Bluetooth Smart Bandwidth use: ~300MB per day

300 Megabytes (MB) = 314,572,800 bytes (assuming kilo is 1024, not 1000)

314,572,800 bytes /24hr = 13,107,200 bytes/hr = 218,453 bytes/minute = 3640 bytes/second

3640 bytes per second is 29 kbit/s

On AVERAGE and just sense traffic only.

Afaik the sense unit does not have wired ethernet, wifi only!?
Are there newer versions that do have a cat5 ethernet connection ?

3 Likes
4

Hi,

I remember reading that Sense needs >150 kbps upload speed or it may go off-line.
The Sense Support tech reaffirmed that number in his response to me.

I use a phone app to check my download and upload speeds. I have done this next to the modem and next to the Sense monitor. The lowest I have ever recorded is 640 kbps so it is puzzling to have the support tech tell me that he is seeing upload records that say 47.1 kbps.

I appreciate your recommendation to “ping” the monitor from a computer close to the modem.
And, I appreciate DcDyer’s input and his offer to send the .BAT file to help facilitate such an investigation.

I do not know if I will have the knowledge and time to pursue it but it will be good to have the option, and to advance my learnin’ :slight_smile:

However, I posted this on the “product wishlist” because I wish Sense would make the monitor’s recorded upload speeds available to me, to all customers, via the dashboard or other on the app.

2 Likes
5

Hi Danny,

I read and the Sense Service tech affirmed that the Sense Monitor needs >150 kbps to stay connected, less than that and the monitor can go offline.

The Sense unit that I have here has an ethernet port.
I am hard-wired to my router with a cat5 ethernet cable at this time.

Please note that I posted this topic in the “Product Wishlist” because I would like to have access to the upload speeds that Sense records from my monitor.

The service support tech reports the sense monitor is recording 47-48 kbps upload speeds. My speed tests from next to the monitor and next to the modem are all greater than 640 kbps at various times in the day.

I’d like to see that Sense recorded upload speed data on the phone app, with a running graph. And, if that is too complicated, at least let customers download the info upon request, like the .csv voltage data.

2 Likes
6

Sense PRO monitors have an Ethernet port and revenue grade CT’s.
They also support 3rd party UI’s.
They have existed for a couple years now, but Sense doesn’t like to tell consumers that as they are only available through their partner resellers.

7

Access to the Sense Pro version of the monitor, which includes an ethernet port as an alternative to Wi-fi connection

I wonder what other differences there are with the “PRO” version of the sensor?!
Faster cpu/dsp?

Afaik there is no mentioning of the PRO version of the product on the shopping web page of Sense…

8

Sense sells the normal monitors for us and pro’s (mostly solar installers).

An enhanced version of the monitor with an Ethernet port and revenue grade (non clamping) CT’s for select pro’s that also includes the ability to create your(their) own UI/API. With a little googling you can buy one for about the same or less than what Sense sells the standard monitor for. Haven’t look much into all the different API/UI’s functionality and costs.

There is also the Schneider energy monitoring panel, a breaker box with a different version of Sense built in.

Not to mention the Smart utility meters with Sense.

I highly suspect this is the exact reason why Sense has seemingly abandoned the UI for us normal users. Beta testers have become more like Alpha testers, and normal Sense users are now more like Beta testers for partners and investors.
Normal users simply don’t generate enough revenue for Sense. It’s pretty obvious when you think back on the past couple years.

2 Likes
9

Agreed!

At the least.

1 Like
10

All the Pro products have their own shopping area, that requires a Pro login.

https://pro.sense.com

More on becoming a Pro / reseller here.

https://sense.com/pro

2 Likes
11

Well, I’ll be darned. I have a Pro monitor. And the box includes a card about downloading the Sense pro app to complete the installation. I think we used the app for everyday customers to install this one.

I thought everyone had the ethernet port but to get more detailed info we would need the Sense Pro app - only available to partners, fleet managers, etc.

I was not able to sign into the pro store via the link Kevin shared but may have to do some more investigation; perhaps I have the right credentials.

But this page has also has info:
Download the Sense Pro app for iOS and Android - Sense.com.

And, I just tried to download the Sense Pro app from the Apple app store for the first time.
That effort was successful. Now it wants me to install the Sense Pro monitor.

I think we installed with the regular Sense app and am not sure about re-doing the installation.

Thanks for bringing my attention to this matter.
I’m pushing the pause button until I do some more investigation.

1 Like
12

6 posts were split to a new topic: Not Enough Upstream Bandwidth OR DNS Issue?

13

I think I finally got to the bottom of the issue, although it really disturbs me. As a security and convenience measure, I block access of all of my clients to public DNS Servers. I only allow them to use my internal DNS Server which in my case is running Adguard Home. This is to avoid tracking, malware, etc.

From what I can Sense is directly hard-coded to use 1.1.1.1 as its DNS Server. I have a few other devices that use Cloudflare or Google.

The behavior that I would expect would be once Sense realizes it can’t get to 1.1.1.1 is to fall back to the DNS Server assigned during the DHCP request.

Unfortunately, it would seem that it times out waiting for a response before trying my local server, resulting in a delay and impacting bandwidth.

So, my lesson here is that if Sense support is saying that upload speeds are too low, instead of trying to fix a wireless problem, instead:

Provide Wifi stats, e.g. Signal Strength and bandwidth metrics

Don’t assume slow upload speeds only because of a poor wifi signal.

I would certainly hope that Sense re-evaluates its DNS process so that it works in an environment where everything isn’t assumed to be open.