Background
Urbanization and the development of communication technologies are transforming the way of meter reading. As meters are dispersed in different locations, some of which are remote and difficult to access, a remote meter reading system is urgently needed to relieve staff of utilities from heavy but inefficient tasks.
A network-based automatic metering system is expected to build up secure and reliable communications between meters and monitoring center of utilities. It should be easy to deploy, enduring, and able to cover remote, unmanned areas and places that are hard to access.
Remote Meter Reading Solution
InHand Networks devises a smart metering solution featuring the InRouter301. Utilities meters are connected to the IR301 via RS485. Data from meters are constantly sent by the IR301 to the data center of utilities companies over LTE networks. With support for private APN (Access Point Network), the IR301 is able to prevent access from public internet and also enabled the access from the water company’s data center to a certain remote meter.
All the routers can be batch managed and configured via InHand’s free cloud platform – the Device Manager. From the user interface, technicians can the traffic and status of each router.
Advantages
- Secure, reliable and cost-effective LTE CAT M1/NB-IoT connectivity
- Support for APN, security of network access ensured
- Remote management and deployment by Device Manager in the cloud
- Industrial design, IP30, 9-36V power supply, ideal for unmanned sites
