P1IB Guide

Installation & Setup

Installation on the power meter

  1. Activate the P1 port. This can be done by your grid owners app, webpage or by contacting the company. This differs between grid owners and what service they provide to enable the P1/HAN port.
  2. When the port is active, continue to the next step.
  3. Connect the P1IB device to your power meters P1 port with the included RJ12 cable.

Connect P1IB to your home Wi-Fi (or LAN)

  1. The P1IB will enter AP mode when powered on by the P1 port. Scan with your mobile device or laptop for the P1IB_<mac> SSID and connect to it.
  2. Use your favorite webbrowser and go to http://192.168.1.1 or http://p1ib.local (depending on mDNS is supported on your client).
  3. Setup the device by going to the menu -> settings. Press the “scan” button and select your ssid of your access point.
  4. Enter the password for your Wi-Fi access point.
  5. Now is also a good time to set a password for your P1IB web interface. Find the “Login Protection Password” under settings and add a password of choice. This will protect you in case the P1IB fails to connect to your Wi-Fi and enters AP mode at a later stage. Note: The username is ‘admin’ when asked for a password later on.

MQTT and Home Assistant

An MQTT broker is needed to communicate with Home Assistant. The MQTT Broker must be installed separately which is normally not provided by default in an Home Assistant installation.

Please read the Home Assistant MQTT documentation at https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/mqtt/ if you dont have an MQTT broker installed.

  1. Configure the P1IB device to connect to your MQTT broker in the MQTT section of the settings page. Username and password are not mandatory but recommended.
  2. Make sure the “MQTT Home Assistant Auto Discovery” option is activated.
  3. Press the “Save & Restart button”.
  4. When reloaded the P1IB webpage, wait a few seconds until the MQTT connection state is “Connected”.
  5. Go to Home Assistant, press “Settings -> Devices & services -> Devices tab”. If everything works as expected, you should see “P1IB” in the list of devices.

FAQ & Troubleshooting

Reset the P1IB device

If your device for some reason needs to be reset to factory defaults and you’re not able to communicate with it – its possible to flash new firmware onto the device via the USB port.

  1. Connect the P1IB device to an computer via USB cable.
  2. On windows, you might need to install the USB-bridge chip drivers found at http://www.wch-ic.com/downloads/CH341SER_EXE.html
  3. Go to https://remne.github.io/p1ib/webflash/ , press the “connect”-button and select your port to the P1IB.
  4. Follow the instructions.

Troubleshooting possible hardware fault guide

  1. Make sure the P1 port from the grid owner is still active.
  2. Investigate if the RJ12 cable is in working condition. This is easiest done by measuring (sum with multimeter) each pin on both RJ12 connectors. Each conductor have a unique color if you look closely at the RJ12 connector. Note that the cable is crossover connected and not straight. A normal RJ12 phone-cable will not work as a replacement.
  3. Plug in the P1IB device on a computer or USB-charger to make sure it is booting up (5 fast blue blinks).
  4. Factory reset the device, either via USB webflash or by the menu “factory reset” on your P1IB.

LED indicators

The table below describes each LED-blinking state.

LED indicatorDescription
5 fast blueP1IB is booting
2 slow blueWIFI connected successfully to your access point
2 slow redWIFI failed to connect to your access point, will retry in a couple of seconds
3 slow blueMQTT connection successful
3 slow redMQTT connection failed
1 fast blueP1 telegram successfully parsed and CRC validation was OK. Telegram interval depends on your meter. Normal is one telegram per 10seconds. But there are meters that have faster intervall speeds, ie 1 sec interval per telegram.
1 fast redP1 telegram failed CRC validation
1 fast red per 5 secondsDevice is in AP-mode and is visible with SSID P1IB_<mac>