Three enquiries we had this year show how often a new car charger turns into a WiFi problem:
- A household with a new electric car and a WiFi charger noticed more buffering and slower internet in the rest of the house.
- A family in Wokingham had solar panels and a car charger installed, but could not get the charger onto their WiFi at all. They could only control it over Bluetooth, and the printer upstairs and the TV boxes were dropping off the WiFi too.
- Someone buying an EV lived in an area with very poor mobile reception, so they needed proper WiFi on the driveway for an app-based charger.
They look like three different problems, but they all come back to how well the house WiFi reaches the front of the house. This guide covers why chargers need a connection, why they struggle to get one, and the fixes that last.
Does an EV charger need WiFi?
Not to charge, but for almost everything else. Under the Electric Vehicles (Smart Charge Points) Regulations 2021, home chargers sold in Great Britain since 30 June 2022 must be smart. That means they must be able to send and receive information over a communications network, and respond by changing when and how fast they charge. The government’s guidance names WiFi, Ethernet and mobile data as the usual ways they connect.
The same rules say a charger must still be able to charge if it loses that connection. So a charger that drops offline will usually still charge the car. What you lose is:
- The app, so you cannot start, stop or check a charge from your phone
- Schedules and smart tariff features that control the charger
- Energy reports and software updates
Chargers generally come with default hours that avoid charging at weekday peak times, 8am to 11am and 4pm to 10pm, unless you change them.
Some chargers connect over a built-in mobile data connection instead of WiFi. Ohme’s installation guide says its mobile data chargers behave like a basic charger, without scheduling, if they cannot get a data connection when you plug in. In an area with poor mobile signal, WiFi is the more dependable route.
Why chargers struggle to connect
The driveway is the weakest spot
The charger lives on the outside wall or a post by the drive. The router is often in the middle or at the back of the house, so the signal has to cross several walls, sometimes a garage, to reach it. A phone held at the charger with one bar of WiFi means the charger is struggling too.
Most chargers only use 2.4 GHz
Pod Point, Ohme, myenergi and Hypervolt all say their home chargers only use 2.4 GHz WiFi. That band reaches further than 5 GHz, but it is also the busiest, shared with smart plugs, doorbells and neighbours’ networks. Many routers and mesh systems combine both bands under one network name, which some chargers find hard to join during setup.
Security settings
myenergi’s own guidance recommends WPA2 security, says WPA3 may cause connection problems, and notes that a hidden network name may not be found. A router that has been locked down, or a new router that defaults to WPA3, can stop a charger connecting even with a good signal.
Bluetooth as a fallback
Several chargers use Bluetooth during setup, and Ohme says its Home Pro and ePod can be linked to the app over Bluetooth when WiFi is not available. That is useful, but it only works when you are standing near the charger. The Wokingham household above was stuck in exactly that position.
Can a charger slow down your WiFi?
Not by itself. A charger sends very little data. If buffering started at the same time as the charger went in, look at what else changed:
- Was 5 GHz turned off during setup? myenergi’s guide suggests separating the bands or turning off 5 GHz while you connect the charger. If it was never turned back on, every phone, laptop and TV in the house is squeezed onto the slower, busier 2.4 GHz band.
- Was an extender added to reach the driveway? Devices inside the house can end up connecting to the extender instead of the router, and get a slower connection as a result.
- Did the router settings change? A reset or a new router from the broadband provider can undo earlier tuning.
Our guide to smart home devices dropping off WiFi covers the 2.4 GHz side of this in more detail.
How to fix it, from simplest to most reliable
- Check the basics. Make sure the router offers a visible 2.4 GHz network with WPA2 or WPA2/WPA3 mixed security, and that the password is right. If you turned off 5 GHz during setup, turn it back on.
- Test the signal where the charger is. Stand by the charger with your phone on the 2.4 GHz network and check the signal. If it is weak there, no amount of resetting the charger will fix it.
- Fit an outdoor access point facing the driveway. A weatherproof access point on the front wall, wired back to the router, gives the charger a strong signal. It also covers the drive for a video doorbell or cameras, and it is on the same network as the house.
- Run a cable to the charger, if it has an Ethernet port. Check the manual. A cable takes the WiFi out of the equation entirely. If the charger is not fitted yet, ask the electrician to leave room for a separate data cable or a spare duct.
- Fix the house WiFi too. If the charger is offline, other weak spots usually exist as well: the Wokingham household also had a printer upstairs they could only reach from the stairs. A designed whole home WiFi setup with an outdoor access point solves both at once.
The fix we would avoid is a plug-in extender in the front room. It may work on the day, but it repeats an already weak signal and tends to drop the charger again later.
Solar inverters and home batteries have the same problem
Solar inverters and home batteries often need WiFi for their apps too, and they tend to sit in a garage, a loft or an outside wall, at the edge of the WiFi. If you are having solar and a charger fitted together, it is worth planning the network for both at once.
Getting a charger fitted? Check this first
- Stand where the charger will go and check the WiFi signal on your phone.
- Ask the installer how the charger connects: WiFi, Ethernet or mobile data.
- If mobile reception is poor where you live, do not rely on a mobile data charger.
- If the charger has an Ethernet port, ask for a data cable or a spare duct while the route is open.
WiFi for chargers across Berkshire and Surrey
We fit outdoor access points and data cable for car chargers across Berkshire and Surrey, alongside garden offices, annexes and garages. Our garden office and outbuilding WiFi page covers the service, and our guide to getting WiFi to a garden office explains the same methods for a building at the end of the garden.
Send us a photo of where the charger is or will be, where the router sits, and which make of charger you have. We will tell you which fix suits it and give you a fixed quote.