Reminded of appt time and kept informed of arrival. Very polite and professional.
An EV charger going offline can be frustrating, especially when you depend on it to charge your car overnight. That was the situation for a customer in Gale, Bickington, near Newton Abbot, who contacted A.M Electrics Devon Ltd after struggling to get his charger back online.
He had already tried everything he could think of, but nothing seemed to resolve the problem. Without a reliable connection, he was not making the most of his overnight charging arrangements and wanted to get everything working properly again.
We attended the property to investigate. Although the charger appeared to be connected to Wi-Fi, a closer look revealed that the problem was with the internet connection reaching it.
An Offline EV Charger in Gale, Bickington
At this property in Gale, Bickington, the customer was using plug-in Wi-Fi extenders to help the internet connection reach the EV charger. this is something we come across when chargers are positioned outside, on a driveway or away from the main broadband router.
A wireless connection that works well inside the house does not always reach the charging position reliably, so an extender is often added to bridge the gap.
However, having a Wi-Fi signal at the charger does not necessarily mean it has a working internet connection.
That was what made this particular problem confusing. The charger appeared to be connected to the wireless network, but it remained offline. From the customer’s point of view, the Wi-Fi was there, so why would the charger not connect?
Rather than assuming the charger itself was faulty, we checked whether the wireless network was actually providing internet access.
Checking More Than the Wi-Fi Signal
While investigating the connection at the Bickington property, I connected to the Wi-Fi extender and carried out an internet speed check.
EV chargers generally do not need particularly fast broadband to communicate with their apps and online services. What matters is having a stable, working connection.
In this case, my phone showed that it was connected to the Wi-Fi extender, but there was no usable internet connection through it.
That immediately helped explain the problem. The charger could connect to the local wireless network, but it could not reach the internet through that connection.
Think of it as having a clear road from the charger to the extender, but a blockage further along the route. The first connection was available, but the complete journey was not working.
A Failed Wi-Fi Extender Inside the House
The investigation identified that the Wi-Fi extender inside the house had failed.
This was the missing link preventing the charger from getting online. The apparent Wi-Fi connection had made the fault less obvious and left the customer repeatedly trying to reconnect equipment that could not access the internet.
Once the customer replaced the failed extender, he was able to get his EV charger back online.
For this customer in Gale, Bickington, a relatively simple replacement resolved a problem that had already caused considerable frustration. It also meant he could get back to using the charger’s connected features and making the most of charging his car overnight.
Why Plug-In Extenders Can Cause EV Charging Problems
Wi-Fi extenders can be useful, but their connection needs checking just like any other part of the system.
An extender depends on a working link back towards the broadband router. Even if it provides a visible Wi-Fi network near the charger, that does not prove internet access is available.
This applies just as much to a property in Bickington as it does to a home in Newton Abbot itself. The layout of the building, the router position and the location of the charger all affect how the connection reaches the charging point.
The important thing is to investigate the actual setup at the property. Repeatedly resetting a charger will not resolve a failed extender elsewhere in the house.
On this visit, checking internet access at the charging position helped identify the cause without unnecessarily replacing the charger.
Restoring the Connection and Overnight Charging
The successful reconnection after the extender was replaced confirmed the cause of this particular fault.
An offline charger does not always behave in the same way: some models retain charging schedules, while others may lose access to certain app or smart charging functions. The effect depends on the charger and how it has been configured.
For our Bickington customer, restoring the internet connection removed the obstacle that had been disrupting his charging arrangements.
This visit was about connectivity fault finding. The solution was to restore the charger’s route to the internet, allowing the customer to get it back online.
EV Charger Help in Bickington and Newton Abbot
If you live in Gale, Bickington, or Newton Abbot and your EV charger keeps going offline, A.M Electrics Devon Ltd can help investigate the cause.
Whether the issue involves the charger, its settings or the connection reaching it, a methodical check can save a lot of frustration.
As a local electrician in Newton Abbot, we help customers understand what is causing the problem and what needs to happen next. You can also find out more about our EV charger services.
Contact us today on 01626 299105 or via our contact form.