Nick
@nick@shore.me.uk
179 following, 253 followers
Just spent half day reconfiguring #SIP trunks on #FreePBX and #Asterisk (using chan_pjsip) as one of our providers silently yoinked #IAX2 support - #VOIP is as cursed if not more so than #PSTN / #ISDN circuits, except you don't have to crawl around as much in corners and roofspaces amongst spiders, mouse-like rodents and possibly snakes (if you have them in your country), and there's less chance of ending up on the wrong side of 100-120 volts (either AC or DC, depending on whether its ringing voltage or the strong DC voltage that British Telecom and others used to send down certain ISDN lines in 90s/00s)
@vfrmedia What a non-boring life you have in Good Old England! Do you have any telecom operators that provide the IAX2 interface? Then run from FreePBX (it's still a PBX for blondes) to a normal Asterisk and you can even use chan_sip for now, it looks like it won't be disable anytime soon. And don't forget to take the system indoors, out of the attic where the prim British rats roam and the Victorian vipers crawl behind them.
I feel your pain 🙂
chan_pjsip + FreePBX can turn into a rabbit hole very quickly, especially when providers change capabilities without proper notice. IAX2 can actually be a relief in some cases (NAT-friendly, fewer SIP headaches), but of course it depends on the use case.
If you need a second pair of eyes on the config (PJSIP/IAX2, NAT, codecs, security), feel free to reach out.
Also happy to help with EU DID ranges and UK geographic numbers if that becomes relevant.
Had to open 5060 inbound to get one providers trunk to signal inbound calls (either #STUN isn't working there or some #NAT issues), with predictable results..
Got older version of #fail2ban on this box to yeet all blighters trying to get in - by turning on security logging in /etc/asterisk/logfiles_custom.conf (add entry security_log => security), updating regexes in /etc/fail2ban/filter.d and pointing failt2ban jail to check /var/log/asterisk/security_log (main Asterisk log is in wrong format and I don't know enough regex to fix that)
Also registered a #Voipfone virtual PBX extension to use as an extra trunk (needs contact-user and from-user set in #PJSIP config)
The picture @alex drew a few months back sums up exactly what dealing with these #VOIP #trunks is like
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Drawing of elephants trunk with snake head at the end
remembered to add the new security_log file to #Asterisk conf in /etc/rotate.d - hopefully this works and I don't get huge log files on the server..
Alas, log does not seem to get picked up by logrotate - changed filename to /var/log/asterisk/fail2ban (already in /etc/logrotate.d and previously working) to see if thats any better (as apparently #FreePBX can alter /etc/logrotate.d but its not clear exactly where this happens!)
it turns out maybe some regexes in fail2ban may have been fine, but the full log generated by #Asterisk didn't contain "security" events so it couldn't find any to catch). I've also added "notice" to the security log and the regex *now* seems to snag these!
Turned off FreePBX software #firewall as fighting with #fail2ban #iptables rules (never worked straight anyway and didn't guard #SIP traffic), checking if config persist across reboots and services start correctly.. #VOIP
Everything now seems to be working. Now I know SIP trunks work even on this old server and versions of #Asterisk / #FreePBX I can plan for when our main analogue lines have to be ceased and reprovided as SIP (and will be looking into using a cloud server / VPS as its hardware is getting old, and should stop a problem we have at a remote site where the ISP controls the router and won't open up firewall ports other than as chargeable work (which means I had to use a different cloud #PBX service for that site)
Just over a month and I've tamed all the #trunks (with abundant snake heads at the end), made sure 1500+ #blighters are yeeted (with more trying every day) got inter #PBX #trunk working between on-premises and cloud #FreePBX - just waiting for porting of first analogue number to check this (and CLID presentation) works and then main office one can follow.
Took many late evenings, a lot of research of everything from old #BritishTelecom training manuals to some from Universities in India and the Indian telecom companies, and I've learned a lot more about #SIP even since 2008 when I built the first #VOIP #PBX used at work.
Thankfully #routers seem to handle #SIP over #NAT a lot better than they used to (even got an extension it working over #LTE with #Linphone)
@nick one provider won't deliver inbound calls without it being open and the numbers attached to it are well known and in regular use (we were previously using IAX2 trunks for these numbers which didn't attract many attack attempts but the provider abruptly stopped IAX2 support without warning us)
@nick some of them do, the others don't (I'm looking at porting out the numbers from the ones which do not provide a modern level of support)
I've investigated what is going on and fail2ban is catching them anyway, things look worse as SNGREP is catching the packets at kernel level before they hit the firewall..
@vfrmedia The fun thing is when you have to resort to using E1 links to tie a Cisco SBC and SIP switch together because they can't agree on SIP/RTP handling of V.150 modem signalling (for "special" telephones). You know it's a mess when the NSA has to publish guidelines on how to make it work (SCIP-216).
Firewall settings add to the hell that is VOIP.
Recommend telling your kids that back in the day the length of time it took to dial a phone number was proportionate to the sum of its digits
Entirely Foreseeable AWS Outages
https://rys.io/en/182.html
Once you strip away the marketing hype, agentic systems like Kiro AI are just automation tools.
The difference between Kiro and regular infrastructure management tools is that the latter are deterministic. They can be tested, analyzed, and bugs can be reliably, provably fixed.
That's just not the case with agentic tools. They are by their very nature non-deterministic. And that's the last thing a systems engineer should want.
The discounted ticket price for the third #MikroTik Professionals Conference will end next weekend. Price will rise from €159 to €308 very soon. If you’re still undecided take a look at the Agenda with speakers that are at the top of their game coming to present high level MikroTik topics. Enjoy meeting like-minded professionals. Come enjoy a free beer with us in Prague on March 11th! Lets talk MikroTik. https://mtpc.world/agenda/
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Website screenshot. Shows a green paper ticket stating “Admit One”. A price of €308 is crossed out and it is shown on sale with the reduced price of €159. Below this is a photo of a glass of ice cold beer. It is advertising the VIP Dinner for a price of €59
My wife and her two siblings decided to visit the Victoria & Albert museum today, and had a really great time. She and I will probably go back at some point, as I was working today.
Rather than take the train they Ubered from where we live (near Bagshot) all the way to the V&A and back again.
I thought I'd try and run the numbers on what the cost consequence of doing this was.
The station we most frequently use is Woking. And tickets from Woking to Waterloo are £15.20 return after peak. -->
--> So in train fees alone, there would be £45.60. But that is not where it ends. The'd have had to drive to and park at Wokingham. A day's premium parking (near the station) is £21.00. Ordinary car park is £14.00.
I think since they left from the house door and arrived at the door of the V&A in the uber, it's probably fair to take the £21 option. So £21 in parking, added to the £45.60 train fares. So £66.60.
But that would only get them to Waterloo, and the V&A is nowhere near that. -->
--> I can only estimate the cost of an Uber from Waterloo to the V&A but Google's AI suggests between £15 and £25, so let's go in the middle at £20. So now we're up to £86.60. Of course one could walk (50-75 mins) or use the underground. Jubilee line west -> Westminster, change for the District/Circle West again to South Ken. I think on a contactless the tube would be £3.50 each. Call that £10 as an option. And around 25-30 mins probably. So, again, uber is probably the fairest comparison.-->
--> Then returning the £10 would apply again, but they'd already got a return from Waterloo to Woking, and the car would already be there.
So my total for driving to Woking, Parking, Train to Waterloo, Uber to V&A, Uber back from V&A to Waterloo and return, I think, is £106.60 return. If we did use the tube, I think we could reduce this to £86.60.
This morning the uber from door to door was £75. The uber back home, again door to door, was around £65, I think.
-->
So uber door to door £140 in total.
Drive/Train/Uber/return same way £106.60 - only £33.40 more expensive for a lot less hassle.
or Drive/Train/Tube/return same way £86.60 - £53.40 more.
Unsure whether that feels 'worth it' or not. The first one definitely feels better value.
I think because train tickets are "per person" whereas ubers are "per car" there might often be situations where an uber is maybe almost cheaper for some kinds of journey. Which is mad, and a bit of an indictment of rail pricing, really. Although to be fair, off peak tickets never seem awful value.
@bloor Plus:
- Don't need to plan in advance
- Can travel direct from start to finish
- Time has value
That last point is my biggest mistake whenever I go on holiday. I tend to use public transport but what I perceive to save in money I definitely lose in time.
@bloor At least in Wales the trains have group tickets too.
Even then some years back a bunch of Swansea football fans celebrating their brief return to the premier league booked a limo from Swansea up North and back as a special treat and discovered it was cheaper than the train
@bloor around here there is also the issue of reliability of the trains. Half the time that I try to take the train there are problems, and I either take the car instead or just don’t go. Shame, as it is a super easy walk to the train station from our house. 😒
@bloor How does uber to and from your local train station compare to the parking; i.e. so you can do uber<->train<->uber ?
Just popped into Currys to get a new toaster. £180!! No chance.
For that I would want it to butter the bread too.
If only we had proper electrical shops like we used to have where we could buy things....
A&A fibre install day… this time at least I’m getting texts from CityFibre though it’s a little concerning it says they’ve arrived and are nowhere to be seen 🤦
(Does say they might be elsewhere working on infra)
Pushed through my incessant cold to clean up the driveway and move some more plant pots. Wish I hadn’t 😭
No sign yet!
They sure do have an unhelpful interpretation of “arrived.”
They have now arrived and are beginning the install 😱
I have a bunch of very unhelpful block paving that needs to be lifted 🙃
I think a good deal of that is getting past the cemented in ones at the edge.
He’s making good progress!
Current status: sitting at my unholy complicated router config page wondering how the heck to route my internet through the PPPoE connection on VLAN911…
Wow when I was a dummy and added my VLAN to the bridge taking down my PPPoE connection I *immediately* got a link down text from AAISP!
So far my efforts are going poorly. Figured I’d use PPPoE quickset to get me most of the way and finagle the VLAN after, but using that immediately boots me off the router 🙃
Well my *router* can ping Internet services…
Well the TLDR was the obvious problem- the PPPoE link was not automatically added to the WAN interface list, so it was excluded from the default masquerade firewall rule.
To shadow this problem I had also set my router’s local address incorrectly so my computer couldn’t even ping it.
Have now tweaked my other router and I’m pretty sure I’ve probably got some horrible double NAT situation going on I ought to fix. Nothing a DHCP Relay can’t fix 💀
@gadgetoid just run everything over IPv6 :)
@ahnlak I ought to give it a try at some point. Suspect I have a bunch of devices that wont be happy 😆
Hivemind :
Can this possibly be legit? And if not why not?
@bloor Is that "fused" as in "fused plastic"?
@IvanSanchez well, I cannot tell, as it is a sealed unit
@bloor I suppose it /might/ have a non-replaceable fuse, but I'd be very surprised. Even then I'm not sure it's legal?
@bloor I have doubts about the supposed fuse. You could always run more than 5 A through it and see what happens.
@bloor Pretty sure the earth pin shouldn't be part insulated, the dimensions look all wrong, there should be more clearance between the pins and the edge of the housing, and wtf is going on with that fuse? I'd guess there's also a hilariously small amount of copper in that cable (if its even actual copper) and I've seen cables like that where the earth wasn't even connected. Most likely an absolute death trap.
@bloor one of those nearly burned down my office. I have the photos somewhere but seems to be unable to find them. Only a PC was plugged into it but it melted the socket and plug. Ergh.
@CenturyAvocado Amazon refunded in full on first request. Note: I didn’t buy these
@bloor 100% not legal. Earth should be all metal, not sheathed (or all plastic if not earthed) and there’s obviously no fuse. Except for what is presumably the bare minimum of copper clad aluminium they can get away with in the cable. It does at least look like the earth pin is longer than the others.
@bloor Get a pair of pliers and rip the prongs off that thing to make sure no one ever plugs it in. Fire hazard and electrocution hazard.
If the seller is UK based then report it to them and to trading standards. If the seller is based abroad then it's up to the individual who imported it to check its compliance with the regulations.
@bloor earth pin should not be sleeved (dangerous - means the appliance won't be earthed). The plug dimensions are wrong and may allow fingers to touch contacts (dangerous), almost certainly does not have a fuse, despite saying "fused" (dangerous)... But really, would you trust that it was actually fused when it fails to meet the BS in so many other ways?
Also would not be surprised if it used undersized copper plated aluminium wire.
@bloor Very very NOT legit, and my experience is the wires are a thin strand of chinesium and get very hot in use.
It's Sunday evening - have a great week from the Fediverse Barista (photo from 2023)
#HaveAgreatWeek #CheersSunday #Barista
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Person in a blue suit (me) sitting outdoors under a brick portico, smiling and raising a wine glass in a friendly toast. Rustic courtyard with stone flooring, wooden tables and countryside in the background. Photo taken in June 2023, relaxed Sunday evening atmosphere.
The speakers at the third #MikroTik Professionals Conference have now been published on our website. We have selected MikroTik experts from all over the world who are coming to MTPC Prague in March to explain how to use many of the new features added to RouterOS v7 in the last few years. Tickets are still available for sale. Free beer (other drinks are available) the evening before! Plus of course, the famous free raffle! https://mtpc.world/agenda/
So excited to be sitting front row with @mellifluousbox at @neil 's talk on Online Safety Laws. 🔥
Neil is an authority on digital laws and its impact on Fediverse services (very relevant for Mastodon admins, mods etc!). #FOSDEM
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Neil on stage with the main slide next to him stating "Online Safety Laws, learnings from a lot of bro bono work"
Cynics might say that the UK Government have an incoherent approach to tech policy. Not so.
Sure, the AI Skills Hub is unlikely to turn Fatima the ballerina into a data scientist, but the VPN ban might create a whole lot of young cyberpunks setting up their own WireGuard networks and administering VPS endpoints for their friends.
At which point, they'll start developing opinions about Arch vs Debian, btrfs vs ZFS, BSD jails vs OCI containers—then we've guaranteed the next-gen of devops talent.
I tried the government's new 'AI Skills Hub'. Let's just say I was underwhelmed.
https://tommorris.org/posts/2026/turn-it-off-and-run-upskilling-for-the-ai-age/
@tommorris I can just see NHS workers having time for this. A family member is a medic & I remember their caustic remarks when back in the day govt decreed all NHS staff must pass the European Computer Driving Licence.
There are people who are directors of five companies and that’s considered a good work ethic. But if you’re an ordinary person and work two jobs to make some more money, the powers that be start calling it “fraud”.
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A black and white picture of Charly Shore playing saxophone
Palantir - "An American software company"
I suppose that's how the Labour Government try to justify it too.
They're literally a military surveillance company.
Dystopian that they have a huge NHS contract. Time to end it.
https://bird.makeup/users/heidibachram/statuses/2014299340324405553
Like seriously who the fuck would go to America right now?
What does the slang word "bop" predominantly mean to you?
| An OnlyFans creator: | 0 |
| A good song/dance move: | 39 |
| A promiscuous woman: | 0 |
| Something else or nothing (pls reply): | 14 |
@davidnjoku To dance; a style of jazz; to hit.
@bodhipaksa @davidnjoku usually these things, I'm also aware of it being slang for a social event with dancing associated with social crowds linked to Oxford University (but was never posh or clever enough to regularly associate with such folk although I didn't live that far away for much of my life)
@vfrmedia @davidnjoku I think I’ve heard that too, but there’s also a “hop” and now I’m second-guessing myself.
kinda wish i could just `dig AXFR . @192.168.88.1` against my tik to see all the static dns entries because i am in a habit of not knowing the names of even a single asset at work and just piping a cheeky little zone transfer into grep to figure out what in the fuck the hostname of that thing is today
Kitchenware question:
In the old days it was Tupperware. I’m talking about “plastic boxes for food storage in the fridge, freezer, maybe a reheat in the microwave”.
We have some by Sistema but frankly they are rubbish. They get brittle in the freezer, then the lid latches break. We have tried other cheaper ones.
Are there any GOOD plastic food storage systems?
@bloor I upgraded to the fancy Sistema ones with the tritan plastic - these ones. https://www.sistemaplastics.com/uk/our-ranges/ultra
They have held up to freezing and dishwashers and all kinds of things so far. I've been really impressed.
@bloor I prefer glass containers over plastic as they can be heated in the oven and are easier to clean. John Lewis have some own brand ones that are decent.
@bloor it is better to avoid plastic in the microwave. The lids are ok, but where the food touches the box it can get too hot and melt the plastic. The fumes et al then permeate your food, not ideal for your daily intake of plastic but obviously we’ve all been doing it for decades. 🙄
@bloor For freezer we use cheap plastic pots with plastic lids; they're thinner and lighter than anything we'd use if we wanted it on a countertop, and don't have the clever seals or anything.
@Wifiwits @ben it looks like zen are now available on my headend exchange. (As in their own network rather than using BTW)
Depending on pricing the 1.8Gbit is semi tempting but it still has the 110 up and I'd need an ONT swap
Keeping an eye on olilo at the moment but might just wait for OR to roll out XGSpon
@NAB No. The way to edit a text file on a Linux server is
* copy it to a Windows box
* edit it using a real editor
* copy it back.
You have to learn about line endings, but that's about the only hassle.
@NAB I’ve never learned anything with vi beyond how to get into insert mode and how to quit (with or without saving).
I think that’s enough unless someone particularly likes vi as an editor (I don’t, I prefer nano or a gui editor)!
As someone who unexpectedly acquired a project maintaining an old but important system with no fancy tools installed, and who had to fix something immediately... YES!
[Edited to add] I got into vi ok, but couldn't work out how to exit!
@NAB I've got thirty something years of Emacs under my belt, and I still say Yes to that. I don't particularly get on with the VI Way, but dear god it beats the crap out of nano.
James Watson sounds a *lot* like some other people I could mention…
“His signal achievements, and the way he accomplished them, inflated his belief not only in his genius but also in how to succeed”
What’s the name of this tendency for people to succeed at one thing to then think they’re right about *everything*, and to retreat into ever-more extreme positions when questioned?
Hello! And welcome to the third and final day of Jet Lag: The Game - Hide + Seek: Netherlands edition! It’s 10:30am, @quixoticgeek and, having discounted the War Games option (the only winning move is not to play), we are so back in the delightful town of Lunteren, where it’s time for us to Go! Go! Go!
Today it’s @darkphoenix’s turn to hide, and she is somewhere with the borders of the Netherlands mainland. We’ve got all day to try and find them, and we have to beat the time of 8 hours and 7 minutes it took us to find @quixoticgeek yesterday.
For those of you who missed yesterday’s thread, it’s up at: https://cupoftea.social/@moof/115513147403818486
For Day 1 (Friday), my thread is up at https://cupoftea.social/@moof/115507383775325900
Confused as to what #JetLagTheGame is? First of all, welcome to my little corner of the fediverse, you must be new here. But you can read a little primer I wrote about here: https://moof.space/what-is-jet-lag
So, it’s time to lock in, and get going…
(CW: selfie with eye contact)
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Selfie at Lunteren station
…to nowhere in particular. A behind the scenes tip: we all started at Amersfoot Centraal this morning, which is the closest station to our hotel for the night. We agreed to *notionally* start at Lunteren, and @darkphoenix has an actual itinerary that started at Lunteren at 09:30 to wherever they’re heading that will be within the 3 hour time limit.
So don’t believe all the photos you see on fedi.
In our case, we worked out when the first train after 10:30 arrives at Amersfoort and will be at the platform to meet it at 11:00am, where we are then released to be able to move.
That’s another thing, @darkphoenix is not actually at their hiding place. Much like we did with my run on Friday, she started later, and is notionally answering questions as if she were already there. We aren’t allowed to ask photo questions before 12:30 in order to give her time to arrive.
(CW: selfie with eye contact)
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Selfie in front of a big Amersfoort centraal sign at the entrance to said station
Speaking of questions, we can’t move til 11, but we are allowed to ask questions now, and house rules state that they are counted from where we physically are (to avoid us having to simulate the current train location or whatever). So we are definitely going to see how much we can reduce the entire map of the Netherlands without going anywhere.
We’ve asked whether @darkphoenix is within 80km of us, and she is inside the radius.
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An 80km radius from Amersfoort Centraal
Next, we want to know if she is closer to the coast than us. This is effectively an East-West split from our location. And.. she is. Which basically reduces us to the Randstadt, the area of the Netherlands that basically includes Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Den Haag and Utrecht. Aka “everywhere you’ve ever heard of in the Netherlands”
Long time #JetLagTheGame stans will be disappointed that we have already eliminated apostrophe es hurtigruten.
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A map that’s been reduce to, basically, the Randstadt. Looks like a pac man with a very open mouth
If you want to follow the other players, @darkphoenix has a thread going at
https://not.an.evilcyberhacker.net/notes/aeuzsu2tg7o300dn
@quixoticgeek has her thread up at https://social.v.st/@quixoticgeek/115519042948605723
It seems that @darkphoenix is also closer to an aquarium than us in Amersfoort. It means she’s not in most of Amsterdam, which gives us a train to get on, towards Utrecht.
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A somewhat weird shape on the map
And we are now sat in a station bench at Utrecht Centraal, listening to a pianist playing a jazzy version of A Little Night Music, as we wait for a response to our next question. Delightful.
So we decided to ask if her nearest airport is the same as ours… and it wasn’t.
So we have effectively stopped at Utrecht, got off the train, asked the question, gone upstairs, waited, gotten the answer, headed down to the same platform, and gotten back on the same train, which is heading towards Gouda
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An even weirder shape. Still some interesting locations though
We did a thermometer from Utrecht to Papekop (we saw the station as the train sped through). This has made more interesting slicing, removing some bits that were worrying us in Alkmaar, and we are now doing another thermometer from Gouda up towards the north.
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Lots of dots on a map
That was an intense few minutes…
We did a thermometer from Gouda to a little outside Alphen am der Rhein.
This managed to eliminate a significant swathe, including Rotterdam, which means the dreaded rail replacement bus is much less likely. We then boarded a train to Leiden, and got the curse of the hidden hangman, which we successfully identified as PYLON within five minutes. Because we’d boarded the train before the card, we continued on our way to Leiden.
We managed to ask for a photo of the tallest building from the station before declaring lunch at 12:30.
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A little wedge shape including Leiden and Den Haag
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Curse of the hidden hangman
As we expected @darkphoenix took a lunch break after ours finished at 13:00.
We took the opportunity to head to Den Haag Central to start a thermometer, and then headed on Den Haag-Ypenburg on rail replacement tram. There we finished the thermometer, and then asked if her closest theme park was the same as ours.
It’s left a very small area to search…
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Small area of den Haag and delft
With the judicious use of a tentacle based on zoos, we managed to track @darkphoenix down to Delft Campus, and are currently on our way there.
We are effectively in the end game, and I’m going to go silent, as this is a very intense game today. See you the other side…
We found @darkphoenix! It was in a random thicket by a
park. It took us 6 hours and 3 minutes, plus 80 minutes in effective time bonuses, making it a total hiding time of 7 hours and 23 minutes, which places them very much in second place. I lost, and @quixoticgeek won fair and square.
Today’s game was very intense, more so than the last couple of games. There was less time to rest, due to the very short train times inherent in the Randstat. We very much struck lucky by sitting down to rest right next to where she was hidden, as we were not quite in determined end game search every bush mode.
That being said, it was a fair game. Different from the last two, but no less enjoyable.
We are now sat at a bar in Delft toasting Kitty’s excellent win, and dissecting this game every which way to make it better. I’ll be writing up our conclusions in another round of Intercity Insights some time soon. Watch this moof.space!
And with that, goedeavond!
Electric vehicle drivers are likely to be hit with a new “pay-per-mile” tax in the forthcoming budget, amounting to an extra £250 a year on average. The scheme, which would charge EV motorists 3p per mile on top of other road taxes, comes amid falling fuel duty revenue as more people switch from petrol to electric.
@kibcol1049 Surely a better idea for ICEs and EVs would be to charge road tax through fuel prices for ICEs and charging sessions for EVs and therefore abolish road tax altogether. The more you use the vehicle or the bigger/less efficient the vehicle, the more you pay.
@nick @kibcol1049 VAT on EV chargers as well as VAT on the electricity?
@jayfell @kibcol1049 And that is where my suggestion possibly breaks down. It was an easy idea before EVs came along.
@ninkosan @nick @alexlomas Ah hold on - is this the one that needs either the compatible car or charger? If so, I have neither.
@ninkosan @nick @alexlomas ah yes ok ... "intelligent go" versus just "go".
@nick @ninkosan @alexlomas My problem is I want to use a Victron EV charger, which will be locally smartified. And with other Victron kit; Cerbo GX, Quattro 15K and several MPPTs. So I'm kind of going to be a victron shop. And that means none of the best pricing.
As you know, we got shot of our faulty gas boiler and replaced it with a heat pump. Anecdotally I do think the heatpump is slightly cheaper to run at the moment, than the gas boiler used to be, even on a "any time flat rate" tariff for electricity; in my case 21.89p per kWh and a 62.22p per day standing charge.
I was paying 5.69p per kWh and 27.86p a day for gas.
So this is vaguely impressive.
1/2
2/2
So now I only have electricity and my tariff is up for renewal. And holy wow the price has gone up.
Unit cost for electricity rises from 21.89p to 26.44p = 4.55p per unit. Ouch
Standing charge falls from 62.22 to 43.66p = 18.56p a day
Mysteriously I think had I still had gas, my gas unit price would have actually fallen too!
I'm not entirely blaming Octopus but we are told electricity pricing is based on gas pricing. So how is gas kWh pricing falling, and electricity kWh pricing rising?
Additional thought (3/2)
We have two EVs and a heat pump. And we also run stuff like a hot tub. As a consequence of this our annual usage is like 12,000 kWh of electricity. Rather a lot.
That's a bit of a guess based on former gas usage translated to electrical usage.
But because our usage kind of can be any time, I still don't think we're better to go on differing kWh by time tariffs UNTIL we get a storage battery.
Long term, storage battery + solar, and near zero bills. But just now, oof.
@bloor we don't do any load-shifting, but have a tariff that's cheap(ish) for a few hours early morning and mid afternoon - in the current weather, the biggest draw we have is for hot water, and that's scheduled for the cheap times and saves a fair bit (especially when it's a dull day!)
Depends on provider, but Good Energy make it very painless to shift tariffs on a whim, so it's easy to tinker...
@bloor Can you time shift stuff like water heating and appliances ?
We did go battery and the works but the best single RoI on my spreadsheet once you factor in the costs and depreciation of equipment was actually simply doing shit between 00:30-05;30. The second was insulation and the battery itself was far behind (although of course it's kind of an enabler)
@bloor My experience of solar plus battery so far is that I’ve managed to about halve our electricity bill.
28Kw battery, 3Kw of south facing solar, 1.5Kw of north facing solar (yeah, but better than nothing). Annual usage in the first full year including about 600Kwh of car charging, 7500Kwh. We don’t have a heat pump for the house though, we have electric radiators and a forced air system with heat reclaim.
To zero it entirely would require more storage (l double to cover max winter use in a day) and a lot more solar (which will be the limiting factor). And there are days in a row where we get low - very low - solar so actually it’ll never be zero for us. Contemplating an extra 14Kwh of battery but not sure it’s really worth the investment at the moment.
@gulfie my outline plan at the moment involves 32 kWh of battery and getting up towards 20 kW of panels. I don’t plan to feed back into the grid, but I think I will get zero usage costs for at least three quarters of the year. Roughly roughly.
@bloor Maybe Octopus Cosy would be worth a punt?
Day rate
29.07p / kWh
Cosy rate (04:00 - 07:00, 13:00 - 16:00 & 22:00 - 00:00)
14.26p / kWh
Peak rate (16:00 - 19:00)
43.61p / kWh
Peak rate is painful, might be an issue for cooking.
@bloor it's extremely hard to tell given the ridiculously warm weather, but we feel to be comfortably breaking even.
Digging through our LPG receipts, it looks like we ate around 21MWh of gas annually so as long as we hit a COP of 4 or more, we're in profit I think?
To be honest though, the monetary value of *not* trying to get gas delivered in the depths of winter is almost incalculable.
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