There was an issue where the port was blocked after some time and no communication was possible anymore. Only a restart of the whole OpenHAB instance could solve this problem.
Its is fixed.
Depending on the setup of the users (hardware which is used) they might have better luck to read data with the alternative serial provider.
You are right. I was looking for the “refresh” parameter but this might not have any effect when you do SML reading.
I don’t know. But there is something to make your USB-to-serial adapter available via ethernet. But is might alos not help you with your specific use case.
If you ask me: It might be the best to install a second meter with modbus TCP or an other IP based protocoll, before trying without guarantee of success.