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UK Trains Take WiFi Route To Connectivity

Posted by simoniker on from the last-train-to-netcentral dept.

Randy Sparks writes "The BBC is reporting that one of the UK's largest train operators, GNER, is to offer Wi-Fi net access on its trains. What's interesting is how this net connection will be achieved - by a combination of networks provided by multiple mobile phone connections or even digital TV Internet, provided from ground stations the train passes by. It'll cost UKP4.95 per hour for train goers, although First Class Travellers will get it free..."

19 of 236 comments (clear)

  1. Through the rails or over the power lines? by Snover · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Excuse me for being so grossly ignorant of the workings of such things, but why don't they either use broadband-over-power and then have wifi routers within the compartments or send the traffic through the rails, rather then try to aim satellites at things? Seems silly to create a new infrastructure when the existing one can be used.

    --

    [insert witty comment here]
    1. Re:Through the rails or over the power lines? by samael · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Seen the huge sparks that fly about whenever a train goes over even slightly mismatched power rails?

      I suspect that there would be altogether too much interference.

      --
      My Journal
  2. Dupe by Inda · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I call dupe.

    November 30th, 2003.

    First UK On-Train WiFi Service Launches Monday

    --
    This post contains benzene, nitrosamines, formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide.
  3. Excellent by vedli · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This is really great news. When I go and visit my girlfriend in Edinburgh I have to do without an Internet connection for up to 3 hours; clearly far too long for anyone :-) With regards wireless networks in general, I know that when wi-fi network cards are in ad hoc mode you can stumble across other cards in ad hoc mode but is there any way to communicate with them? For example, not only being able to tell another card is present, but ask the owner of the card if they want a game of Quake?

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    (http://www.e-consort.co.uk)
  4. Expensive. VERY. by superhoe · · Score: 5, Interesting
    5 GBP PER HOUR?! Here we go again..

    Rapidly increasing network access on-the-go is a really cool thing. I was excited and waiting for it when it was first announced.

    Now I've already got over my disappointment - f.ex. GPRS service is charged based on traffic here, and it's damn expensive. 100 megabytes and if you exceed that, it's 2 euros/megabyte. So, what's 100 mb/month good for? Definitely not for using graphical WWW on Opera's mobile version. Well, I then check my emails with GPRS. Same thing I could do with GSM data previously, phh.. Dunno, people all around seems to be generally richer than me because they are eagerly waiting for this new EDGE thing to come and increase transfer speeds to 200k or so.

    I'm not waiting for it eagerly - correct me if I'm wrong - at least in Europe, it's most likely going to feature similar stupid pricing which renders it useless to most non-corporate users. I'll join the hype about wireless access on-the-go at the very day when I can afford to use it effectively.

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    -el

    1. Re:Expensive. VERY. by jamesangel · · Score: 2, Interesting
      I suspect that paying services like this will dry up quickly, due to competition from other ways of access/forms of transport and the growing expectation that WiFi should be provided like light or bathrooms - free.

      Here in Paris, about three months ago I noticed that lots of cafes were offering WiFi at a similar rate to this. A couple of months later, and the same places have given up and offer it for free. It started out as a premium service, then became a nice perk to have, and soon it will be an expectation everywhere.

    2. Re:Expensive. VERY. by sir_cello · · Score: 2, Interesting


      I think you need a lecture on economics 101.

      It's not that expensive: you've obviously never left home and backpacked: I've been to cybercafe's all around Europe, and although the prices are better now, about 4-5 years ago, 5GBP per hour would have at the upper limit, but not considered expensive.

      You should also read up on economics while you're at it: of course GPRS and related services are expensive: have you seen how much it costs to develop, rollout and manage the technology? It's a lot more than simply providing dialup 56K access. Companies have to return a profit so they can pay their workers and provide for their shareholders, and therefore keep all us in houses and with future pensions.

      Same in this case: installing and managing the wifi service actually costs money, so it's generally a good business model that you try and reclaim some of that back: the train company isn't a charity for rolling out new technologies.

      I appreciate your concerns, we all do: everyone wants to see future technologies come into use at good prices, but reality is a little different: it takes a while for it to all roll in and the prices to reduce.

      I'm waiting for someone to introduce standard response templates to /.: we can all say time educating people like yourself and just throw you an intro to "economics and how the world goes around".

  5. nice idea but... by kefa · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I currently use GPRS extensively on trains (admittedly in the London area where reception is relatively good) with no real speed issues. I'd be hard pushed to spend 4.95 GBP on GPRS connection charges during a typical journey.

  6. Re:Its GBP! by Zocalo · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Probably for the same reason that we use ".uk" as our ccTLD despite the "official" ISO standard being GB - because the average joe in the street uses "UK" in preference to "GB". As do the media and the government for that matter. The only common place we use the "GB" ISO code I can think of is on those stickers that go on cars travelling abroad.

    Also, bear in mind that the full name of this green and pleasant land is "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". Given that the "GBP" is also the currency of Northern Ireland, "UKP" is actually more accurate.

    --
    UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
  7. Already have this for free in Scandinavia by Zo0ok · · Score: 3, Interesting

    On the train service from Copanhagen to Gothenburg (Oslo) we already have WiFi - free of charge (-:

  8. Used it last november by tomrud · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I tried this (or similar) on the train from Stockholm to Karlstad last november.

    I got i little box with an antenna and connected my ethernet port to the box. I got an IP-address via DHCP, but I'm sorry, I didn't check if it was a public or a NAT-address.

    Anyway, I got full Internet access as far as I could tell. I could create a SSH-tunnel to my work and use it to read my email (and to do anything I usually do through SSH. It was a little bit slow, thou. I had urgent things to do for my employer, so I didn't have the time to really explore it's limits.

    It didn't have any stupid requirements for operating system and was usable with my GNU/Linux laptop.

    You can find some (commercial) information about it here: http://www.linx.se/templates/Page.aspx?id=3108

    --
    For a nice date: Call strftime(3C)!
  9. Great for British Trains by L-s-L69 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    As you can post your complaint as you sit in the delay. Cant wait for Virgin to get this, I could invite the entire carridge to complain with me.

  10. They're not the first. by Sandman1971 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This isn't news. Via Rails here in Canada has been offering wi-fi on Via 1 trains on the Montréal-Toronto or Montréal-Québec City routes here for months on a trial basis.

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    It's better to burn out than to fade away
  11. All very good, however by youngerpants · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I have to do a lot of travelling for work, I have used WiFi hotspots almost everywhere I needed it, but whenI have used my laptop on trains before using GPRS, and I think this is a great move and a step in the right direction.

    However, the one area where this always falls over is with power. Our batteries are just don't last long enough. I have a brand new Dell D600 (finally gave up on my Thinkpad T21) and the battery will give me 1 - 1.5 hours max.

    As long as the trains also offer power outlets so I can keep the charge going I'd happily pay for the connectivity

  12. Re:Its GBP! by DrSkwid · · Score: 2, Interesting


    My Passport is for

    "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland"

    Code of Issuing State : GBR

    Nationality : British Citizen

    Please note, fingerprinting yankees, that it also says :

    Her Britanic Majesty's Secretary of State Requests and requires in the Name of Her Majesty all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance and to afford the bearer such assistance and protection as may be necessary.

    You'd better watch out, we'll be sending some Royal Guards to sort you out!

    --
    There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
  13. Rail travel is often more expensive... by blorg · · Score: 3, Interesting
    ...than flying with the likes of Ryanair who often do free or 0.99p deals. The train however goes from city centre to city centre, rather than circa 1 hour outside each city; I'm thinking London Stansted to "Glasgow" (Prestwick) here. When you factor in taxes and the exorbitant cost of the Stansted Express it's not always so cheap any more.

    Fast rail travel (like they have on the European continent) is far more comfortable than flying. When you factor in airport distance, check-in times, etc, it's also quicker than flying on most domestic-length routes. Look at Eurostar's dominance on the London-Paris route at the expense of the airlines. It's also far more environmentally friendly than short-haul flights - in Spain you can get a discount on an AVE/Talgo ticket within 48 hours of flying into/out of the country, to persuade you to use the train rather than a connecting flight to your ultimate destination.

    Offering WiFi is definately another value-add that will increase train use - you can actually spend that 4-5 hour journey *working* (or whatever) rather than spending approx the same amount of time getting a train to the airport, check-in, hanging around, short flight, another train. Now if they can only get those leaves off the track and introduce high speed services...

  14. hehe by miruku · · Score: 2, Interesting

    "According to telecoms analysts BWCS, 625 million people worldwide will be travelling on wi-fi enabled trains within the next five years"

    and

    "A radio system for train drivers recommended after the Paddington rail crash has been delayed by five years. The digital radio network was to be introduced on the rail network in 2008.

    But the system, allowing signallers to speak to a number of drivers at the same time, will not be ready until 2013 - 14 years after the crash."

    so 5 years for wi-fi, 9 years for adiquite saftey? nice one

    --
    MilkMiruku
  15. Re:Twats by theOtherFool · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Shame the root post was modded Flamebait, I'm inclined to agree. Virgin are a prime example of massively inappropriate spending: when their trains were running more and more crowded and their punctuality was getting worse, what did they do? Rather than ACTUALLY spending cash on more trains, they replaced the existing stock with trains which are more cramped and have less setas and carriages. But at least they have power points and push buttons to open doors and look like planes! Nice one Virgin.

    With train fares as pricey as they are, I'd like to see my cash going into improvements in service and networks, rather than cosmetic improvements.

  16. Re:Why is WiFi so expensive everywhere? by mikeb · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It's expensivce at present because people are willing to pay it.

    I don't think it will be long before we end up with a model where enterprising pub and cafe owners figure that at about 25/month (dollars, pounds whatever) for an ADSL link they can give their customers semi-free wifi access and compete for the road warrior trade.

    They won't be able to make it unmetered, but the likely scenario is where you buy a coffee and get given a voucher for 1MB/15 minutes access ... my guess is that the hotspot market will migrate to that kind of thing with a few years and just about anywhwere public will have some kind of modest-cost wifi access.