Great Western Coffee Shop

All across the Great Western territory => Buses and other ways to travel => Topic started by: JayMac on February 19, 2013, 11:00:19



Title: London Overground Wi-Fi Switched On At 50 Stations
Post by: JayMac on February 19, 2013, 11:00:19
From TechWeek Europe (http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/news/london-overground-wi-fi-network-107552):

Quote
TfL announces that London Overground Wi-Fi is live on the majority of the network
On February 15, 2013 by Steve McCaskill

Passengers on the London Overground will be able to access 60 minutes of free Wi-Fi at 50 stations from today, with the final seven stations covered by the end of June.

The service is provided by The Cloud, after it agreed a deal with London Overground Rail Operations, a company which runs Overground services for Transport for London (TfL), last March.

Users will receive an hour of free Internet each day, but should the limit be exceed, they will be able to purchase additional minutes in bundles ranging from ^2.99 for 30 minutes to ^11.99 for seven days. Wi-Fi is available in ticket halls, corridors and on platforms, but not on the trains themselves.

London Overground Wi-Fi network

Some stations on London^s orbital rail network already had their Wi-Fi switched on prior to today, but work on implementing the service was delayed by the London 2012 Olympic Games. During the games, all non-essential engineering works were suspended to ensure that London^s transport network coped with the additional demand placed on it.

Clapham High Street and Wandsworth Road only became part of the Overground in December and equipment still has to be installed, but passengers will now be able to browse the Internet and view real-time travel information on the majority of the London Overground.

^We are always looking for ways to make the London Overground even more convenient than it already is and believe the introduction of free Wi-Fi can only improve and enhance our passenger journeys,^ said Peter Austin, managing director of London Overground Rail Operations Limited. ^It complements the modern commuting railway service we already offer and is also fitting for what is one of the best performing railways in the UK.^

^TfL supports the introduction of this new facility as we see direct communications between passengers as perfectly complementing our own information services,^ added Howard Smith, Chief Rail Operating Officer for TfL. ^In recent years the value of passenger-to-passenger communication during service disruptions has been well demonstrated and we are happy to further enable and support that phenomenon as an enhancement to our modern, 21st- century railway in the Capital.^

Virgin Media currently operates a separate Wi-Fi service for the London Underground, which was free until January when it became a paid-for service.


Title: Re: London Overground Wi-Fi Switched On At 50 Stations
Post by: Brucey on February 19, 2013, 20:11:23
Good to see a free offering.  Hopefully other TOCs will follow, as mobile phone coverage is surprisingly poor is certain parts of London.


Title: Re: London Overground Wi-Fi Switched On At 50 Stations
Post by: thetrout on February 19, 2013, 20:55:53
I'm not sure it's the coverage that's poor... More the high demand on such services causing the Cell Masts to get a little bit grumpy!

It can be no worse than 20KB/s Download and 1KB/s upload on Vodafone in Bradford-on-Avon Station Car Park, yet on Three Mobile you'll get speeds of 6MB/s Down and 2MB/s Up

Which is similar to speeds I've seen on the GWML even when the trains reach 110 or even 125MPH!

Vodafone are seriously behind the times as their 3G Network is very patchy and the 2G Network appallingly slow. Their 2G service takes about 5 minutes to send a tweet! >:(


Title: Re: London Overground Wi-Fi Switched On At 50 Stations
Post by: Bristolboy on February 19, 2013, 21:41:18
Great that it's a free service, unlike the underground! wish more train companies would allow this - apparently even free service like the cloud cost companies that host them nothing and in many cases payments are made for housing them


Title: Re: London Overground Wi-Fi Switched On At 50 Stations
Post by: eightf48544 on February 20, 2013, 12:49:00
Just picked up a leaflet at Slough station  announcing a  Free Wi Fi (Cloud) hot spot going to try it out at the Manor. If I can work out how to do it from my laptop, help!



Title: Re: London Overground Wi-Fi Switched On At 50 Stations
Post by: IndustryInsider on February 20, 2013, 12:54:27
Just picked up a leaflet at Slough station  announcing a  Free Wi Fi (Cloud) hot spot going to try it out at the Manor.

Will it reach out that far?  From my experience of them, even the extremities of the platforms are out of range.  Good to see the larger stations and the 180s now fitted though.


Title: Re: London Overground Wi-Fi Switched On At 50 Stations
Post by: TonyK on February 20, 2013, 16:30:17
The Cloud is in operation in Cabot Circus in Bristol. I am signed up, but find it laborious to use at times, and can usually find something else for free.


Title: Re: London Overground Wi-Fi Switched On At 50 Stations
Post by: Trowres on February 20, 2013, 21:23:32
I find it hard to imagine doing anything useful for an hour on an LT station.


Title: Re: London Overground Wi-Fi Switched On At 50 Stations
Post by: thetrout on February 23, 2013, 20:47:56
I find it hard to imagine doing anything useful for an hour on an LT station.

I can... Well sort of...

Perhaps if you start typing an e-mail on your smartphone, board the underground train, carry on typing the email whilst in the tunnel. Press send and let the phone connect back to the WiFi at the next station where you should be able to log back in without having to go through the splash screen. I've done it before and it works.

Personally speaking however. I wouldn't pay to use the service. If an e-mail, tweet, whatever etc was that important to send there and then I would go "above ground" to send it. I think the chances of me ever finding myself in that situation are very slim to non-existant :)



This page is printed from the "Coffee Shop" forum at http://gwr.passenger.chat which is provided by a customer of Great Western Railway. Views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that content provided contravenes our posting rules ( see http://railcustomer.info/1761 ). The forum is hosted by Well House Consultants - http://www.wellho.net