Amtrak Wi-Fi (WiFi) Availability

Interesting, Amtrak looking to upgrade its wifi.

I have to say I still think this isn't ambitious enough.

I think 100MB/train should be a bare minimum even sooner.

I just finished a ''long-distance' ride on VirginTrains in the UK. The wifi was not much different than what I have found on Amtrak, which is to say slow, little bandwidth and subject to dropouts. Based on this limited experience it appears that even private operators struggle to provide internet service to trainloads of bandwidth inhalers.

mohawkrailfan wrote:The Maple Leaf generally consists of some Amfleet I coaches with wifi, a Cafe/Business car with wifi, and some Amfleet II coaches with no wifi. What annoys me is that the crew don't seem to understand that distinction. So they passengers in the II coaches "it should be working, guess it's broken today".

Actually its the passengers who have the problem. Generally speaking the first coach ahead of the cafe is Wi-Fi capable. If the crew makes the statement that its not working it could be the rotten cell service along the Mohawk or its just plain broke. Best they can do is call the server. Theyre across the pond by the way. A bit of a language barrier dosent help either. There is no magic reset that they are allowed to touch.

Out there twice a week and have myself explained the above

Greg Moore wrote:Interesting, Amtrak looking to upgrade its wifi.

I have to say I still think this isn't ambitious enough.

I think 100MB/train should be a bare minimum even sooner.

You can have all the bandwidth you want but for business users in particular latency is key because it plays havoc with VPN and other business applications. I basically tell people if travelling on VIA Rail that if they don't have a wireless stick of their own, they shouldn't bother trying to connect to corporate services as the lag and dropout is too frustrating. My colleagues would be delighted with 10Mb if ping times were low, coverage basically total, bandwidth per user capped, and streaming/appstore updates throttled/blocked. I was able to Facetime for a short time with my wife who was on VIA 55 yesterday - was surprised the VIA provider's admins hadn't blocked it as they usually do youtube etc.

dowlingm wrote:

Greg Moore wrote:Interesting, Amtrak looking to upgrade its wifi.

I have to say I still think this isn't ambitious enough.

I think 100MB/train should be a bare minimum even sooner.

You can have all the bandwidth you want but for business users in particular latency is key because it plays havoc with VPN and other business applications. I basically tell people if travelling on VIA Rail that if they don't have a wireless stick of their own, they shouldn't bother trying to connect to corporate services as the lag and dropout is too frustrating. My colleagues would be delighted with 10Mb if ping times were low, coverage basically total, bandwidth per user capped, and streaming/appstore updates throttled/blocked. I was able to Facetime for a short time with my wife who was on VIA 55 yesterday - was surprised the VIA provider's admins hadn't blocked it as they usually do youtube etc.

True, latency is a huge issue.

But, 100MB shared among 400 passengers on a train ain't much bandwidth.

I tend to use my own wireless stick, but am finding the quality of the Amtrak offering is slowly improving.

More on the hoped for upgrades.

This article is claiming 25Mbs/car, up to 100, which I think is more reasonable.

But I do think this is going to continue to be a selling point, especially on the NEC.

Couple of interesting bits from the RFP:

5.1.2 PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS
The TSN [trackside network] shall provide a separate train‐to‐ground connection dedicated to operational applications that shall provide Amtrak with the means to enhance operational efficiency through real‐time monitoring and reporting of on‐board systems.

5.1.6 COST EFFECTIVENESS
The TSN shall help Amtrak lower overall, long‐term costs by:
- Reducing its reliance on hard‐to‐manage cellular subscriptions for train‐to‐ground communications across the fleet;
- Introducing operational efficiencies for on‐board systems monitoring that reduce costs through advance warning and analysis of mechanical and electronic defects;
- Providing a system‐wide, high‐speed communications infrastructure for a wide range of applications in the future.

David Benton wrote:
I don't think you would get interference off D.C, there's no alternating , so frequency is irrelevant.Unless there was some kind of interference coming from the rectifiers in the substations.

The DC would not interfere but neither would 25 or 60 Hz AC. What kills you is the arcing; that is broad spectrum and lots of power. And a LONG antenna.

And I doubt the FCC Part 15 rules on unintentional radiators would apply.....

farecard wrote:

David Benton wrote:
I don't think you would get interference off D.C, there's no alternating , so frequency is irrelevant.Unless there was some kind of interference coming from the rectifiers in the substations.

The DC would not interfere but neither would 25 or 60 Hz AC. What kills you is the arcing; that is broad spectrum and lots of power. And a LONG antenna.

And I doubt the FCC Part 15 rules on unintentional radiators would apply.....

Setting aside the non-licensed wifi, the unintentional radiator regulations do clearly apply to protect licensed services, but that is and long has been true with respect to present catenary operations. The question is how aggressive the FCC may choose to be in enforcing its regulations to compel the railroad to suppress interference to licensed services upon complaint. It is Amtrak's own best interest to figure out how to suppress interference to its wifi offering.

The FY 2015 business plan includes Wi-fi for the eastern long-distance fleet.

Customers today expect Wi-Fi as part of the service offering across the U.S. public transportation system. The Long Distance fleet Wi-Fi project builds on that success of Wi-Fi in the NEC and State Supported Services by extending the installation of Wi-Fi networks to the remaining Long Distance equipment. This program starts in FY15 with implementation on the eastern (single-level) Long Distance fleet, and will be extended to the remaining fleet contingent on the performance of and customer satisfaction with the first phase system.

http://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/458/748/FY1 ... l-Plan.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; page 17.

Wifi is now availible on the Auto Train.

WASHINGTON – AmtrakConnect® cellular-based Wi-Fi service is now available to all passengers on Auto Train as part of an ongoing effort to enhance the passenger experience. Auto Train allows passengers to travel with their personal vehicles including cars, vans, SUVs and motorcycles between the Washington, D.C. area and Florida, and stands as the first long-distance Amtrak train to provide Wi-Fi.

http://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/360/562/Fre ... 15-056.pdf

Amtrak also plans to implement wifi on the single level long distance trains in 2016, per the same press release.

This marks the first phase of a larger Amtrak rollout that will provide passengers with free Wi-Fi on all single-level, long-distance train routes in 2016.

I rode the auto train last week and was the first people on the first day to get to try out the wifi service. it pretty much worked like everything else wifi on amtrak. It wasnt super fast, but it did work here and there where cell service was available. The auto train goes thru a few areas though where there is pretty much no verizon cellular service. When that happens there is no internet service. I wonder if they actually have the train split up for two different wifi bases for each of the different parts of the train, coach and sleeper. With some almost 600+ people on the train the day I took it i am sure it was a bit overtaxed.

I am sure it will be a bit better as time goes on. The first day had a few bugs to work out. The ability to track the train on a map with speed and location from the homepage was kinda cool.

So tried the Wifi on the Crescent on the way back today. I connected twice but while I could connect, it wasn't connecting to the outside world.

Pertinent comments made at my "Auto Train Voyage 22" topic:

Next I heard an announcement we were stopped for a "police investigation". Now I discovered a flaw in AmtrakConnect; for so far as Mr. Google's map was concerned, we were still sitting in Sanford. Well, we know that "police investigations" take their time and details are "never exactly" forthcoming, but that "set us down"......I woke up for the Florence service stop, and found that the Map has us properly located....Now there is time to play with the phone. Since I have never come close to using the 2 gigs a month that Mr. Verizon seems to think I "need", I now tried an experiment. I signed out of Wi-Fi, and darned if the Map didn't start working - perfectly. After a while, I reconnected to the Wi-Fi - and it still worked. So I guess if you are willing to burn your own data to get it started, it will work. Would have been great to know that leaving Sanford; of course, the "flip side" was would have my Times and Journal gotten read?

It's not a flaw in AmtrakConnect, so much as Google using the hotspot's MAC address to determine location. When I last moved, it took Google Maps several days (maybe more than a week) to recognize that my location was in my new place.