Wifi?

Has anyone heard any updates on wifi service on the trains since the press releases came out last September??

I can't wait for it!

saw this article:

http://www.fiercecable.com/story/will-c ... 2011-09-28

had this blurb:

Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Cablevision have submitted proposals to New Jersey Transit and the MTA that would allow them to place WiFi transmitters on actual trains in New Jersey, Long Island, and Metro North trains that serve New York suburbs.

Anyone have a list of what stations have the optimum wifi hotspot?

As far as WiFi on the trains themselves I was hoping to see something that airplanes have like Boingo and avoid the cable companies altogther, just another excuse to raise the TV bill.

http://comcast.cellmaps.com/wifi.html

Not sure but I think all the comcast spots are also tw and cablevision.

michaelk wrote:http://comcast.cellmaps.com/wifi.html

Not sure but I think all the comcast spots are also tw and cablevision.

That is correct. The routers broadcast all three, they have a cooperative agreement wherein each ISP installs in its own franchise territory and shares. Interestingly, Newark Penn Station does not have a hot spot, despite the large number of people who would wait for trains for a significant period versus suburban stations where most people arrive just before train time, and most (if not all) suburban stations are "hot."

I suppose they all own a stake in clearwire and that's how they would serve moving trains?

Saw a similar blurb that comcast owns something like 800 cell towers already and was reorganizing to create a new entity just for that part of their business. So to go a step further I guess they own towers and provide fiber backhaul then rent space to clearwire and the like and they will use clearwires wimax (or pending LTE) to put wifi access points on the trains....

( although obviously they likely wouldn't own all the towers one might need to provide coverage all accross the system)

Ken W2KB wrote:

michaelk wrote:http://comcast.cellmaps.com/wifi.html

Not sure but I think all the comcast spots are also tw and cablevision.

That is correct. The routers broadcast all three, they have a cooperative agreement wherein each ISP installs in its own franchise territory and shares. Interestingly, Newark Penn Station does not have a hot spot, despite the large number of people who would wait for trains for a significant period versus suburban stations where most people arrive just before train time, and most (if not all) suburban stations are "hot."

The Newark City Hall kickback, err...Licensing Fee is probably too high for anyone to pay.

Feels like 2013 finally...


http://www.northjersey.com/news/Thanks_ ... rains.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This should be a priority for NJT. Its a great example of tax money actually going where it should that will actually have a good ROI.

Free for Stealervision subscribers only...everyone else pays up. (source: NJT Facebook comments)

Hawaiitiki wrote:This should be a priority for NJT. Its a great example of tax money actually going where it should that will actually have a good ROI.

I'm not sure this should be priority. There are plenty of people that have their own plans and plenty of people that don't even need wifi. This seems like an expensive proposition that won't necessarily add much to the ridership base. In other words, is this going to help the price of a monthly go down? Is the thought of Wifi enough to get someone to abandon their car, pay for parking and buy a monthly?

It just seems like it is something else for people to complain about if it doesn't work as intended.

How about we get the flooded equipment back in service and needed station improvements completed then worry about people fiddling on their gadgets.

As always, why know the facts before complaining. The cost to NJT for this program? $0. What does NJT get out of it? Free use of Cablevision fiber optic lines. Seems like a good deal to me, but they could probably better spend that $0 elsewhere...

25Hz wrote:How about we get the flooded equipment back in service and needed station improvements completed then worry about people fiddling on their gadgets.

Improving stations is a never ending process. As sirsonic just mentioned this is free, so why not?!

Sirsonic wrote:As always, why know the facts before complaining. The cost to NJT for this program? $0. What does NJT get out of it? Free use of Cablevision fiber optic lines. Seems like a good deal to me, but they could probably better spend that $0 elsewhere...

I do not dispute the fact that Wifi is an amenity the passengers seek. I dispute the notion that even free of charge, the addition of WiFi should be a "priority." A lot of people probably don't realize this but MARC service toyed with the idea of providing snack and beverage service. A vendor approached them and made a nice a little pitch. They'd pay MARC to set up shop on the platforms (similar to the LIRR operation.) MARC considered it since their role, costs and liability would be almost nonexistent. MARC also considered adding a few cafe cars to their fleet order and allowing the same company on a few trains. After all, the Brunswick train had the parlor car and it held its own.

They took these ideas to the passengers and they were incredulous (to put it mildly.) They really didn't care about such things and were surprised MARC was considering such options when they should be focusing on service because at the end of the day, that is what commuters want. They want reliable, dependable and frequent service. In my mind, that should be "the priority." Though nice, WiFi doesn't do anything to achieve that.

From a customer relations standpoint, it is another thing the passengers can/will gripe about. Amtrak's service is free of charge, but when it goes off the beam, do people blame the provider or Amtrak? I can just imagine the crying, whining, hand wringing and blogging the passengers will perform when the service is unavailable. The performance will be so grand, they'll sweep the Oscar's, the Tony's while the bloggers sweep the Pulitzer!

Bringing back the round trip excursions (I know it isn't happening) would be my idea of a priority. WiFi is just something that is a cool perk for those that would utilize.

That being said, I see a potential revenue source from Wifi. When the passengers become engrossed in their devices, they will surely miss important announcements like "Passengers for Metuchen must walk up to exit. If you are sitting in the last two cars, you must walk up to exit. Once again, if you are sitting in car 1482 and car 1481, your car will not be on the platform. Please start walking up now as your cars will not be on the platform. Walk until you see a member of a the crew."

Now, when they're stuck in New Brunswick (because they were reading their email when a similar announcement was made for Edison and they missed that too!), NJT can charge them a one way fare to get them home.

Hmm. Perhaps there IS a method to the madness!