Query failed: connection to localhost:9312 failed (errno=111, msg=Connection refused). WiFi on trains never seems to work these days - Off Topic Discussions on The Fretboard
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UNPLANNED DOWNTIME: 12th Oct 23:45

WiFi on trains never seems to work these days

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AdeyAdey Frets: 1988
edited September 2023 in Off Topic
Why is it that when I catch my usual Southern trains in and out of the "The Smoke", the WiFi never seems to work anymore?

Ok; when I try to connect, it says it is working, "but without Internet access".

To me, that means it isn't working. Who wants to connect to it without connecting to the Internet? Probably no-one...
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  • OffsetOffset Frets: 9212
    'These days'?  It's never fecking worked!!!
    Currently for sale: https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/247085/pro-ject-essential-ii-turntable
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  • AdeyAdey Frets: 1988
    edited September 2023
    It used to work on my trains nearly all the time.  It started getting less reliable about 3 or 4 months ago. Over the last few weeks it has only worked on a couple of occasions, and even then it is extreeeeeèmmmmly slowwwwww.
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  • Seymour1Seymour1 Frets: 84
    I used LNER regularly (Kings Cross to Edinburgh) and the WI-FI has been working but much poorer than usual over the last couple of months.
    Back in May the Government said train operators should not focus on "extras" to keep the costs down. Perhaps the train operators are following this advice without advertising what they are doing.
    BBC News story:
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65673622

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  • tekbowtekbow Frets: 1569
    The WiFi isn't going to work if you're not getting mobile signal because they're both drawing from the same source.
    Feedback Thread:


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  • SporkySporky Frets: 23802
    tekbow said:
    The WiFi isn't going to work if you're not getting mobile signal because they're both drawing from the same source.
    Weirdly, between Haslemere and Guildford I get no mobile Internet, but the train WiFi does. 
    "[Sporky] brings a certain vibe and dignity to the forum."
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  • merlinmerlin Frets: 6199
    I'm sitting on a train in Paddington and the WiFi is running at 0.77Mbps. Hooray! Superfast!
    feedback here
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  • Philly_QPhilly_Q Frets: 20197
    Southern WiFi usually works OK for me - maybe it's the times at which you travel?
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  • OffsetOffset Frets: 9212
    Adey said:
    It used to work on my trains nearly all the time.  It started getting less reliable about 3 or 4 months ago. Over the last few weeks it has only worked on a couple of occasions, and even then it is extreeeeeèmmmmly slowwwwww.
    I travel on GWR and it's been absolutely crap for years.
    Currently for sale: https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/247085/pro-ject-essential-ii-turntable
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  • BodBod Frets: 1206
    Well, if you do insist on travelling budget...oh, wait...
    Trading Feedback thread - https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/59198/
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  • AdeyAdey Frets: 1988
    Philly_Q said:
    Southern WiFi usually works OK for me - maybe it's the times at which you travel?
    5.35 from Victoria. Not working again.

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  • JerkMoansJerkMoans Frets: 8372
    Railway wifi has long been a helpful cure for internet addiction.
    Inactivist Lefty Lawyer
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  • springheadspringhead Frets: 1522
    I’m writing this on Southeastern out of Charing Cross. It generally works better than mobile data. If the train is packed it struggles with the number of simultaneous users.  
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  • AdeyAdey Frets: 1988
    Southern not working again this morning into London
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  • droflufdrofluf Frets: 3144
    I’ve given up on GWR’s WiFi as it’s so slow and just tether to my phone. Dead spots for coverage appear to be roughly in the same places as the trains. 
    Trading feedback thread:https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/172761/drofluf
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  • Philly_QPhilly_Q Frets: 20197
    Adey said:
    Philly_Q said:
    Southern WiFi usually works OK for me - maybe it's the times at which you travel?
    5.35 from Victoria. Not working again.
    I'm normally travelling to and from Victoria around 9.30 in the morning and 9.00 in the evening, and it's usually fine.
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  • SassafrasSassafras Frets: 30023
    WiFi not working is the least of your problems.
    Half the sodding trains don't work!
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  • SteveRobinsonSteveRobinson Frets: 6565
    tFB Trader
    To be fair, everything else in this country is broken too.
    Lacquer demos here: https://www.manchesterguitartech.co.uk/category/finish/
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  • guitartangoguitartango Frets: 954
    M y W i f i N e v e r W o r k s I n t h e T u n n e l  ... I wonder why :)
    “Ken sent me.”
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  • rze99rze99 Frets: 2005
    It is and always was utterly shit. Never rely on it. If you use trains get a Mi Fi device.
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  • Emp_FabEmp_Fab Frets: 23224
    There seems to be a bit of confusion as to how WiFi is provided on trains.  The train is basically a big mobile phone, setup as a WiFi hotspot.  You will connect to the hotspot no problem but if the area the train is currently travelling through has a rubbish mobile data signal for the network it's on then you're getting nothing.
    Humans are destructive parasites that will destroy the celestial oasis of Earth.  The sooner Homo Sapiens are extinct, the better.
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  • StuckfastStuckfast Frets: 2124
    Currently posting from my laptop tethered to my phone as Chiltern Rail wifi isn't working...
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  • guyinlyonguyinlyon Frets: 202
    Bring a book?
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  • AdeyAdey Frets: 1988
    Emp_Fab said:
    There seems to be a bit of confusion as to how WiFi is provided on trains.  The train is basically a big mobile phone, setup as a WiFi hotspot.  You will connect to the hotspot no problem but if the area the train is currently travelling through has a rubbish mobile data signal for the network it's on then you're getting nothing.
    That might be how it's meant to work, but it doesn't. If the train WiFi isn't working I can turn off my WiFi and use my mobile data normally.
    If I do decide to connect, it says that I can connect, but there is no Internet connection. So I presume that they just leave their bit of kit that connects to the network turned off to save money.

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  • RolandRoland Frets: 8108
    This afternoon I conducted my own research, based on a journey outward from London. It struck me that the internet speed seemed inversely proportional to the number of passengers, improving as people got off. If true then it’s a sharing problem. All those mobile phones synchronising email and browsing the internet. 

    I remember when internet was installed in those carriages more than 10 years ago. Then it was free in First Class, and chargeable in Second. I doubt that the equipment has been upgraded, because the carriages haven’t been refurbished, but now that it’s free the number of connected users is at least ten time higher.
    Tree recycler, and guitarist with  https://www.undercoversband.com/.
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  • Emp_FabEmp_Fab Frets: 23224
    Adey said:
    Emp_Fab said:
    There seems to be a bit of confusion as to how WiFi is provided on trains.  The train is basically a big mobile phone, setup as a WiFi hotspot.  You will connect to the hotspot no problem but if the area the train is currently travelling through has a rubbish mobile data signal for the network it's on then you're getting nothing.
    That might be how it's meant to work, but it doesn't. If the train WiFi isn't working I can turn off my WiFi and use my mobile data normally.
    If I do decide to connect, it says that I can connect, but there is no Internet connection. So I presume that they just leave their bit of kit that connects to the network turned off to save money.

    You've not understood.  The fact that you can connect to mobile data on your phone, on your network, doesn't mean the train can connect to mobile data on their network.  Mobile data is dependant on what network you are subscribed to. You might be on Vodafone, the train company might be on O2.  You may have five bars of signal whilst they have nothing.  They can only give you, via the medium of WiFi, what they get in mobile data.
    Humans are destructive parasites that will destroy the celestial oasis of Earth.  The sooner Homo Sapiens are extinct, the better.
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  • AdeyAdey Frets: 1988
    edited September 2023
    Thats exactly what I'm saying. The train constantly has zero bars... Its like they have turned their data off on whatever network they are subscribed to.
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  • SassafrasSassafras Frets: 30023
    If they're subscribed to O2 it's a miracle it ever works.
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  • Emp_FabEmp_Fab Frets: 23224
    Adey said:
    Thats exactly what I'm saying. The train constantly has zero bars... Its like they have turned their data off on whatever network they are subscribed to.
    How do you know they have zero bars?
    Humans are destructive parasites that will destroy the celestial oasis of Earth.  The sooner Homo Sapiens are extinct, the better.
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  • Axe_meisterAxe_meister Frets: 4451
    More and more people taking video calls, eating up what available bandwidth there is. 
    Not enough phone masts along the railway line.
    And if they have recently switched to 5G to get more bandwidth, distance required to mast to get the bandwidth required reduces so the mast problem amplifies itself again.
    Ideally they should be using satellite internet (obviously tunnels still an issue)

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  • scrumhalfscrumhalf Frets: 10838
    GWR first class. Free wifi - yay!! Utterly shit and barely usable wifi - boo!

    The complimentary food isn't up to much, either, and the ride itself is shockingly bumpy. 

    It seems that everyone wants to punish/fleece you for wanting to go more than fifty feet from your front door. 
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