Class 444 Wi-Fi

[hassaanhc]

Strange timing, as I've just made the very same switch. Instantly I'm getting 3/4 dots where I live, whereas Vodafone struggled for one - despite living on top of a hill. I've Not taken my phone all the way up to Waterloo yet but it seems to do rather well up to Wimbledon on the occasions I've made that journey - Only once fading a little in the Brookwood area, and going the opposite way on the SWML to Southampton it has been fine - including 3 dots of signal in the previous blackspot of Micheldever. My Three IPhone also worked rather well over on the Island of Wight recently too, all in all a move I'm rather pleased to have made. Coupled with SWT's rather good free Wifi, it's all a thumbs up from me so far!

Haha. For me it was the 2GB data for £10/month (with 200 minutes and unlimited texts) that made me switch. The speed of the data seems faster, however it only works on H+ and not on H or 3G, which is the issue I have at Waterloo :? (I have the S3 so not a 4G phone). Ah yes Micheldever was also problematic, did have Winchester in my mind. I've not had issues with the wifi the few times I've used it, even when one of those was a single 444 to Portsmouth that had all seats taken.

 

[lj9090]

Seems to have had proper registration turned on again - it's asking for email & a password now instead of just a tickbox, much as it did in the first couple of days.

Thought it was a one off as it only did this going home yesterday and not the way out, but it was still there this morning.

 

[Wolfie]

Haha. For me it was the 2GB data for £10/month (with 200 minutes and unlimited texts) that made me switch. The speed of the data seems faster, however it only works on H+ and not on H or 3G, which is the issue I have at Waterloo :? (I have the S3 so not a 4G phone). Ah yes Micheldever was also problematic, did have Winchester in my mind. I've not had issues with the wifi the few times I've used it, even when one of those was a single 444 to Portsmouth that had all seats taken.

my bold

Really? I am running 3 4G on my Galaxy S3.

To get back onto topic the best on-train wifi I've experienced thus far (though it wouldn't connect yesterday:cry is that offered on Chiltern Mainline.

 

[hassaanhc]

my bold

Really? I am running 3 4G on my Galaxy S3.

To get back onto topic the best on-train wifi I've experienced thus far (though it wouldn't connect yesterday:cry is that offered on Chiltern Mainline.

Depends on whether you have the I9300 version which is 3G or the I9305 which is 4G. I have the former.

 

[fgwrich]

Haha. For me it was the 2GB data for £10/month (with 200 minutes and unlimited texts) that made me switch. The speed of the data seems faster, however it only works on H+ and not on H or 3G, which is the issue I have at Waterloo :? (I have the S3 so not a 4G phone). Ah yes Micheldever was also problematic, did have Winchester in my mind. I've not had issues with the wifi the few times I've used it, even when one of those was a single 444 to Portsmouth that had all seats taken.

IPhone 5 for me. Had enough of Samsung's failing on me and continued poor service from Vodafone, so the thought of a 5C or 5S on a better tariff than offered by the other networks, coupled with all you can eat unlimited data (£1 difference for 2GB or Unlimited) rather clinched it for me. Still had an impressive 2 bar out between Basingstoke & Winchester today with 3 in Micheldever. Something lacking on Vodafone.

Seems to have had proper registration turned on again - it's asking for email & a password now instead of just a tickbox, much as it did in the first couple of days.

Thought it was a one off as it only did this going home yesterday and not the way out, but it was still there this morning.

I had noticed that today, Didn't have time to register and I hope it's just a temporary thing. But given it's speed and usefulness I probably will be registering at some point in the future.

Do we know if this Wifi provided by Nomad Digital? If so, they've just been given the FGW contract which I believe is for the HSTs.

 

[lj9090]

Temporary! Back to a tickbox now. Or this could be temporary

Seems to be linked to whether it's sponsored by Amex or not. I suppose there's some arrangement where if someone else is paying for it then harvesting email addresses isn't required.

eta: yes, it is nomad digital

 

[swt_passenger]

Temporary! Back to a tickbox now. Or this could be temporary

I was asked to register about 1300 today, is your experience more recent than that?

 

[HarleyDavidson]

I don't need to register, but then again maybe we have a different logon.

 

[lj9090]

I was asked to register about 1300 today, is your experience more recent than that?

Yes, was when I posted.

 

[Kite159]

Temporary! Back to a tickbox now. Or this could be temporary

Seems to be linked to whether it's sponsored by Amex or not. I suppose there's some arrangement where if someone else is paying for it then harvesting email addresses isn't required.

eta: yes, it is nomad digital

If it asks for an email address, then fake email address it is.

 

[TEW]

I was asked to register about 1300 today, is your experience more recent than that?

I was asked to register on one unit today and then on another I wasn't asked to register.

 

[HarleyDavidson]

I'm keep finding it very slow, even when it's quiet. In fact to the point where I switch off Wifi and go back to my mobile carrier (3).

 

[infobleep]

Was on a 444 train to Clapham Junction on Sunday night and surprised to hear no announcement about the wifi. Do SWT prefer people to find out by chance?

As it was I had my wifi switched off on my phone and forgot all about it until I was nearing Clapham Junction. I was able to connect without a password but it was too late to make use of it.

I imagine it will be sometime before I'm on a 444 again as I don't travel to London so often and even less on a Sunday, when I think most 444s head there from Guildford. I could be wrong on the last part. At least I get declassified first class on the 450 stock to Surbiton, if I'm on the 8.36.

 

[Juniper Driver]

If it asks for an email address, then fake email address it is.

Easier just having a proper (junk) email address for all the "junk".

 

[Bigfoot]

Wifi has begun instalation on class 450's. 2 units completed but not yet live as far as I can tell. 3rd unit half finished. All work being undertaken by Siemens at Strawberry Hill. Target is one unit every 48 hours.

 

[Goldfish62]

Wifi has begun instalation on class 450's. 2 units completed but not yet live as far as I can tell. 3rd unit half finished. All work being undertaken by Siemens at Strawberry Hill. Target is one unit every 48 hours.

Assuming the labels are as invisible as they are on the 444s I guess the only way we'll know a unit is fitted is by trying to connect!

 

[infobleep]

Wow. Didn't expect the 450s to start being converted so soon. Still surprises more isn't being done to promote this work.

Out of interest. Who is funding this work and who decided it should be done? Was it DfT?

The other day I tried to use two 444s. By leaving work earlier than usual, I faced the hardship of getting a 444 train (the 17.00 Surbiton to Basingstoke).

When I tried to connect to the wifi, their was a red button asking if I was existing customer. As I'd uses the wifi before on other 444s clicked it but nothing happened. Turns out although I'd used the service before, to be an existing customer I had to register, which although being an existing customer I hadn't done, since no option to register had ever existed before on the other 444s. One can only register on some of the 444s. Having registered I was now officially a customer!

I found trying to get to this stage rather slow. It may be my mobile which was being slow rather than the wifi. I am having some issues with my wifi at home, although not normally elsewhere.

To make my day even better. My connecting service from Woking to Guildford was also a 444. Such a hardship leaving work early. On this 444 no one could sign in or register. You just accepted the conditions. It took from Woking to almost Guildford before I could get the wifi working unfortunately.

I don't know if the 444 wifi was being slow or whether it was my mobile. Last year I upgraded my Android phone to Lollipop. Now when a wifi network is found which one needs to log into or accept the conditions, it continues to use the mobile data until you do so. The mobile data is poor between Woking and Guildford and I don't know if it was using that to get to the login page.

If not it's an issue with my mobile. I'm going to reinstall my OS soon anyway as I'm having issues at home.

 

[BestWestern]

On iPhone, you simply activate wifi and are presented with a page which pops up. You agree to the terms and you're in, no registration req'd.

 

[jon0844]

You will surely need to register once, but depending on the provider that might be it. Some services, like the Cloud might not make you do so once you're registered unless you go to a site that charges or wants to push an advert to you.

There are other issues too, some of which are causing EE problems with its imminent WiFi calling service. One being that in the Underground you need to read or skip an advert sometimes to connect to Virgin. That is being fixed so your phone will connect to make or receive calls automatically. Should be launching fairly soon.

 

[swt_passenger]

On iPhone, you simply activate wifi and are presented with a page which pops up. You agree to the terms and you're in, no registration req'd.

Normally that's the case, but there have been odd days when they have asked for registration, and the requirement comes and goes on different services as discussed earlier in this thread.

 

[Goldfish62]

I wonder when they'll start fitting the 458/5s.

 

[59CosG95]

Hopefully they'll fit the 158 and 159 fleet with wifi as well. And also plug sockets-you can never have enough!

 

[infobleep]

Normally that's the case, but there have been odd days when they have asked for registration, and the requirement comes and goes on different services as discussed earlier in this thread.

I think it's per train. Some trains require registration and signing in and others don't. After all I caught two trains on the same day and both had different requirements.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

You will surely need to register once, but depending on the provider that might be it. Some services, like the Cloud might not make you do so once you're registered unless you go to a site that charges or wants to push an advert to you.

There are other issues too, some of which are causing EE problems with its imminent WiFi calling service. One being that in the Underground you need to read or skip an advert sometimes to connect to Virgin. That is being fixed so your phone will connect to make or receive calls automatically. Should be launching fairly soon.

How does imminent WiFi calling work? Has it been implemented via an operating system change. O2 have TuGo app which allows you to make calls and send texts via WiFi. However the text messaging part doesn't link well into the native messaging system so I don't use it. Perhaps this type of solution could replace it. I see EE claim no apps are required for their WiFi calling service.

 

[jon0844]

EE's Wi-Fi calling will be seamless in that it's managed by the phone (new iOS devices support it and many new Android phones), and I believe that once the all-essential Voice over LTE (4G) is launched later in the year, you'll even be able to hand off from Wi-Fi to LTE, so you might be on your office wireless network in the middle of a building that gets no signal, but carry on with your call when you leave. SMS will also work just as it does on a mobile network.

O2's TuGo and Three's inTouch apps are more like VoIP apps, and there's no handover, and SMS handling is a bit of a bodge. The dialler on Android is pretty awful and there are loads of bugs (this is Three's app, as I've not used TuGo on O2 - yet I hear nothing but bad stories there too).

Three is also working on VoLTE as it's vital to their 4G rollout, and allows them to ramp up the power of 4G and use its 800MHz allocation. This will mean 4G covering far wider areas than 3G, so it HAS to be able to support voice calls which 4G currently does not on any UK network or most other networks around the world.

Once VoLTE comes along, expect to see a MASSIVE improvement in coverage especially in rural areas - and also huge increases in data speeds for those who might currently only get 2G.

 

[TEW]

Wifi has begun instalation on class 450's. 2 units completed but not yet live as far as I can tell. 3rd unit half finished. All work being undertaken by Siemens at Strawberry Hill. Target is one unit every 48 hours.

I caught 450011 yesterday and it had WiFi fitted. My phone connected to it but I'm not sure if it was the normal network or if it just connected to a hidden network with the same details as the 444s had.

 

[jon0844]

The Cloud had/has a separate SSID for iOS users to get around some issues (The Cloud X or something).

I often connect to Virgin Wi-Fi in London without any need to do anything, so as soon as it connects I'm getting all my notifications coming through. Other times it makes me sign in and no traffic flows until I click 'skip ad'.

It's not even time related. It used to be you logged in once and it worked again for around 24 hours, but now I can go a few stations along and have to log in again.

But, overall, it's no much of a problem and the bigger issue is on phones where it will cling on to a near unusable Wi-Fi network instead of reverting to mobile data. Some phones (or apps) manage things better, such as one that I have that drops the connection if there's no data after a set period. I can also reconnect to try and fix other issues.

Nothing worse than walking around a high street or train station and you automatically connect to a hotspot in a shop, or on a train, and you don't realise - other than you stop getting any emails or updates because it wants you to sign in!

 

[lj9090]

I found trying to get to this stage rather slow. It may be my mobile which was being slow rather than the wifi. I am having some issues with my wifi at home, although not normally elsewhere.

The sign in page can be slow. I'm usually only on the train for 15 minutes or so and I've had more than a few journeys where it hasn't even managed during that. Seem to be be worse when the train is busy but I've had a few quiet days when it's been slow so I don't really know.
Once it finally gets round to say connected though it's generally quite usable, so it's not an issue with the wifi it's just the actual sign in page.

 

[infobleep]

The Cloud had/has a separate SSID for iOS users to get around some issues (The Cloud X or something).

I often connect to Virgin Wi-Fi in London without any need to do anything, so as soon as it connects I'm getting all my notifications coming through. Other times it makes me sign in and no traffic flows until I click 'skip ad'.

It's not even time related. It used to be you logged in once and it worked again for around 24 hours, but now I can go a few stations along and have to log in again.

But, overall, it's no much of a problem and the bigger issue is on phones where it will cling on to a near unusable Wi-Fi network instead of reverting to mobile data. Some phones (or apps) manage things better, such as one that I have that drops the connection if there's no data after a set period. I can also reconnect to try and fix other issues.

Nothing worse than walking around a high street or train station and you automatically connect to a hotspot in a shop, or on a train, and you don't realise - other than you stop getting any emails or updates because it wants you to sign in!

Android Lollipop avoid this but not switching to the WiFi until you sign in. Not sure though if causes problems if you need to sign in and have poor mobile coverage. It may not do.

I think that is a great selling point to Lollipop. I'm using a Google Nexus 5.

Not used a recent version of iOS so can't comment on how well that works.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

The sign in page can be slow. I'm usually only on the train for 15 minutes or so and I've had more than a few journeys where it hasn't even managed during that. Seem to be be worse when the train is busy but I've had a few quiet days when it's been slow so I don't really know.
Once it finally gets round to say connected though it's generally quite usable, so it's not an issue with the wifi it's just the actual sign in page.

Interesting so it could be an issue with the service and not my phone. Problem with the journeys I made is that they were each only 10-15 minutes long so that defeats the point of the WiFi if I spend the whole journey logging in each time.

I'm if there is a wider problem they will be looking at ways of fixing it.

 

[dgl]

WP does the same thing, it will only connect to the network when you sign in (it will bring up a message asking if you would like to connect to this network and then brings up a internet window with the sign in page which once you have signed in disappears).

 

[jon0844]

I've got a few devices updated to Android 5 but haven't noticed the change! Will have to go and take a look tomorrow when I go shopping where there's The Cloud Wi-Fi.