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On Train WiFi

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Camden

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sdrennan said:
It's not just whether it is free but how usable it is. I was on a transport for Wales service at Wrexham. It gave first 20mb then throttled back. My phone synced some mails and used that before I left the station. It was unusable after that.
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Companies need to use proper throttling/rate limiting, block ports used for updates, and make it useless for people hammering it, so that it's useful for all. Otherwise, what happens is what you experienced. I suspect the difference between usable and non usable onboard WiFi is due to different equipment being used to provide it.

For on the move WiFi to internet, 250 to 500kbps is sufficient for browsing, music, mail, etc. That 20mbps you got could have served 30 to 40 simultaneous users before anyone found it unusable, if it was preserved to be used that way.
 
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route101

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Struggled to get Virgins Wifi to work from Preston to Glasgow other night , usually 4g signal is very poor on 3 on this stretch .
 
LeylandLen

LeylandLen

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route101 said:
Struggled to get Virgins Wifi to work from Preston to Glasgow other night , usually 4g signal is very poor on 3 on this stretch .
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Was that in First Class, where it is free, or Standard clas which I tink is £5 for 24 hours?

I use Virgin West coast Preston/ Manchester to Euston , standard class. They seem very keen for passengers to use the BEAM service for films , possibly videos, etc. How does Beam affect basic reception? . I hope WIFI is free to all soon on Virgin WC as per LNER on east coast from 28th.
 
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route101

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LeylandLen said:
Was that in First Class, where it is free, or Standard clas which I tink is £5 for 24 hours?

I use Virgin West coast Preston/ Manchester to Euston , standard class. They seem very keen for passengers to use the BEAM service for films , possibly videos, etc. How does Beam affect basic reception? . I hope WIFI is free to all soon on Virgin WC as per LNER on east coast from 28th.
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First class . Could not watch Youtube Videos , not sure if theres enough bandwidth.
 
Aictos

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With Virgin Trains they state that if you have the Virgin Red app you can get free wifi codes for your journey however how exactly does that work?

I've got the app so do I need to do anything as it says it been verified.

Also I thought that Virgin Trains were pushing out wifi free for all as part of their latest franchise extension? So when is this actually going to happen?
 
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jon0844

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Camden said:
Companies need to use proper throttling/rate limiting, block ports used for updates, and make it useless for people hammering it, so that it's useful for all. Otherwise, what happens is what you experienced. I suspect the difference between usable and non usable onboard WiFi is due to different equipment being used to provide it.

For on the move WiFi to internet, 250 to 500kbps is sufficient for browsing, music, mail, etc. That 20mbps you got could have served 30 to 40 simultaneous users before anyone found it unusable, if it was preserved to be used that way.
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I think that's how many systems were.. Just offer the full speed and gradually reduce it naturally as there are more users.. but that's very inefficient and unreliable.

So now the modern public Wi-Fi systems seem a lot better and do indeed throttle effectively and block certain services. This does mean you won't get impressive speed test results even if you're the only person on the train, but that's obviously not what it's intended for. Use your own mobile data connection for that!
 
BlueFox

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Class 403 said:
With Virgin Trains they state that if you have the Virgin Red app you can get free wifi codes for your journey however how exactly does that work?

I've got the app so do I need to do anything as it says it been verified.
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You have to get a free code from within the app. When you open the app you'll see some offers on the bottom half of the screen. Scroll across until you see the Virgin offer, then follow the instructions.


I've never been able to connect to the Wifi on Virgin with my current phone. I've never had a problem anywhere else, so I assume it's something to do with the equipment Virgin use that my phone doesn't like.
 
Aictos

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BlueFox said:
You have to get a free code from within the app. When you open the app you'll see some offers on the bottom half of the screen. Scroll across until you see the Virgin offer, then follow the instructions.


I've never been able to connect to the Wifi on Virgin with my current phone. I've never had a problem anywhere else, so I assume it's something to do with the equipment Virgin use that my phone doesn't like.
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Then when you connect to the Virgin Trains wifi you just put in that code?
 
BlueFox

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Class 403 said:
Then when you connect to the Virgin Trains wifi you just put in that code?
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I can't remember exactly how it happens, but when you connect to the wifi network you're taken to a web page where you'll have the option of paying for access or using a code. You may need to give them details like an email address.
You can also connect for free to use their Beam service, if you do that you'll be on the train's network without access to the outside world.
 
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Skie

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Tried the Virgin wifi in first class the other day, connected fine but they insist on using their own HTTPS certificates by performing a man in the middle attack which modern browsers detect and wont let you browse without plenty of faff, so I gave up.
 
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westv

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Class 403 said:
Where's proof of that though, LNER has stated on Twitter that they can neither confirm or deny that for reasons known to them.
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Has this actually happened? The wifi on the 07:00 from Hull isn't actually working at the moment so I can't see.
 
LeylandLen

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Skie said:
Tried the Virgin wifi in first class the other day, connected fine but they insist on using their own HTTPS certificates by performing a man in the middle attack which modern browsers detect and wont let you browse without plenty of faff, so I gave up.
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I did Preston- Euston return yesterday , Sunday,on Virgin . Treated myself to First Advance to Euston ; standard class return . Used free wi-fi in First ; not as easy as it should be as in the quote above but managed to use it mainly for BBC sites.
On return , the 1928 was delayed 45 mins @Harrow and Wealdstone due apparently to a trespasser on the line near Watford.It would have been nice using the wifi to my phone to find out info etc.But I was NOT going to pay the £5 connection fee to find out info . Some might have waanted to use Wifi to find out train/bus connections further down the line or find out telephione numbers of taxi operatorsors to send emails etc.The train manager did give passengers some info and did his best on the Glasgow bound train.
Seems unfair for standard class passengers having to pay and effectively subsidising First class users .Ive used FREE wifi on Southern and Chiltern recentley .
 
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infobleep

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mde said:
Indeed it has - David Horne has put a tweet out confirming free wifi + faster speeds for users in First class.
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I note that when Cross Country introduced free WiFi for standard class users, there Web Site didn't state faster WiFi for first class users.

Perhaps they didn't think faatwe WiFi was needed to tempt people onto first class travel.
 
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boyaloud

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LeylandLen said:
I use Virgin WC between Lancashire/ Manchester and Euston and it annoys me that we have to pay for it in Standard class yet its free in First Class!
Its free to use in Standard for the Beam service ...thats where you can watch films videos ? Never used it .No doubt it has ads.
I dont like paying for the basic service; seems we are subsidising First class? ...and I pay Virgin Media here at home for my basic broadband .
Click to expand...
Get the virgin red app connect your virgin trains account and as long as you've bought tickets on it you can have a free train wifi code daily, in the app.
 
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infobleep

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Interestingly just now I signed onto the South Western Railway WiFi on a 455 train.

I entered my e-mail address and selected:
e-mail marketing
app push marketing
no marketing at all
that I was over 16
I accepted all the terms and conditions

I then hit enter and it logged me on. I wonder what gets sent to the backend, that I want marketing and don't want marketing or just one of those two?

I don't mind if I get marketing but I regularly switch my selection as I don't put to much thought into which option I select on the signing on process.
 
Aictos

Aictos

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Asked Virgin Trains when will they follow in LNER's footsteps and make wifi freely available for all and it's happening soon...
 
LeylandLen

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Just used a Pendelino 390042 Euston to Preston and found out by trying to use Wi-fi it is free on that 390 for standard class passengers !
Virgin tell me while using the Wi-fi they aim to make Wi-fi FREE for all 'customers'
Ive not seen any Virgin publicity about Wi-fi being free, maybe they are doing it train by train ..
 
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