Wi-Fi on Eastern LD Trains

Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Status
Not open for further replies.

AmtrakLKL

Lead Service Attendant
Joined
Jun 7, 2012
Messages
352
Wi-Fi is coming to the eastern long distance trains later this year. I've seen the Amtrak Connect network in a couple coaches and am told equipment is being installed in the Amfleet II coaches as they cycle through periodic maintenance right now. Even though the system is turned on and broadcasting the network, it doesn't work without the "brain" car. I assume those will be the lounge cars just like the corridor trains.

So, if you see the WiFi network onboard right now, don't get too excited, but at least progress is being made! :)
 
I wonder if the new Viewliner II's, will come with WiFi preinstalled?
I would think they'll be delivered with the WiFi factory installed. Deliveries seem far enough off that they'll be equipped one way or another before going into revenue service.

The bigger question I have is whether WiFi will be installed in the Heritage Diners or not. While there is no news on Viewliner Diner deliveries, the life expectancy on the Heritage diners is very, very short to justify a capital spending project. If the lounge cars are indeed the only "brain" on the train, then the sleepers won't have access without the diner in the middle to relay the signal. I don't imagine the system is designed to leap over non-WiFi cars, especially diners with lots of interior walls and signal blocking kitchen equipment.
 
You have me now wondering. :unsure:

Is the "brain", the car with the master satellite or cellular radio? And such daisy-chain connects to a series of WiFi routers, one located in each car? And between the cars, there is an Ethernet cable connection (along with the HEP connector?).

So, a Heritage Diner would only need to pass the Ethernet cable signal onto the next car. Yea, some hardware would need to be installed (the cable), but not much.
 
There's a 'node' on top of each car that carries signals from car to car on the Amfleet Is, as I recall. The Cafe's node includes a receiver for the 4G signal.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
There's a 'node' on top of each car that carries signals from car to car on the Amfleet Is, as I recall. The Cafe's node includes a receiver for the 4G signal.
It is a mesh network. The brain is located in the cafe car with an antenna on top of the cafe. Only the brain picks up the the cell signals from the cell carriers towers on the wayside. The brain retransmits the signal forward and rearward wirelessly to receiver routers in each car located in the electric lockers. If one of the cars routers is down that might break the mesh in that direction. You can't skip a car. Since there does not need to be a brain in every car, only a wireless router to mesh with, I think it is possible they might put a router in the Heritage diners even though they are on the way out. Of course assuming they are installling the same kind of network on the LD trains as used on the NEC.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
So it must have been a fluke that in March I got Hulu on over 95 percent of my train trip from Newark to NO. It was on my phone with unlimited data . I was so surprised, it only buffered a few times, each time I thought this is it. Couldn't use my iPad because it went out and wouldn't log in at all time I got on the train.couldnt even read books I had already downloaded, boy was I bummed out.
 
I wonder if the new Viewliner II's, will come with WiFi preinstalled?
I would think they'll be delivered with the WiFi factory installed. Deliveries seem far enough off that they'll be equipped one way or another before going into revenue service.

The bigger question I have is whether WiFi will be installed in the Heritage Diners or not. While there is no news on Viewliner Diner deliveries, the life expectancy on the Heritage diners is very, very short to justify a capital spending project. If the lounge cars are indeed the only "brain" on the train, then the sleepers won't have access without the diner in the middle to relay the signal. I don't imagine the system is designed to leap over non-WiFi cars, especially diners with lots of interior walls and signal blocking kitchen equipment.
I seriously doubt that Amtrak would be installing WiFi in the Heritage diner cars. WiFi on the LD trains has been stalled for years due to limited capital funds, adding WiFi to the Heritage equipment would be an obvious and visible waste of funds. The new Viewliner II diner cars may finally start to show up by this fall and I would expect that they will have WiFi routers installed at the CAF plant. However, even if the 25 new Viewliner II sleeper cars come with WiFi installed, the 50 Viewliner I sleeper cars will need to be updated.

So when WiFi does comes to the eastern LD trains, coverage in the sleeper cars may be spotty for years.
 
This confirms my suspicions. A friend of mine told me he successfully used the wifi on a rear Amfleet II car on the Pennsyvanian miles away from the nearest Amfleet I. On the Adirondack once I spent the trip getting a partial wifi signal sitting about three-quarters of the way from the Amfleet I cafe but not close enough for it to work (I ended up sitting in the cafe to send a few emails).
 
This confirms my suspicions. A friend of mine told me he successfully used the wifi on a rear Amfleet II car on the Pennsyvanian miles away from the nearest Amfleet I. On the Adirondack once I spent the trip getting a partial wifi signal sitting about three-quarters of the way from the Amfleet I cafe but not close enough for it to work (I ended up sitting in the cafe to send a few emails).
The Pennsylvanian runs with a mix of Amfleet I and II cars, with an Amfleet I cafe providing a hub for the wifi. The rear car is usually an Amfleet I used for Business Class.
 
Maybe I'm or him is mixing the direction up them (I was thinking business class was in the front like the Palmetto for some reason)
 
Thanks! That's what I'm thinking of my friend texted me about it (I had seen him a couple of days before and mentioned the car differences) somewhere between NYP and PHL
 
Thanks! That's what I'm thinking of my friend texted me about it (I had seen him a couple of days before and mentioned the car differences) somewhere between NYP and PHL
But, with an Amfleet I cafe and coaches in the consist, the nearest Amfleet I is not "miles away." The Amfleet II coaches may well have been equipped to pick up the wifi, but it also may have been a signal from the nearest Amfleet I car. Just sayin'.
 
I seriously doubt that Amtrak would be installing WiFi in the Heritage diner cars. WiFi on the LD trains has been stalled for years due to limited capital funds, adding WiFi to the Heritage equipment would be an obvious and visible waste of funds. The new Viewliner II diner cars may finally start to show up by this fall and I would expect that they will have WiFi routers installed at the CAF plant. However, even if the 25 new Viewliner II sleeper cars come with WiFi installed, the 50 Viewliner I sleeper cars will need to be updated.

So when WiFi does comes to the eastern LD trains, coverage in the sleeper cars may be spotty for years.
I'm pretty sure the existing sleepers will get WiFi before the system goes live and Amtrak starts touting the availability of WiFi. Why put money into advertising the service if your first class passengers don't have access. Ok, yes, this is Amtrak, but it seems this is an all-in project for the eastern long distance trains which also includes Auto Train since their equipment is captive.
 
I was sitting a third of the way back from the cafe on the Adirondak in February in the front Amfleet signal I could get a tiny amount of signal but not enough to use. I know certain people on this forum "Anderson" who sit at the very front of the car for wifi. My friend said he hadn't.
 
There are almost 40 AM2s that are equipped with WIFI and at least one Viewliner is equipped so it is not a surprise that your friend was able to use the wifi on the Pennsylvanian/Palmetto. They are being blocked together.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I wonder if the new Viewliner II's, will come with WiFi preinstalled?
I would think they'll be delivered with the WiFi factory installed. ...

...
... The new Viewliner II diner cars ... I would expect that they will have WiFi routers installed at the CAF plant.

However, even if the 25 new Viewliner II sleeper cars come with WiFi installed, the 50 Viewliner I sleeper cars will need to be updated.

So when WiFi does comes to the eastern LD trains, coverage in the sleeper cars may be spotty for years.
The new Viewliner cars from CAF will have Wi-Fi.

There was a mini-delay a few years back when Oregon's two new Talgo trainsets were close to delivery -- when an Amtrak inspection found them without Wi-Fi. Oops. Do over. Turned out that Amtrak policy required all new cars to be Wi-Fi equipped, but Oregon and the car- maker somehow hadn't got the memo. LOL.

And while it will take a couple of years to fully retrofit the 50 Viewliner sleepers with new roomette modules and new on-board equipment, why couldn't the roof-top Wi-Fi equipment be installed a.s.a.p., without waiting for the full make-over of the cars?

++++++++++++

I hear this news about Wi-Fi on the LDs as pure good news. The fact that Amtrak is apparently this far along installing the equipment suggests it has money budgeted to do the job. Hooray!

+++++++

Never mind my sleepy-headed and confused edit on the Oregon car-maker. Sorry.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Looks like what I was told by an Amtrak employee about wifi coming to the Silvers was true. Glad to see this happening.
 
I was sitting a third of the way back from the cafe on the Adirondak in February in the front Amfleet signal I could get a tiny amount of signal but not enough to use. I know certain people on this forum "Anderson" who sit at the very front of the car for wifi. My friend said he hadn't.
That's correct. As spotty as it would be, I could usually get something passable for at least part of the trip from that car.

Worth considering is the fact that, since I think most (if not all) of the cafes are equipped for wifi, you'd at least have one base car that could offer it (and nominally cover part of the neighboring cars). I don't think Amtrak will start hawking it until they have most or all of the Viewliner Is and Amfleet IIs outfitted as well, though.

Another note: I was chatting with OBS on one of the the eastern LD trains a few weeks back, and between talking about the diner cuts they mentioned that wifi was coming. The joke was made that management said it would be coming in September...but didn't specify which year.

(Apparently there have been a few false starts on this front, with rumors of it getting added happening in cycles)
 
And while it will take a couple of years to fully retrofit the 50 Viewliner sleepers with new roomette modules and new on-board equipment, why couldn't the roof-top Wi-Fi equipment be installed a.s.a.p., without waiting for the full make-over of the cars?

++++++++++++

I hear this news about Wi-Fi on the LDs as pure good news. The fact that Amtrak is apparently this far along installing the equipment suggests it has money budgeted to do the job. Hooray!
Yes, $6 million is listed in FY2015 budget and business plan for adding WiFi to the LD trains. In the document, it states "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."
With 145 Amfleet IIs and 50 Viewliner I sleepers to be upgraded, that is a smaller and less expensive task compared to the 426 Superliners in the active fleet. However, the above statement leaves wiggle room for delaying installation of WiFi in the Western LD Superliner trains if the deployment in the eastern LD trains does not go well.

As for installing WiFi in the Viewliner sleeper cars, the interior is segmented into rooms with metal walls. The only pathway for the RF signal is through the windows on the inside. Its a more challenging installation than in a coach or cafe car with an open interior space. If they don't put antennas in each room, might have to place multiple antennas along the hallway for passengers to get acceptable WiFi reception in the rooms and roomettes.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top