Any wifi?

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.

Gingee

OBS Chief
Joined
Nov 21, 2004
Messages
924
Any wifi on Capitol Limited or Silver Meteor or Lake Shore Limited? Will be in sleepers.
 
The lsl and silver meteor should have wifi, as the single level cars are equipped with it.
 
On recent trips on the Silver Meteor, the wifi was there, but was sporadic. It was best early in the morning or late at night when the demand was not as great. There are places on the route where there was no wifi. I used Amtrak's wifi a few times, but when I wanted to be "connected" without interruption, I used my cell phone data.
 
Which begs the question who exactly is Amtrak WiFi supposed to appeal to? People who can't stand being disconnected but who also can't manage even a basic data plan? How many people is that?
 
There are probably a good number of people that ride the system that don't have data plans and use available WiFi hot spots.

I don't have a data plan and I use various WiFi spots when the need arises and if they are available. I can also "stand" to be disconnected.
 
Which begs the question who exactly is Amtrak WiFi supposed to appeal to? People who can't stand being disconnected but who also can't manage even a basic data plan? How many people is that?
I have an iPad Mini with WiFi only. I'll also bring along a laptop sometimes.
I could set up my phone as a personal hotspot. but that would eat through my data quickly. While I usually can't stream video, Amtrak WiFi is usually adequate for news sites and message boards.
 
Which begs the question who exactly is Amtrak WiFi supposed to appeal to? People who can't stand being disconnected but who also can't manage even a basic data plan? How many people is that?
My kid uses wifi (any wifi) for his tablet. His tablet doesn't have a cellular radio in it, so this is his only method of connecting.

If necessary, I could instead establish a local hot spot for him, with my cell phone, but that burns thru my battery power quickly (both wifi and cellular data radios running continuously).
 
There are probably a good number of people that ride the system that don't have data plans and use available WiFi hot spots.

I don't have a data plan and I use various WiFi spots when the need arises and if they are available. I can also "stand" to be disconnected.
Or you just don't want to be burning through your data if you can avoid it.
 
There are probably a good number of people that ride the system that don't have data plans and use available WiFi hot spots. I don't have a data plan and I use various WiFi spots when the need arises and if they are available. I can also "stand" to be disconnected.
&
My kid uses wifi (any wifi) for his tablet. His tablet doesn't have a cellular radio in it, so this is his only method of connecting.
So I guess It's intended for the staff and children?

I could instead establish a local hot spot for him, with my cell phone, but that burns thru my battery power quickly (both wifi and cellular data radios running continuously).
This is legit. Why do cell phones still have such lousy battery life? It's 2016 and for some reason we still can't make a smart phone that lasts longer than a single day at best. This is by far the most annoying aspect of owning a phone in my view. I don't have to worry about my voice or text or data but the battery life problem remains unresolved regardless of what brand or model or service I select. I really hate that. I don't need a faster processor or a fancier screen or liquid protection. I need a long battery life built into the phone. Is that really too much to ask?

So is it free Wifi?
Yes, but maybe that's part of the problem?

There are probably a good number of people that ride the system that don't have data plans and use available WiFi hot spots.

I don't have a data plan and I use various WiFi spots when the need arises and if they are available. I can also "stand" to be disconnected.
Or you just don't want to be burning through your data if you can avoid it.
In my experience none of the tasks that would actually burn through your data (music, movies, teleconferencing, installations, updates) can be accomplished through Amtrak WiFi.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
There are probably a good number of people that ride the system that don't have data plans and use available WiFi hot spots. I don't have a data plan and I use various WiFi spots when the need arises and if they are available. I can also "stand" to be disconnected.
&
My kid uses wifi (any wifi) for his tablet. His tablet doesn't have a cellular radio in it, so this is his only method of connecting.
So I guess It's intended for the staff and children?

I could instead establish a local hot spot for him, with my cell phone, but that burns thru my battery power quickly (both wifi and cellular data radios running continuously).
This is legit. Why do cell phones still have such lousy battery life? It's 2016 and for some reason we still can't make a smart phone that lasts longer than a single day at best. This is by far the most annoying aspect of owning a phone in my view. I don't have to worry about my voice or text or data but the battery life problem remains unresolved regardless of what brand or model or service I select. I really hate that. I don't need a faster processor or a fancier screen or liquid protection. I need a long battery life built into the phone. Is that really too much to ask?

So is it free Wifi?
Yes, but maybe that's part of the problem?

There are probably a good number of people that ride the system that don't have data plans and use available WiFi hot spots.

I don't have a data plan and I use various WiFi spots when the need arises and if they are available. I can also "stand" to be disconnected.
Or you just don't want to be burning through your data if you can avoid it.
In my experience none of the tasks that would actually burn through your data (music, movies, teleconferencing, installations, updates) can be accomplished through Amtrak WiFi.
It's free, it works for many tasks most of the time. It aint gigabit, and won't be soon.

So what's the gripe? Huh?

Maybe your automobile has free gigabit internet included?
 
I regularly have over 70% battery left at the end of the day on my iPhone 6s. My battery life is excellent.
How expectations decline as prices rise :)

My new minimal flip-phone from verizon lasts 5 days on battery with moderate usage.

If and when I need movies, games, etc. I expect to pay for the bandwidth. And have at most a day on a charge on my newer smartphone -- so many pretty pictures - that I don't want or need.

Of course 30 times the bandwidth costs more and lasts less long.

Any useful secure wifi on the train is useful to me.

If you expect free gigabit internet for all pax - just multiply that cost time the number of pax on the train.
 
Comparing a flip phone to an entire freaking computer that happens to fit in your pocket and also happens to make phone calls is like comparing apples and airplanes.

If used for absolutely nothing other than phone calls, you can get that amount of life (or close to it) out of a smartphone.

On the other hand, the "don't want to use my phone as a hotspot on the train because it will kill my battery" doesn't make sense when there are outlets to plug into. I used my phone as a hotspot all the way from NYP to BWI a few weeks ago and walked off the train with both my laptop and phone sitting at 100%.
 
It aint gigabit, and won't be soon. So what's the gripe? Huh?
The gripe is that Amtrak WiFi is flaky and unpredictable, is too slow for many modern purposes, and blocks much of what we use WiFi to accomplish. How much speed would you consider acceptable in 2016?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
There are probably a good number of people that ride the system that don't have data plans and use available WiFi hot spots.

I don't have a data plan and I use various WiFi spots when the need arises and if they are available. I can also "stand" to be disconnected.
Or you just don't want to be burning through your data if you can avoid it.
In my experience none of the tasks that would actually burn through your data (music, movies, teleconferencing, installations, updates) can be accomplished through Amtrak WiFi.
So what? Every megabyte of data I save on that wifi is a megabyte I can use somewhere else for that stuff. I only do regular old internet browsing when my phone isn't on wifi and I still eat 1.75 gigabytes a month every month out of my 2.
 
Sure it's possible to do almost anything with a bigger battery. If you want (what Doc Brown called on Jimmy Kimmel) a pocket sized supercomputer, it's almost a small miracle that it can last so long on a physically tiny battery. In reality, a bigger battery will do the trick, which is why an iPhone 6+ lasts about 30% longer than an iPhone 6. Under the hood it's almost the same (including volume of electronics) the form factor means it's larger and where a bigger battery can be justified.

Almost anything can be made to last longer. I could drive my car triple the distance if I gave up my trunk space and installed a secondary tank.
 
There are probably a good number of people that ride the system that don't have data plans and use available WiFi hot spots. I don't have a data plan and I use various WiFi spots when the need arises and if they are available. I can also "stand" to be disconnected.
&
My kid uses wifi (any wifi) for his tablet. His tablet doesn't have a cellular radio in it, so this is his only method of connecting.
So I guess It's intended for the staff and children?

No...it is intended for people that look for it as an amenity and there are plenty of people that utilize it. There are plenty of places that offer Wi-Fi as an amenity for people that don't have data plans and/or are casual users of the internet. That's why stores, restaurants ,etc have Wi-Fi available.

As for staff, they are encouraged to not use it. Indeed, most of them are most likely prohibited from utilizing while performing service.
 
Found out silver meteor had wifi but it stunk. Very slow. I finally used our own wifi.
 
Worked pretty well on Crescent 19/20 this week. Fast enough for browsing and email. The AmtrakConnect website works well also, with an interactive map of the train's progress, including current speed and estimated time to next station.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top