This article covers my modern experiences using Via Rail Canada's passenger mobile internet aid while travelling from Toronto to Montreal. These types of services have become more and more prevalent over the past few years. Via was an early adopter; having launched their first mobile internet aid in 2006 and then upgraded in 2010 and 2011.
Via Rail Canada was one of the first rail fellowships in the world to contribute mobile internet services to its passengers in 2006. The aid is provided on its 42 trains in its central Canada corridor in the middle of Windsor Ontario and Quebec City outside about 700 miles. At the outset the aid used a aggregate of satellite and a pair of 2G mobile connections. In 2010 the aid was revamped to use a pair of 3G mobile connections; abandoning the satellite connection entirely. aid was fair to good agreeing to accounts I have found on the internet, blogs, and Twitter.
Server Rails
A complete forklift upgrade was done over the course of 2011 and 2012. The new aid is installed on the 42 train fleet and is comprised of 6 aggregated Hspa+ mobile connections, an on board server and controller, in coach passenger passage point (B,G), and a wireless N mesh network connecting all coaches.
Via is marketing this aid as part of its "Human Way to Travel" campaign theme; stressing the aid as a sufficient use of journey time to work or for relaxation such as public networking, booking activities at destination, seeing data on what to do upon coming at destination, or just reading online newspapers or browsing the net.
I have had the opportunity to tour many times on enterprise and for satisfaction on Via Rail and I have all the time been impressed with the unabridged carrying out of the mobile internet service; which is currently offered on a complimentary basis. After connecting your gismo to the wifi passage point you are offered a option of languages for the service; English or French. You then must accept some terms and conditions; upon which you are brought to a landing page about the services offered by Via Rail. From there you can navigate the internet.
I have been able to work on files through a Vpn connection to my office servers; editing and updating text documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. Also accessing web mail systems such as Gmail is a breeze. Browsing the web is also quite fast. Other things I have done are accessing streaming music services such as Accuradio and Tunein without a hiccup. I have viewed and updated my web photo albums on Picasa without trouble. I have also done some online shopping and online banking. I have even seen passengers using Skype video calling. But streaming video is hit and miss however in this environment and sites such as YouTube are blocked for carrying out reasons, to support bandwidth and to voice a good user experience. This is understandable in this shared mobile environment where bandwidth available from mobile networks is a limiting factor. But you can still passage news media video sites such as major daily papers,Cnn or Cbc for example. But as I mentioned videos can be a hit and miss affair.
So as a user experience goes this aid is quite good for a free service. How long will it be cost free though? As can be imagined it could be costly to contribute this service. Via estimates that over 20,000 passengers use the aid and that traffic is reaching over 1 terabyte per week on average. Twitter and Facebook feedback are commonly positive, supporting my own personal experience.
As with any mobile network there are a few zones along the way where carrying out may drop off. One area is along Lake Ontario where carrying out goes from very good to good or fair. But at 100 Mph, these areas soon zoom by and carrying out picks up quite quickly.To Via's credit they indicate these known areas in their data about the aid and on a map published on their site and in their passenger magazine. Technical support is available as well over the phone and by text message.
Most trains I have taken are 3 or 4 cars long and I would evaluation that about half of the passengers are using the service. This would be everywhere from 80 to 100 linked users on a full train. I have taken several measurements with tools such as Speedtest. This gives you an idea of user experience. My median download speed measured is about 2.75mbps with peaks of 5mbps and higher. Upload speeds median nearby 1mbps and peaks of 3mbps do occur. I have done these measurements with both a Windows laptop computer and my Samsung Android tablet. These speeds are enough for what the aid is intended to be. agreeing to Via it is best used "for web browsing and email"; but by my experience you can accomplish a whole lot more.
So unabridged the Via Rail wireless internet aid is trustworthy and fast. Via has also recently introduced a media portal server on some of its trains to compliment the wireless internet service. This portal provides daily news highlights and a few rerun Tv shows and documentaries. This indicates Via's commitment to developing and improving this aid for its passengers.
I do suggest that you try Via and its wireless internet aid if you happen to be in their aid area. Train tour is far less stressful than flying and can be a sufficient use of time as well.
by Mike Gaudreau - Boomer Technology November 30, 2012
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