Wireless on Sligo line

[wolf99]

Hi folks
Recently (ie last fortnight) Ive noticed a wireless network "Free Public WiFi" showing up on sligo-dublin intercities, however Im never able to connect even though it shows good strength signal reception.
The little connecting to network thing goes up and down, then says not connected but still gives the option to disconnect!

If I leave the laptop on, around kilcock/enfield it'll tell me Im connected, but still not able to browse the internet.

Is this some kind of trial, or have others been able to connect on this network?
Ta

[Colm Moore]

It may be another Wi-Fi user, not the train. http://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireles...airports.shtml

[Mark Gleeson]

Its a well known bug in the way microsoft windows handles searching for networks, it effectively advertises the last network it connected to and other computers thinks its a real network.

The network you are looking for is irishrail-wifi and it will be available on all routes by end 2012

[wolf99]

coolio, cheers

[JohnDough]

Still not working got irish rail wifi but still connecting!!!! rubbish so far.

[Colm Moore]

Originally Posted by JohnDough

Still not working got irish rail wifi but still connecting!!!! rubbish so far.

John, what route are you on? What network are you trying to connect to?

[comcor]

There's huge problems with it on the Cork line, mostly as a result of the number of people trying to use it. It was fine when it first started, but now there seem to be 30-40 people per carriage on it between laptops and mobile devices.

Using speed test, it seems that something around 20kbps is par for the course.

You now need to get beyond Limerick Junction before you get anything like a decent service.

One thing I don't understand is that it always seems to be better on Cork-Dublin services than on Dublin-Cork services.

Before significant roll-out on other lines, it would be better if system stability was prioritized.

[Thomas J Stamp]

its piggy-backing onto the 3-NBS system as you go up and down. As someone on that systen living not more than 500m from the Cork line you can move from one end of the kitchen table to the other and lose the signal unless you have a booster box.

during the summer, if it is windy, the hedge can feck up the signal.

so if you are on one side of the track, good-bye signal.

[Mark Gleeson]

The problem is not the onboard equipment, its the same as used elsewhere its

a) Crazy usage levels, Irish Rail's monthly data usage bill is frightening
b) Shockingly bad coverage in places which hurts speed despite carrying 6 3G modems from 3 operators combined with a proper external antenna


I've done some tests of Irish Rail's wifi and managed to get over 6Mb on a train so the tech does work

[comcor]

I've had well over 2.5Mbps, so I don't doubt that it's capable of working properly. But once shared, it becomes slower than dial-up.

Perhaps they need to look at locking out more sites and streaming content. Youtube is already blocked, but other video hosting sites aren't. Also, the Apple App Store isn't blocked and that has potential for really eating up bandwidth.

[Colm Moore]

Then they need to look at what sites people are using sensibly (news, email) -v- those used ignorantly (video, downloads).

[dowlingm]

If you access a page on VIA Rail's wifi which has youtube or other streaming, the transparent proxy inserts some text and a logo in there to basically say "sorry, you can't stream on our service".

[comcor]

You get that for YouTube, but as I mentioned, not for other sites that stream video like RTE, BBC or The Guardian. Plus all sorts of large downloads seem allowed.

[ccos]

Couldn't they just block flash and whatever apple uses instead, the adds in a lot of sites use it.

[Colm Moore]

Hehehe, the whole internet needs to block flash, save perhaps google maps.

[JohnDough]

Originally Posted by Colm Moore

John, what route are you on? What network are you trying to connect to?

Dublin-Sligo cannot even read emails and signal appears strong enough on irishrailwifi.

[Mark Gleeson]

As has been posted numerous times, there is a serious bug in the way windows based computers and some other devices display WIFI networks, irishrail-wifi is most likely a ghost, it doesn't exist or is a train partially fitted out but not yet ready for public use

There will be full wifi coverage on all intercity services within the next 2-3 months

[Thomas J Stamp]

some posters on twitter this morning have discovered that irish rail wifi uses a uk isp address and so irish media content appears to be blocked - this is on todays 505 ex Cork.

[Thomas Ralph]

I don't think there is anything with geolocation based on Ireland to which someone on a train should properly be wanting access, given that you're not supposed to be streaming stuff.

[Mark Gleeson]

There is supposed to be a block on streaming services to ensure a fail use of the bandwidth available

Originally the IP address was actually in Sweeden