# Wifi on Acela Business class?



## Mystique. (May 6, 2008)

Hi, I'd like to know if there is wi-fi on Acela Business class from New York City to Newport News.

Thanks in advance for the help.


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## Rafi (May 6, 2008)

Mystique. said:


> Hi, I'd like to know if there is wi-fi on Acela Business class from New York City to Newport News.
> Thanks in advance for the help.


Mystique,

Unfortunately, there is no wi-fi on Amtrak's Northeast corridor yet. You'll find wi-fi service via t-mobile in New York's Penn Station, however.

And just to make a minor correction, the Acela Express does not run south of Washington, so it doesn't go to Newport News. You're most likely referring to Amtrak's Regional service, which is different (slower and cheaper) than the Acela, which runs all of the way from Boston/Springfield to New York to Washington to Richmond to Newport News.

Rafi


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## haolerider (May 6, 2008)

Mystique. said:


> Hi, I'd like to know if there is wi-fi on Acela Business class from New York City to Newport News.
> Thanks in advance for the help.


Wi-Fi is not available, but if you have an air card, the service is quite good along the route - with very few interuptions.


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## Joel N. Weber II (May 6, 2008)

With which carrier?

T-mobile's coverage for ordinary voice calls was not terribly impressive in eastern Connecticut or in parts of Virginia when I took a Regional last summer. (And in other places I wasn't really paying much attention to the quality of the coverage.)

On the other hand, in eastern Connecticut where I was trying to carry on a long call, in some cases the problem seemed to be the network/phone failing to do handoffs between towers correctly, as on several occasions I redialed and was immediately connected; but there were also a few places where coverage dropped out for at least several minutes.

In Virginia, I was trying to make short calls to coordinate meeting my parents at the train station, and didn't have coverage at some of the moments when making calls would have been nice. (And at one point, I saw a cell tower out the window and decided that was a good time to attempt to make a call.)


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## AlanB (May 6, 2008)

While I don't have an air card, I have things set up whereby I can use my cell phone connected to my laptop via a USB cable, and that allows me to access AT&T's Dataconnect service. I haven't tried things south of DC, but overall I maintain a pretty decent connection for most of the NEC. There are a few dropouts in CT and one or two in the Delaware-Maryland area, but they are brief and usually not much of a problem.


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## alycia (Jun 22, 2009)

Wanted to take Acela today and had the $109 in the budget. Taking the $18 Bolt bus instead because it has wireless, and like most people traveling to NY via business call, I have work to do. Come on, Amtrak! Get it together! Acela has been running way too long to not have FREE wifi. Give people what they want - you are losing sales!


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## PRR 60 (Jun 22, 2009)

alycia said:


> Wanted to take Acela today and had the $109 in the budget. Taking the $18 Bolt bus instead because it has wireless, and like most people traveling to NY via business call, I have work to do. Come on, Amtrak! Get it together! Acela has been running way too long to not have FREE wifi. Give people what they want - you are losing sales!


Bolt Bus and Megabus are definitely cutting into Amtrak sales in the NEC. Proof in point: the Amtrak information desk at Philadelphia 30th Street has printed directions to the pick-up locations for both Bolt and Megabus. They did that due to the constant stream of inquiries asking for where to find the bus stops.


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## Tony (Jun 22, 2009)

AlanB said:


> There are a few dropouts in CT and one or two in the Delaware-Maryland area, but they are brief and usually not much of a problem.


You had no problem in and around NYP and PHL?

I don't know either way, but I would think that some of the problems with getting a near-100% reliable 3G network connection to/from a NEC train, is in the main-made canyons and in the tunnels.


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## battalion51 (Jun 22, 2009)

I think the tunnels, in most of our minds, are obvious dropout points. I always reconcile my e-mail before hitting the tunnels in the East and Hudon Rivers. However, A LOT of money was spent to create cell service throughout Penn Station, even at track level. I had a nearly perfect signal in the station on AT&T's 3G network when I was on Regionals last week.


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