# Wireless internet along the Southwest Chief route



## Mackensen (Jan 18, 2011)

The wife and I are going CHI-LAX-SEA this May in a roomette. We know there's wireless on the Coast Starlight but that we'll probably have to be in the parlor car to use it. My question is this: are there wireless hotspots (free or otherwise) at any of the stations along the SWC's route, that people have used with success? I'm considering getting a Verizon wireless device but I can probably last two days without internet if it comes to that. Thanks in advance.


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## saxman (Jan 18, 2011)

I don't think many stations along the route will have wireless. Albuquerque MAY have it but I don't think they had it when I was there in June. That's the only place the train dwells for a period of time to even try. If you really want it, getting a Verizon wireless card may be your best bet.


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## Ryan (Jan 18, 2011)

I don't recall noticing wifi along the route, I'd certainly get the verizon card if you want connectivity.


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## Devil's Advocate (Jan 18, 2011)

Keep in mind that some areas of the country are just dead. This isn't specifically on the SWC, but I've tried every major carrier (Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, & T-Mobile) from SAS to ELP and it's just plain dead for much of the run. Plus you risk getting hit with a huge bill if you accidentally connect to a Mexican tower down here. The BOB systems are still able to use mobile towers without issue but they're only moving the tiniest amount of data and can jump across any of the four national networks depending on whose signal is strongest at that specific moment.


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## busboy (Jan 18, 2011)

FWIW, I have a verizon air card. Haven't tried it on the SW Chief, but on the Carolinian from NYP to CLT, it doesn't get very good reception. It works find in the cities, but once you get out, the signal is weak. I think it has to do with the route the train takes, it's often away from highways where cell phone service is designed to reach. Also, I noticed much of the time we were traveling in a lower or depressed elevation area, with hills on either side, I suppose that blocks the signal. My friend had an AT&T wireless card, reception on it was worse than with my Verizon card. I suspect you would have large dead areas traveling on the SW chief as it goes thru long stretches of sparsely populated country.


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## afigg (Jan 18, 2011)

busboy said:


> FWIW, I have a verizon air card. Haven't tried it on the SW Chief, but on the Carolinian from NYP to CLT, it doesn't get very good reception. It works find in the cities, but once you get out, the signal is weak. I think it has to do with the route the train takes, it's often away from highways where cell phone service is designed to reach. Also, I noticed much of the time we were traveling in a lower or depressed elevation area, with hills on either side, I suppose that blocks the signal. My friend had an AT&T wireless card, reception on it was worse than with my Verizon card. I suspect you would have large dead areas traveling on the SW chief as it goes thru long stretches of sparsely populated country.


On the Carolinian as with the Regionals, you are in Amfleet I cars with not very large windows. Those windows are the only path into the (steel cage) car for the cell phone signals. So, unless there is strong signal coverage in the area or a reasonably decent line of sight to a cell phone tower located on the side of the train you are sitting on, the signal path may be reflected signals coming through the small windows on the other side of the car. Going into a ravine or alongside a hill will limit the cell phone and especially the data link coverage even more. On the NEC, I have noticed better reception on the Acelas for both cell and GPS compared to the Regionals which I attribute to the larger windows on the Acelas.

I took the Carolinian recently between WAS and Richmond Staples Mill Road station. The AT&T coverage was very spotty, if not dead, over much of the route from Quantico to somewhere north of Richmond. VRE is adding WiFi to their trains, but reports are that the hold-up has been very poor cell coverage from Quantico to Frederickburg. VRE has been working to get a cell tower added south of Quantico to fill in the gap and is expected to officially start WiFi coverage in the spring.

I would expect for the western LD trains, there are going to be a lot of poor or no coverage areas when away from the highways and towns. But the extra height on the top level of a Superliner with the bigger windows will help. In situations of weak signals, heading to the lounge car may help as reception may be better in an sightseer lounge car with the extra windows.


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## Bigval109 (Jan 18, 2011)

Mackensen said:


> The wife and I are going CHI-LAX-SEA this May in a roomette. We know there's wireless on the Coast Starlight but that we'll probably have to be in the parlor car to use it. My question is this: are there wireless hotspots (free or otherwise) at any of the stations along the SWC's route, that people have used with success? I'm considering getting a Verizon wireless device but I can probably last two days without internet if it comes to that. Thanks in advance.


Now that's what I'm talking about. I'm going on the same trip in May myself in a bedroom. I had to put it off this past may but I'm booked now. And of course I will have to try out the wifi myself. I change trains in chi and will check my email there.


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## rrdude (Jan 18, 2011)

Mackensen said:


> I'm considering getting a Verizon wireless device but I can probably last two days without internet if it comes to that. Thanks in advance.


Best vacation In twenty years was with zero cell, zero Internet access for about a week, couple of years ago on Edisto Island. Although I own & use the Verizon MiFi card, I wish a few times I dint have it......


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## Mackensen (May 23, 2011)

Sorry to bump, but if anybody comes along later and wonders there's free wifi at Albuquerque courtesy of RailRunner. Even pulled up in one of the sleepers some distance from the commuter platforms I was able to connect and get some email done.


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## busboy (May 23, 2011)

Also, FWIW, I just completed a CHI - SEA trip on the EB. I had cell data signal for the whole trip until we started into the mountains near Glacier park. I was shocked when I had a good signal crossing the barren sparsely populated areas of ND and MT. There must be more cattle then people up there.


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## alanh (May 24, 2011)

The advantage the flat states have is that a single tower can cover a 50 mile radius in a sparsely populated area, so it doesn't take many. Mountainous areas have a much harder time.


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## Anderson (May 24, 2011)

On the SWC, you can occasionally hop connections in KCY (a bit dodgy and occasionally password protected), LAJ (there's a good community center connection), and ABQ (I _think_; what I hopped was based on a RailRunner wireless link that I think was transmitting from another train in the ABQ yard). Lamy actually has a decent bit as well...there's a local net that you can hop onto. Other than that, though...dead, dead, dead. Trinidad was hopeless, for example...and I tried.

Edit: Just to explain a bit more, these are "email dump" connections for the most part: You get a link for 3-5 minutes to dump your email file onto your computer, and that's it.


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## printman2000 (May 25, 2011)

Mackensen said:


> Sorry to bump, but if anybody comes along later and wonders there's free wifi at Albuquerque courtesy of RailRunner. Even pulled up in one of the sleepers some distance from the commuter platforms I was able to connect and get some email done.


I believe the Railrunner WiFi is only on their trains so if you can get close enough to one, you can connect.


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## tubaia (May 25, 2011)

printman2000 said:


> Mackensen said:
> 
> 
> > Sorry to bump, but if anybody comes along later and wonders there's free wifi at Albuquerque courtesy of RailRunner. Even pulled up in one of the sleepers some distance from the commuter platforms I was able to connect and get some email done.
> ...


That explains why I didn't see any hotspots on my roundtrip KCY-LAX last month. I tried at just about every station along the route, especially Albuquerque (I thought sure they'd have a hotspot), and got nothing public. I don't recall any active RailRunners at the station when we stopped.


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## printman2000 (May 25, 2011)

tubaia said:


> printman2000 said:
> 
> 
> > Mackensen said:
> ...


As stated before, Lamy has Wifi, though it is kinda weak at times. Not sure if you can get it from the train. Works great while your waiting for your train. It is really helpful since cell signals are VERY weak at the Lamy station. I usually have to walk halfway down the platform to get a cell signal.


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## me_little_me (May 25, 2011)

saxman said:


> I don't think many stations along the route will have wireless. Albuquerque MAY have it but I don't think they had it when I was there in June. That's the only place the train dwells for a period of time to even try. If you really want it, getting a Verizon wireless card may be your best bet.


Actually they did and do - kind of. The Wifi is free but is in the building next to the Amtrak one. All part of the same complex but I think the part where it is has the buses as I remember. While we were waiting for our Chief, I wandered over to the next building and sat there with my netbook. Could not pick it up in Amtrak waiting room.


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## Cristobal (May 27, 2011)

I'm sitting at ABQ right now on the #3. I was able to link up through the RailRunner wifi (NMRX). 

We rolled in almost 1/2 hr early giving us about a 1 1/2 hr layover.


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## jdcnosse (May 27, 2011)

I have a Verizon prepaid phone that I've used on my past two SWC trips and it had pretty good service for most of the trip, only problem really was going into the mountains around Kansas/Colorado/New Mexico


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## Ruby Coleman (Feb 27, 2013)

Mackensen said:


> The wife and I are going CHI-LAX-SEA this May in a roomette. We know there's wireless on the Coast Starlight but that we'll probably have to be in the parlor car to use it. My question is this: are there wireless hotspots (free or otherwise) at any of the stations along the SWC's route, that people have used with success? I'm considering getting a Verizon wireless device but I can probably last two days without internet if it comes to that. Thanks in advance.


My friend and I are going in March from Kentucky to Albuquerque on Southwest Chief .I have Verizon wireless and it has a HofSpot for Internet. We drove the trip a few years ago and my Hotspot has lots of dead spots. I'm a real Internet freak, lol, but I survived.


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## Ryan (Feb 27, 2013)

I guess they haven't made any improvements in the last 2 years...


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## Palmland (Feb 27, 2013)

rrdude said:


> 'Mackensen' said:
> 
> 
> > I'm considering getting a Verizon wireless device but I can probably last two days without internet if it comes to that. Thanks in advance.
> ...


Isn't Edisto great. No high rises, no hotels, no traffic, mostly just family homes and of course the beach. But I do get ATT cell service. Only downside, a good hours drive into Charleston for a train fix.


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## chakk (Feb 28, 2013)

You may also be able to pick up wifi in LA from Pacific Surfliner trains parked nearby -- I did while aboard the SL awaiting departure to Texas.

While the Amtrak website says the wifi aboard the Pacific Parlour Car is only available to sleeping car passengers and only while they are in the Pacific Parlour Car, I was able to detect the signal in the sightseer lounge car and in my sleeper. The bigger problem for the CS wifi is that the router is frequently out of order and none of the onboard train staff seem to know how to fix it when it does crap out.

Klamath Falls, OR also has a strong, unencrypted wifi signal that can be accessed from aboard the train, if you wind up having a longish stop there due to early arrival.


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## NW cannonball (Mar 1, 2013)

Mackensen said:


> The wife and I are going CHI-LAX-SEA this May in a roomette. We know there's wireless on the Coast Starlight but that we'll probably have to be in the parlor car to use it. My question is this: are there wireless hotspots (free or otherwise) at any of the stations along the SWC's route, that people have used with success? I'm considering getting a Verizon wireless device but I can probably last two days without internet if it comes to that. Thanks in advance.


Lots of postings, main idea is "not on the SWC" -- and a lot of marginally useful info on the CS -- and a lot of totally speculative nonsense by people who haven't rode the SWC in the last few decades.

A GOOD THING - from my POV.

*SO - no-one has answered to OP's question -- *

*Is there *anywhere on the SWC route where wifi or whatever newer connection is possible --

*Can anyone answer the OP's qustion? *

I'd like to know.


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## NW cannonball (Mar 1, 2013)

Actually - it gets annoying when there's a second page on this forum and nobody has responded with any useful information to the original poster.

Most of the info requests from newbies get a useful response fairly soon, but here -- no info at all and into second page. Let's try to be useful, ok?


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## Ryan (Mar 1, 2013)

This thread is a poster child for why old threads should be locked.


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