WiFi on longer routes

[jis]

United Airlines just struck a deal with Starlink to provide terrestrial quality WiFi on flights at no cost to the passengers starting 2025.

https://apnews.com/article/united-a...nternet-wifi-088d76af3fcca0b9108ced8b2ee19470

Allegedly one would be able to stream stuff to one's heart's content, something that you can;t quite do at present.

On terrestrial service like Amtrak a combination of terrestrial cellular and Starlink would be needed for best result since trains go through places where satellite visibility is minimal to non-existent. But for most of the route of a train like the EB across the high plains Starlink would work wonders. I hope Amtrak considers this possibility.

I know Indian Railways provides WiFi via Satellite Link, specifically select trains like Howrah Rajdhani. I suspect the connection just drops when it passes through three short tunnels that the train via Grand Chord passes through. There will be issues like that in almost every train in the US. Hence the need for providing blended carrier service.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Allegedly one would be able to stream stuff to one's heart's content, something that you can;t quite do at present.

Delta deployed streaming grade Internet domestically in February 2023. European and South American deployment is in progress with Africa scheduled this winter and Asia next year. Latency is obviously a factor but I was able to stream and download videos without much issue.

 

[bonzoesc]

On terrestrial service like Amtrak a combination of terrestrial cellular and Starlink would be needed for best result since trains go through places where satellite visibility is minimal to non-existent. But for most of the route of a train like the EB across the high plains Starlink would work wonders. I hope Amtrak considers this possibility.

I think for the long-distance routes (CZ, EB, Silver services) "no internet in tunnels" would be a pretty good compromise.

Starlink works pretty well on Brightline, although that's not exactly a route with many tunnels.

 

[Tracy_D]

The technology is there! But I’m guessing the funding is not.

 

[west point]

I think for the long-distance routes (CZ, EB, Silver services) "no internet in tunnels" would be a pretty good compromise.

Starlink works pretty well on Brightline, although that's not exactly a route with many tunnels.

Probably only stations that have overhead canopy's? Such as MCO.

 

[basketmaker]

For the folks out there with mobile carriers that charge "roaming" fees/charges be careful. You may get a shocked on your bill. Years ago I didn't realize my phone was in roaming and uploading all the pictures to wherever the cloud is. Also 35mm digital camera with a wi-fi card was too. Folllowing month got my Sprint bill for $650.00. Luckily they worked with me and cut it in half. I did take 100's of pics in full resolution.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I remember AT&T (Cingular) charging me over $300/mo for hometown data to use the first iPhone on EDGE (2G). I don't think domestic roaming is still an issue with flat rate post paid plans, but if you travel internationally without a global plan you can enable WiFi calling and disable chargeable roaming.

 

[basketmaker]

I agree. It was still in the roaming days this happened. Also you mentioned AT&T (Cingular) and thinking back on it that was the carrier. Sprint came in a bit later.

 

[eackly]

My wife needed to be on a conference call while she was on the train, timing was just bad as normally it could wait till she arrived.

Anyway, a neighbor of mine is a regional engineer for T-Mobile.

He suggested a setup to give us the best chance of good coverage and speeds.

A GL-iNet GL-X3000 paired with a Waveform Quad Mini external antenna.

We had service the entire ride from Winter Park to NY and speeds were decent to excellent, ranging from 8-50Mbps down and 2-30Mbps up.

My wife was able to have her conference call and we even streamed some YouTube TV.

Now it came at a high price over $600 for all the equipment, so probably not worth it depending on use case. In our case, my neighbor lent us his equipment, so we didn't have to pay for it, I am not sure what we would have done had we had to pay for it ourselves.