Rail wifi

HappyMJ

BarbaraH wrote: »

Thank you so much, Johnmcl7 and ringo_24601. The dongle/SIM card option sounds sensible.
Has anyone tried this on EastCoast mainline? Only someone has just alleged that Virgin have metal strips on the windows that blocks the signals. Not sure if this is true or not!

You will be in a metal box which will reduce the capability of the modem to pick up the signal but you should still get a reasonable service.

From where I am Burton-on-Trent I found that Vodafone had the best service between here and Birmingham. EE was terrible. 3 was almost non-existent and O2 dropped out regularly. I'm actually an O2 customer and have been for years. Vodafone was more expensive but sometimes you've just got to pay more for decent service whoever it's with.

If you can just get a 30 day contract so if it doesn't work with Virgin you can go with another provider without wasting too much.

BarbaraH

Pay_me wrote: »

I haven't read the whole thread but I am struggling to work out why you have to pay out of your own pocket for internet access for work related business?

Do you choose to work on the train or are you compelled to by your employer/contract?

Every company I have worked for provides the necessary equipment and if the job requires it that includes internet access or we can claim costs back etc.

If you really do want to pay out yourself follow the advice of the other posters but beaware that no one 3G/4G provider has full coverage for the entire East or West Cost Mainline (I ride them often also) so you may still have to shell out for train wifi also.

I commute for one employer (part-time work) but the rest of my work is freelance. I have to do it on the train or I would effectively lose the best part of two working days each week. I do already work into the evenings also.

BarbaraH

HappyMJ wrote: »

You will be in a metal box which will reduce the capability of the modem to pick up the signal but you should still get a reasonable service.

From where I am Burton-on-Trent I found that Vodafone had the best service between here and Birmingham. EE was terrible. 3 was almost non-existent and O2 dropped out regularly. I'm actually an O2 customer and have been for years. Vodafone was more expensive but sometimes you've just got to pay more for decent service whoever it's with.

If you can just get a 30 day contract so if it doesn't work with Virgin you can go with another provider without wasting too much.

That short term contract is a great idea - thank you!

CKhalvashi

ringo_24601 wrote: »

A 4G tablet would still require a SIM card and a data tarrif. It's far simpler to just buy a USB 4G dongle than replace your working computer.

A Virgin SIM for £20 a month would give you 20GB of data allowance

You'd plug it into one of these - http://www.amazon.co.uk/ZTE-86694801-MF823-4G-Dongle/dp/B00MEJJSGW

Then plug that into your laptop.. boom, 4G on your laptop and you can laugh at the train companies.

Thanks for explaining that for me

The reason I have a tablet is because I'm often out and about and carrying a laptop isn't ideal. Assuming you have a table (or at worst a seat), the worst case scenario is working on your lap with the dongle.

BarbaraH wrote: »

Thank you so much, Johnmcl7 and ringo_24601. The dongle/SIM card option sounds sensible.
Has anyone tried this on EastCoast mainline? Only someone has just alleged that Virgin have metal strips on the windows that blocks the signals. Not sure if this is true or not!

Try it with your mobile phone 3/4G, using it constantly for emails for a one-way trip is the only advice I can give.

Metal strips on any window shouldn't cause too many problems with the signal, neither should signal jammers (largely because it would block their own wifi presumably)

In fact, this tweet suggests it's possible.

BarbaraH

Yes - I see. I use the laptop because I work on documents and I'm not great at using the phone for this kind of close editing work. Really appreciate everyone's help and advice!

Rosemary7391

Could you organize yourself to download the relevant documents to your laptop beforehand? Even if it only covers part of the journey, that gives you a bit more leeway with slow connections/bad patches etc.

BarbaraH

Someof them, yes, but others tend to get submitted during the day - I tutor online courses, so I need to access the site to download them and there is no set time for the students to send their work.

Johnmcl7

BarbaraH wrote: »

Yes - I see. I use the laptop because I work on documents and I'm not great at using the phone for this kind of close editing work. Really appreciate everyone's help and advice!

I think what CKhalvashi was suggesting was simply to test your connection rather than work on your phone so try downloading e-mails constantly or something simple like keep refreshing a webpage. If it works without issue throughout your journey then mobile data is definitely an option to consider but if it's constantly timing out and the page won't load then it's unlikely mobile data is going to work for you.

John

BarbaraH

Understood, thank you.

Pound

I take it Virgin Trains East Cost doesn't let you sign up for flexible internet where you can pause/resume the allowance? I pay £5 for 75 minutes and then just turn it on briefly to do some downloading and pause it once I'm done. Using it for 1 minute every 10 turns my 75 minutes into 12 hours.