You have been using too much wifi

GWR HST in 1976 colours

I’ve noticed that GWR (who were First Great Western) have started to limit their customers’ use of wifi. Three years after free wifi was introduced on their high speed trains, they’ve realised that it’s very popular and have implemented restrictions.

I've noticed that GWR (who were First Great Western) have started to limit their customers’ use of wifi. Three years after free wifi was introduced on their high speed trains, they’ve realised that it’s very popular and have implemented restrictions.

Back in 2007 I wrote an article, This is the age of the train… talking about the refurbishment by FGW, then I said

Do you think I should point out to First Great Western that some train operators provide free wireless on their trains, or do you think that would be pushing it?”

After seven years in 2014, it looked as though they finally listened and added wifi to their carriages on their high speed services from Bristol to London. Back then when trying it out I discovered.

The speed, as you might expect travelling at 125mph is inconsistent, but having done a speed test I was hanging to get between 5-9 Mbps which is more than reasonable. I was also able to stream video using YouTube and iPlayer.

I also asked the question:

Will the travelling public use the wifi, what with 4G and 3G so much more commonplace than back in 2007?

Well it certainly looks like they have been using it, hence the restrictions that GWR have put in place.

It’s nice that they also let you know how it is being used and how much bandwidth is available.

It's nice that they also let you know how it is being used and how much bandwidth is available.

It isn’t surprising that they need to do this, as technically I can’t see them being able to increase the bandwidth easily, so it make sense to restrict usage.

Having said that 15MB is not very much, not in this day of HTML e-mail messages, attachments, Twitter, Facebook and so on…

Well at least it’s still free. Hey Cross Country are you listening?

Me, well I still using my own 4G connection, it’s faster and unlimited data is greater than 15MB.

Finally, free FGW wifi on the train

London Paddington

As I write this, this morning, I am using the free wifi courtesy of First Great Western on their High Speed Trains.

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You have been able to use wifi on their Cotswold line Adelante trains for a while now, but FGW announced last year they were finally rolling out wifi across their fleet of High Speed Trains on the Great Western mainline. The carriages are been revamped and upgraded and when they are they are having wifi fitted. You can tell if your carriage has been upgraded as they have white domes fitted into the roof.

IMG_4285

The speed, as you might expect travelling at 125mph is inconsistent, but having done a speed test I was hanging to get between 5-9 Mbps which is more than reasonable. I was also able to stream video using YouTube and iPlayer. CrossCountry for example block streaming video services on their “you have to pay for it” wifi. Upload speeds were less than 1Mbps, so you may not want to spend your train journey uploading photographs and video.

fgwtrain

The train this morning is quite empty, it will be interesting to see how the experience changes as the train fills up as we head to London. I suspect I might be the only person using it at this time, what would happen if we had 84 people in the carriage all trying to watch BBC iPlayer.

As I travelled down the line, you noticed variation in the speed and experience. As I would have expected, the connection was quite flay as we went through the Box Tunnel between Bath and Chippenham.

Over the last few years I have written quite a bit about travelling and connectivity, both in terms of wifi on trains, but also using 3G (and now 4G).

Back in 2007 I wrote an article, This is the age of the train… talking about the refurbishment by FGW, then I said

Do you think I should point out to First Great Western that some train operators provide free wireless on their trains, or do you think that would be pushing it?”

After seven years, it looks like FGW finally listened…

Again in 2010 I wrote another article about train travel and communication

As I travel I like to try and get some work done in the time I have available. One key aspect of my job is communication and for that I need a decent internet connection. First Great Western, unlike some other train operating companies does not provide wifi on their services.

I went onto say

One thing I have noticed though is that though my 3G connection from Bristol to London is pretty good, travelling on the Voyager trains from Bristol to Birmingham, the signal is really poor. I initially thought this was just down to the route, but I have heard that the main issue is the construction of the train and the metallised windows. This basically blocks the 3G signal!

At this time, CrossCountry did not provide wifi, and I discussed this a few months later after the previous post.

I did wonder why CrossCountry Trains didn’t put in wifi as you find on the East Coast Main Line services and Virgin Trains Pendolino. Well it appears that providing wifi was part of their Franchise agreement with the Department of Transport. CrossCountry Trains was suppose to have wifi in place by November 11th 2009. They failed to meet this deadline and the revised deadline of the end of January 2009.

Eventually CrossCountry did put wifi into their trains, which I discovered in 2012 when I travelled with them to Birmingham,

I realised it must have been some time since I last travelled with Cross Country as on my most recent trip with them I was astonished and surprised to find that there was wifi…

A year later I did moan a little about the flakiness of their wifi and why I wasn’t going to renew my subscription.

My main reason was that the last couple of hours was rather flaky and I often had dropped connections. With that kind of connectivity then I might as well rely on 3G and not pay any extra money.

I am still a little astonished it has taken First Great Western until 2014 (and it won’t be complete until 2015), over eight years, to put wifi into their trains, they know that their customers wanted it as did the regulator. We have had wifi in planes for a while, and they travel a little faster and higher than trains. Will the travelling public use the wifi, what with 4G and 3G so much more commonplace than back in 2007?

I should also say that I am still impressed that I can connect to the internet whilst travelling at over a hundred miles per hour.

QR Codes on the Train


Travelling back from London I found on the back of the seat reservation cards on the First Great Western train I was a QR Code competition (or draw).

I didn’t actually notice them until I was getting off the train, the main reason they’re on the back and I was sitting at one of those rare table seats so didn’t have the back of the reservation card facing me.

You’re not really suppose to remove them I guess, so you’ll probably spend time trying to scan it in from your seat with the person sitting in front of you wondering what on earth is going on!

So quite a nice idea really by FGW, scan in the QR code and enter the competition, but alas the execution failed really!

Rather than use a QR code to create a text message it was only an URL which then sent you to a standard web page (not mobile optimised) which you then needed to fill in all the details.

It’s obviously not really a competition, more a draw to gather in personal information to send you loads of marketing materials. I don’t have much of a problem with that as you don’t have to enter and that’s all competitions are really, a way of gathering data.

However I couldn’t really see the benefit of using a QR code here, the point of a QR Code is to reduce or replace the need to enter text using a mobile device. However in this case the text you needed to enter (even the bare minimum) on the web form was way more than if you decided not to enter via QR Code and use the SMS entry details. It also assumes that you have 3G access on the train (no wifi with FGW) and that is most certainly not always the case.

This really was a pointless exercise in many respects and really missing an opportunity to take advantage of what QR codes can offer. To prove a point, this is one I created which will allow you to send an SMS just by scanning the code.

You won’t need to add any more information (in theory you need to add your e-mail address) and FGW will then get your entry and your mobile number; so they can then start sending you marketing SMS text messages.

As for the competition and the prize? Well if you do enter and win, you win an Amazon Kindle. Nice I guess as it is a great device… however when will you know you’ve won?

So the 8th August 2012, nearly a year away, by which time there will be new and different devices available.

As you will realise if you read this blog on a regular basis that we are seeing more and more QR codes in the mainstream, both media and corporates are using them, in the main for marketing purposes. However the execution of them is in many ways poor and done without thinking about the end user trying to scan and use them.

QR Codes on Platform 2


I am now seeing QR Codes more and more in what I would call the mainstream. My most recent observation was at my local railway station (managed by First Great Western) where I was checking the timetable and noticed the QR Code in the corner.

Looking at it in more detail, I just had to scan it in, well one does these kinds of things…

I use Optiscan on the iPhone as I have found it to be very reliable and certainly on the 3GS was the best option I found. The reason I like Optiscan is that it works nearly every time.

Of course all a QR Code is, is a shortened URL and no matter how easy it is to scan in with the phone, the key, the end result is how does the final web page look on your mobile device.

I wasn’t that impressed with the landing page as I had to click a link to actually get the timetable.

I am pretty sure that FGW have done that because the timetables change, but even if that was the case, they would also need to reprint the printed version so could then print a new QR Code. Another reason might be to gather stats from the landing page. The actual digital timetable was in PDF format and was usable on the iPhone.

However given the choice I think I would probably use the Train Times App (also available on Android) which also gives live travel information so you know if your train has been cancelled. The problem with a PDF timetable is that it won’t account for live changes to the timetable, you could certainly have a QR code on a printed timetable linking to a live timetable, and I think FGW should have done that.