Wifi on London buses

[jopsuk]

wifi coming to all TfL buses by the Olympics.

That's, um, ambitious.

 

[BestWestern]

Oh dear :roll: More pointless taxpayer expenditure justified under the banner of the pointless Olympics...

Do most people spend long enough on a London bus to set up their wi-fi? And if they need it that much surely they'll have a dongle or a 3G phone? And, most importantly, do you really want to advertise that you have a laptop whilst sitting on a London bus?!

 

[Greenback]

Oh dear :roll: More pointless taxpayer expenditure justified under the banner of the pointless Olympics...

Do most people spend long enough on a London bus to set up their wi-fi? And if they need it that much surely they'll have a dongle or a 3G phone? And, most importantly, do you really want to advertise that you have a laptop whilst sitting on a London bus?!

I agree, it's completely pointless. Where has sanity gone?

 

[Failed Unit]

I have used it on the Edinburgh Airport link just to "check it out" but not worth the hastle on my mobile to be honest and will stick with the 3G connection (as I expect most people will). Maybe the iPad users may like it, but surely if they don't have a 3G contract they can survive without the internet for 30-45 minutes. What next putting it on the tube

 

[BestWestern]

I have used it on the Edinburgh Airport link just to "check it out" but not worth the hastle on my mobile to be honest and will stick with the 3G connection (as I expect most people will). Maybe the iPad users may like it, but surely if they don't have a 3G contract they can survive without the internet for 30-45 minutes. What next putting it on the tube

Yeah, whatever next! They'll be running buses on hyrdogen or something before you know it!

 

[MCR247]

The tube would be a better idea than buses IMO

 

[jopsuk]

Tube's harder though. As far as i've figured out, bus wifi that exists already is little more than a 3G dongle and a standard wireless router.

 

[ushawk]

Dont really see the point, a lot of London has 3G already for iPhones etc and im not sure people would use laptops on a bus.

Mad i think.

 

[trentside]

Some buses in Nottingham have recently be fitted with Wi-Fi, I think it's temporary and something done in conjunction with CapitalOne.

No idea what it's like, will have to go and find one of the buses and try it out.

 

[MCR247]

Some buses in Nottingham have recently be fitted with Wi-Fi, I think it's temporary and something done in conjunction with CapitalOne.

No idea what it's like, will have to go and find one of the buses and try it out.

The funny thing is, they'll get withdrawn soon anyway

 

[SS4]

What a waste of time and money especially since they want to do all buses. I presume "London Buses" refers to those which accept Oyster? If so the U1 from Ruislip to West Drayton via Uxbridge (nowhere near the Olympics!) will have wifi

If they wanted WiFi why not set up a hotspot in the Olympic village?

 

[shinkansen1966]

I agree, it's completely pointless. Where has sanity gone?

Agreed. Well, nearly.

As a Norf London boy, I regularly use London buses for work and play. Like everyone else onboard, if I want the internet, I just go on my iPhone/Blackberry/HTC Loganberry.

I'm keener to see bus stop real time information come to my iPhone. Which, according to TfL, starts this October.

 

[Deerfold]

Odd, I work for London buses, in the department which I'd expect to have to implement somthing like this and have heard nothing. Fitting kit to 8000 buses which are in service is not a minor task - fitting iBus initially took 18 months.

I have used wi-fi enabled buses - Stagecoach's route between Huntingdon and Cambridge is enabled and has power sockets next to upstairs seats. It was very pleasant - but this is to enable it to compete as a premium service in an area with high car ownership.

Real time information to mobiles is on is way soon - I'll be keen to use it and hope it works as well as the one for West Yorkshire which I use regularly (and TfL has the benefit that *all* buses are fitted).

 

[starrymarkb]

Dont really see the point, a lot of London has 3G already for iPhones etc and im not sure people would use laptops on a bus.

Mad i think.

However the 3G networks in London are pretty saturated, I struggled to get a Data connection in central London despite good voice signal

 

[shinkansen1966]

However the 3G networks in London are pretty saturated, I struggled to get a Data connection in central London despite good voice signal

Oh, so it's not just me.

Currently, my 3G reception is 2/5 strength here in central London and I'm near an open window. :cry:

 

[jopsuk]

Odd, I work for London buses, in the department which I'd expect to have to implement somthing like this and have heard nothing. Fitting kit to 8000 buses which are in service is not a minor task - fitting iBus initially took 18 months.

Kulveer Ranger, annoucing something will be done in a tight time frame when the details haven't at all been worked out? How bizarre!

I have used wi-fi enabled buses - Stagecoach's route between Huntingdon and Cambridge is enabled and has power sockets next to upstairs seats. It was very pleasant - but this is to enable it to compete as a premium service in an area with high car ownership.

Take it you mean the shiny new fleet for the Guided Busway? Unless Stagecoach Cambridge have fitted it on some of their "white" fleet as well?

Iits in place on some Stagecoach Oxford routes, or at least was a couple of years ago- plus a lot of long distance coaches/bus services that use coaches (eg X5 Cambridge-Oxford) are equipped.I reckon it won't be too long before small buses truundling around the countryside are fitted- we'll have universal bus wifi long before the same can be said for trains!

 

[trentside]

Stagecoach have also fitted Wi-Fi to their X17 service between Sheffield, Chesterfield and Matlock. I'm told it's a good service.

 

[Deerfold]

Take it you mean the shiny new fleet for the Guided Busway? Unless Stagecoach Cambridge have fitted it on some of their "white" fleet as well?

I travelled between Huntingdon and Cambridge on 3 days - annoyingly a few weeks before the busway opened (very annoying as I needed to get to the science park and had to go into Cambridge and out again).
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

However the 3G networks in London are pretty saturated, I struggled to get a Data connection in central London despite good voice signal

Surely wi-fi enabled buses won't help as they'll still have to connect to a wireless 3G network (in fact they already do to send the iBus data - can't see there being enough bandwidth in that connection though).

On the other hand I rarely have problems with my 3 dongle. Don't use it on the bus much though.

 

[whhistle]

Do most people spend long enough on a London bus to set up their wi-fi? .... And, most importantly, do you really want to advertise that you have a laptop whilst sitting on a London bus?!

No, but if it is on the bus, then I know I can get a reliable WiFi connection standing outside of the train station or in the middle of Oxford St.

Why also would anyone use a Laptop on the Underground/Bus? Smart Phones is what this is aimed at.

Having free WiFi on all trains and at stations should be something we should aim at in the UK. But then I don't know how it would work with people who live close to the train station - they won't have to spend money on internet (although they risk it being slow, disconnecting). Then again, maybe it would be a little compensation for living so close?

 

[bus man]

Weve had it on the Stagecoach X17 Sheffield - Matlock for around a year - nice to London cathing up

 

[tripleseis]

I gather this will be sponsored and is aimed at visiting foreigners who will be looking to use the net on their smartphones/tablets but don't want to rack up the ridiculous data charges you get when you roam abroad. (it costs me £1.28/MB to use the internet on mobile in the EU!). We certainly should be aiming for more free WiFi zones expecially in train stations and city centres.

 

[Deerfold]

No, but if it is on the bus, then I know I can get a reliable WiFi connection standing outside of the train station or in the middle of Oxford St.

Surely only for a few seconds (or perhaps minutes) at a time before you have to connect to another bus?

 

[starrymarkb]

No, but if it is on the bus, then I know I can get a reliable WiFi connection standing outside of the train station or in the middle of Oxford St.

Why also would anyone use a Laptop on the Underground/Bus? Smart Phones is what this is aimed at.

Having free WiFi on all trains and at stations should be something we should aim at in the UK. But then I don't know how it would work with people who live close to the train station - they won't have to spend money on internet (although they risk it being slow, disconnecting). Then again, maybe it would be a little compensation for living so close?

A well planned network shouldn't have too much overspill using directional antennas or low power repeaters

 

[Deerfold]

I gather this will be sponsored and is aimed at visiting foreigners

Mind if I ask where you're getting this information? Seems odd to fit every bus if aimed at visiting foreigners. Most of them will stick to fairly central London whether for business or tourism.

We certainly should be aiming for more free WiFi zones expecially in train stations and city centres.

Desirable perhaps, but should it really be a priority?

 

[Greenback]

Mind if I ask where you're getting this information? Seems odd to fit every bus if aimed at visiting foreigners. Most of them will stick to fairly central London whether for business or tourism.

Desirable perhaps, but should it really be a priority?

It's definitely not a priority by any stretch of the imagination, but it doesn't surprise me that things primarily benefitting visitors will be done, after all, the Olympics are coming...

 

[DaveNewcastle]

. . . . after all, the Olympics are coming...

. . and will quickly pass.

In fact it will all be over in a blink.
Which is why I object to any expense justified by "The Olympics" unless there is a genuinely sustainable legacy of benefits lasting well into the future. As others have quite rightly noted, this is a marginal benefit at best; probably not reaching any significant return on its investment; which is a shame, because I'm biased towards any investment (in public transport or elsewhere) which may encourage us to become less dependent on motor cars.

 

[Greenback]

. . and will quickly pass.

In fact it will all be over in a blink.
Which is why I object to any expense justified by "The Olympics" unless there is a genuinely sustainable legacy of benefits lasting well into the future. As others have quite rightly noted, this is a marginal benefit at best; probably not reaching any significant return on its investment; which is a shame, because I'm biased towards any investment (in public transport or elsewhere) which may encourage us to become less dependent on motor cars.

So am I. I should have put a wink in my post, but I forgot!

 

[Deerfold]

Just to confirm - this "story" seems to have been due to a misreading of a press release saying that there will be wifi installed at *bus shelters*. Which would explain why my department hadn't heard of it.

 

[Greenback]

Well that's a relief! Thanks for the update!

 

[T163R]

Welcome back, radiations ! --'