Ben
8th July 2006, 10:58 AM
I'm on the train. Not on my own, of course, I'm accompanied by my faithful companions the T2XP and Vodafone 3G Connect.
Living in the South East I believe it is not too much to expect a pretty flawless service on a train. I'm travelling from Canterbury to London, so not exactly in the sticks, but so far the experience hasn't quite been as I'd expected it to be.
Infact, when we pulled away from Canterbury I had no Vodafone coverage at all - not even 2G. So, I sat and waited for a few moments, until I was eventually greeted with enough bars to get connected. Even then the connection was barely working and deathly slow, before finsally switching to 3G.
Great I thought, not a great start but now it'll be all-3G from here on in.
I thought too soon.
The connection soon dropped back to 2G and then cut out altogether. In fact, I've just gone through Paddock Wood, that's past Ashford International, and am still on 2G. As I type this I currently have no signal at all once more, with the Vodafone 3G connect frantically looking for signal before putting me back on 2G.
I know a lot, and I mean a lot of people commute from Canterbury to London because the journey is only about an hour and a half. Why then has this route, which I'd imagine attracts a lot of laptop use, not have wall to wall 3G? Infact, why is this busy route not covered at all in parts?
It's not like I'm travelling across India here, just into the centre of London. Wow, Tonbridge and the first stable 3G signal I've had!
If Vodafone and the other operators aren't careful this will be more like the last train for 3G. With HSDPA laptops coming out it's time to resolve these ongoing issues and get rail and major road networks fully covered. If the business traveller can't pay through the nose to get Internet on the move then nobody will.
Living in the South East I believe it is not too much to expect a pretty flawless service on a train. I'm travelling from Canterbury to London, so not exactly in the sticks, but so far the experience hasn't quite been as I'd expected it to be.
Infact, when we pulled away from Canterbury I had no Vodafone coverage at all - not even 2G. So, I sat and waited for a few moments, until I was eventually greeted with enough bars to get connected. Even then the connection was barely working and deathly slow, before finsally switching to 3G.
Great I thought, not a great start but now it'll be all-3G from here on in.
I thought too soon.
The connection soon dropped back to 2G and then cut out altogether. In fact, I've just gone through Paddock Wood, that's past Ashford International, and am still on 2G. As I type this I currently have no signal at all once more, with the Vodafone 3G connect frantically looking for signal before putting me back on 2G.
I know a lot, and I mean a lot of people commute from Canterbury to London because the journey is only about an hour and a half. Why then has this route, which I'd imagine attracts a lot of laptop use, not have wall to wall 3G? Infact, why is this busy route not covered at all in parts?
It's not like I'm travelling across India here, just into the centre of London. Wow, Tonbridge and the first stable 3G signal I've had!
If Vodafone and the other operators aren't careful this will be more like the last train for 3G. With HSDPA laptops coming out it's time to resolve these ongoing issues and get rail and major road networks fully covered. If the business traveller can't pay through the nose to get Internet on the move then nobody will.