I am working on a post on April’s free public transport, but hold those thoughts, as it’s taking a while to work through what I want to say.
In the meantime:
For years I’ve been disappointed by mobile phone coverage on my usual commute. It’s very bad for much of the train journey, in particular between Malvern and South Yarra.
Some of this section is in a cutting. But it’s not a deep narrow cutting. It’s a very wide, open, shallow cutting, and in fact some of the route is aboveground (it passes over a road near Hawksburn).
Here’s a speed test done at Armadale station, on Telstra, during morning peak:
In contrast, here’s one a few minutes later from the new Anzac underground station:
This just shows… when they want to do it, excellent mobile connectivity can be provided.
At Armadale my phone was on 5G, but Anzac station was 4G; presumably 5G just isn’t available at all in the tunnel.
By playing with my phone settings, I’ve also tried 4G at Armadale; it too was slow. Then I tried 5G at the top of the platform 1 ramp; there it was fast.
So while being slightly below street level might be the cause, it’s very surprising that the phone companies still haven’t upgraded this and other areas along rail lines. They have a captive audience of train passengers trying to look at their phones. You’d think it would generate lots of data, and lots of revenue.
20 replies on “Slow internet on trains”
Who do we need to pay to get this fixed?!?!?!
A lot of the problem along railway lines is congestion. You have a train load of passengers all using their mobile phones at once. As the train goes past it sucks up all the data. Once train leaves the area, speed goes up again. Devices using MVPOs (companies other than Telstra, Vodafone, Optus) fare worse as they are de-prioritised when congestion occurs to save the bandwidth for those directly with Telstra, Vodafone and Optus.
There is definitely 5G in the tunnel. Your iPhone might just sometimes cling onto 4G when 5G in unnecessary to save power, regardless of your power settings. To force 5G to be used by your iPhone, go to Settings >> Mobile >> Mobile Data Options >> Voice & Data >> Select “5G On”. Hope that helps Dan :)
The cutting between Jewell and Royal Park on the upfield line has the same problem. It’s been that way for at least the 13 years I’ve been using it, and the one time I tried reporting to Telstra they eventually replied with a “works for us, won’t fix”
East Camberwell is another dead zone for internet on the train. City to Camberwell is fine, then the instant you cross under the Alamein line flyover and into the station the internet speed drops off a cliff. As soon as you head around the corner towards Canterbury, the internet speed is back to normal again.
Also, better hope your battery isn’t going flat, as there are also no USB charging ports in any PT whatsoever besides the absolute latest buses, at least with Ventura and Kinetic. Even the HCMTs missed the bus on that one (pun intended). On a side note, Vlocity trains have 230V mains outlets in plain sight (the other trains have them hidden behind panels) but they are strictly for staff use only e.g. for powering vacuum cleaners, most likely due to potentially damaging an electronic device from a power surge (vacuums don’t care if they suddenly get spiked with 400V or 100V or a weird AC frequency for a few seconds).
@Albert3801, I used to think this was mostly a peak capacity issue, but this week I did a speed test standing on Armadale station with no other trains/big crowds around. Still slow.
“if they wanted to, they would” applies to so many more topics than just relationships 🙃
Same issue with Optus on the Craigieburn line between Essendon and Newmarket. Internet slows down to a crawl if the train is empty, or nothing at all if it’s busy. And that whole section is above ground too.
thank goodness for library books – I always read one on the train.
Even on the Geelong corridor past Wyndham Vale the connection is so patchy lol.
I think the MATHS stations are significantly worse over the last few months, possibly since the metro opened. I’ve had to give up some days and just sit there alone with my thoughts!
One reason for slowness on a train or tram is that so many people are online concentrated in one place and all trying to share the closest internet antenna. Nearly everyone on a tram or train will have their phones out. Antennas that are not near a tram or train line probably don’t have to deal with so many phone signals all at once. The solution is the same. More antenna capacity not only in stations where a signal might be blocked by large structures but also along train and tram lines. My signal used to be very poor to non existent in parts of the city loop but it’s better nowadays.
‘You’d think it would generate lots of data, and lots of revenue”
That might have been the case 10 years ago, most plans now have more than enough data unless you don’t use NBN WiFi at home.
On the Frankston Line Optus drops out altogether around Ormond due to the deep cutting & trench deck for the future apartment block. Voice calls cut out too, which makes me try to avoid them in this stretch or warn the other person I’ll drop out shortly but will call them back.
Cheltenham and Glen Huntly aren’t as bad/noticeable thankfully.
It will be interesting if the proposed updates to coverage maps at the end of June will identify any of the known blackspots on train lines, although will a Telco argue there is still decent signal 90% of the time as it only drops out/slows 10% of the time as a crowded train passes through. Think sections of the Ballarat or Geelong Lines…
This ABC article from 2024 explains the challenges but doesn’t offer much of a way forward, although Siemens has been working on soultions to allow signals to penetrate glass, which would help combat the Faraday cage effect.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-19/mobile-phone-reception-internet-blackspots-melb-sydney/104114782
I find the trains themselves are also a factor.
I notice reception is best in Comeng. X’Trapolis is pretty good too. While Siemens are terrible. I don’t ride HCMTs enough to have noticed.
I wonder if this is factored into the design of the X’Trapolis 2.
I always notice that the signal drops to a useless level when I get to Richmond on a crowded train, or while I’m waiting there and other crowded trains are around. The network just doesn’t handle high numbers of phones. It’s probably built to work acceptably with the average number of people usually seen in the area, which would be far lower than the number present when half a dozen trains have just arrived at Richmond.
Honestly. In my opinion. Its no big deal to temporarily have slow internet. It just seems sometimes people just want to complain about anything
@Charis, yeah I tried with 5G on (not auto) at Anzac station. Still only saw 4G
@Craig, good point about data quotas being high. I don’t get anywhere near my limit. Still, you’d think some networks would be interested in differentiating themselves by better coverage.
@Nathan, good point about the different trains
@Jake, if it’s not important to you, just keep scrolling. Why bother taking the time to comment?
It wasn’t a attack on you daniel. Sorry if it seemed that way. I enjoy reading all your blogs. It was more of a general statement because i see so many people complaining about so many small issues and it gets tiresome. I understand its your page. And you’re free to post whatever. And I’m just giving my opinion. It doesn’t change the fact I enjoy reading your stuff.
@Jake, no worries.
It’s good to remember that one selling point of public transport is you can use the time productively. These days, connectivity is important to many people.
I used to work in Malvern and I would notice a reception drop around Armadale, Footscray and Yarraville. Apparently they’ve fixed the cell tower around Yarraville and I’ve noticed less drops there now (at least for Telstra). In the past I noticed that even though I’ve got full bars at Flinders Street station, the internet would drop when there’s a lot of people but this seems to have been fixed around 2 or 3 years ago.