How can you guys keep charging for this service when you know it’s that bad? I just paid my $9 on Saturday for a great connection in the station. Once I switched to the train’s network I never had a connection the rest of the way from Kingston to Toronto for more then 45 seconds.

Unfortunately the telecom companies built their infrastructure for the major highways (401, 417, 20) so when the track moves away from the highways the signal weakens and is sometimes lost. VIA is starting test in 2 weeks to complement the cell data coverage, we will be using a 900 Mhz and 5.8 Ghz radios to fill the gaps.

Hhere is how it work now:

8211G in the cars, wireless mesh network between cars. The signal goes up using mobility data network. This network operates at 200-250 kps in major cities and 40kps in rural areas.

Anybody interested in getting a small mpg or diagram of the solution drop me an e-mail

Guy_Faulkner@viarail.ca

I’m planning a trip on VIA and this blog entry has served me well! Thanx a bunch for the review!

Just FYI, I’m 45 and trying to read my e-mail and it sucks for that too. I haven’t been able to successfully replicate Lotus Notes once completely in 4 hours of trying, on about every third try I’ll squeeze one more e-mail through but there’s something in my inbox with a huge attachment and there’s no way the connection will hold long enough for me to get the darn thing.

Satellite have their issues, they have to be high up in order to beam down over obstacles like high building, mountains and tree covered areas. Weather also affects reception of satellites.

Canadian telecoms should invest in more than just covering major highways, they should also think of rail passengers and invest in rail infrastructure.