Mobile Phones on Trains - why are they so crap? Small rant

[blueg33]

Is it beyond the wit of man to make mobile phones work for more than 20 seconds at a time on a train?

It works in the car, it works on a fking ferry in the middle of the channel, it works in bloody Borneo, wthy the fk can't they make it work anywhere between Birmingham and Leeds? The longest i have had signal for is 30 seconds, so I have had the same fking conversation 6 times, it goes like this:

me: Hi
other end : hi nick
me: Did you get to review the financial model?
other end: yes, if ound a problem in line.....
me: hello
me: are you the
me: fking connection
phone: bleep bleep bleep - call failed

Trains run along fixed routes, it cannot be hard to place masts along those routes. Hundreds of thousands of people use trains every day, someone needs to get their bloody act together, this is the 21st fking century and i can watch a nubile in Columbia strip on a web cam, but i cant have a simple voice conversation with someone it Leeds!

Rant over and I know its no better than a 5/10, so i am even more pissed off. Oh yes and the train is late by 30 fking minutes, they have cancelled all reservations because they are tossers, theres 2000 screaming smelly kids, and not enougyh seats for all those that want to travel. I wouildnt be surprised if their are people on the roof as in India.....but I bet the fking mobiles work between Delhi and Calcutta

Ok now rant is over

[V8mate]

Because railway corridors are not areas of high residential or commercial population.

[pmanson]

Last year I went from Milton Keynes to somewhere up North (Crewe IIRC)...

1st class had free wifi and it worked very well - only occasionally did it drop out. It was the same with my phone signal.

No idea how the wifi on the train worked though

[gifdy]

The coatings they put on the windows can seriously attenuate the signal.

[Mr Will]

It tends to be overloaded networks rather than lack of coverage that causes these problems, you are constantly being passed from one cell to another as you travel along the line so if you reach a cell which has no free "slots" you'll be cut off.

Redialling will often reconnect you, but then you'll get cut off again when you move into the next overloaded cell.

This is the same reason that mobile phones won't work in places like Goodwood or music festivals when a large number of people all descend on the same spot which isn't prepared to deal with them all.

[I Love Lamp]

It's shocking, really.

How can something the size of a coin (I'm referring to the aerial), be incapable of keeping in contact with fixed points and satellites (which are moving a wee bit quicker than your 150mph), through urban and rural terrain, to then bounce back to the recipients handset at some other point in the world (who might also be on a train).

I'm going to write an email, to Ofcom, I'm a director you know.

ETA - In reply to the above response, it's more often to do with the speed you're travelling, the cells just can't switch quick enough when a train is at full speed (dependant on the nearby cells (hardware)).

All I can really advise is, deal with it. Technology will catch up to your demands in the next few years, but by then, you'll be expecting more.

Edited by I Love Lamp on Tuesday 17th August 17:22

[edc]

Mobile phones work well on the underground system in HK!

[I Love Lamp]

edc said:

Mobile phones work well on the underground system in HK!

I'm sure they do!

Which explains why they all stare at you with intent to hurt you.

Edited by I Love Lamp on Tuesday 17th August 17:23

[collateral]

I think the answer is a pico cell on the train. Probably still need a satellite uplink though so it wouldn't be much good in a tunnel

[blueg33]

V8mate said:

Because railway corridors are not areas of high residential or commercial population.

Nor are motorways, but phone work many many times better there than on a train. Cross Country trains are too cheap tand crap to fit wifi or enhanced reception like Virgin do. They are also the only choice I have to get to Leeds. So much for competition

[jmorgan]

Somehow I am not too bothered that a glorified two way radio does not work on a moving train.

[goldblum]

So other travellers don't have to listen to your mindless,no doubt shouted,drivel.

Here's an idea..instead of subjecting everyone else to your whining why not use your phone

before you get on the f*cking train you dipsh*t.

[NDA]

V8mate said:

Because railway corridors are not areas of high residential or commercial population.

I suspect that more people pass along a railway track each day than live alongside one.

[-crookedtail-]

I feel your pain as the mainline between Waterloo and Bournemouth is shocking for signal, well for o2 at least.

Then again every other fecker seems to get on well enough it would seem as the quiet zone becomes the "Im an overly important loud mouth arse zone!"

[V8mate]

NDA said:

V8mate said:

Because railway corridors are not areas of high residential or commercial population.

I suspect that more people pass along a railway track each day than live alongside one.

Indeed. So there's little commercial sense in providing a 24/7 service in a location which has a transient community condensed into a couple of peak times.


In urban areas, geography still plays a part as the railway lines are often 'sunk' into cuttings which provide a natural screen from local masts.

[Engineer1]

blueg33 said:

V8mate said:

Because railway corridors are not areas of high residential or commercial population.

Nor are motorways, but phone work many many times better there than on a train. Cross Country trains are too cheap tand crap to fit wifi or enhanced reception like Virgin do. They are also the only choice I have to get to Leeds. So much for competition

Didn't the 3g "spines" get set up along the motorways first? Then spread across the country from there?

[agent006]

goldblum said:

So other travellers don't have to listen to your mindless,no doubt shouted,drivel.

Here's an idea..instead of subjecting everyone else to your whining why not use your phone

before you get on the f*cking train you dipsh*t.

You prefectly illustrate why I dont use public transport. I don't want to be in a metal box travelling at 100mph with people who have so little control over their temper.

[NDA]

V8mate said:

NDA said:

V8mate said:

Because railway corridors are not areas of high residential or commercial population.

I suspect that more people pass along a railway track each day than live alongside one.

Indeed. So there's little commercial sense in providing a 24/7 service in a location which has a transient community condensed into a couple of peak times.


In urban areas, geography still plays a part as the railway lines are often 'sunk' into cuttings which provide a natural screen from local masts.

There are around 1m commuter journeys made into London each day, given the high percentage of mobile phone ownership, you'd think someone might consider improving the quality of network coverage. I would say it's more than just a transient community condensed into a couple of peak times. It's the same community day after day and quite densely from 6.30am until 10am and from 5pm until 8pm.

It would not be beyond the wit of man to have small aerials along the track - especially as governments of all colours are trying to encourage the use of public transport.

[collateral]

agent006 said:

goldblum said:

So other travellers don't have to listen to your mindless,no doubt shouted,drivel.

Here's an idea..instead of subjecting everyone else to your whining why not use your phone

before you get on the f*cking train you dipsh*t.

You prefectly illustrate why I dont use public transport. I don't want to be in a metal box travelling at 100mph with people who have so little control over their temper.

Yeah but this is the UK, so no one will confront the person that's annoying them, probably just sit grinding their teeth about it the whole journey (and then maybe go online and write a ranty forum post about it afterwards )

[blueg33]

goldblum said:

So other travellers don't have to listen to your mindless,no doubt shouted,drivel.

Here's an idea..instead of subjecting everyone else to your whining why not use your phone

before you get on the f*cking train you dipsh*t.

Simpleton! 3.5 hours on the train is a big chunk out of my day of making heaps of money. Of course I need to use the phone. Regrettably, at times I also need to use the train.