London Underground Users: First Stations Named For London Underground WiFi Launch

[6Foot2]

Link: First stations named for London Underground WiFi launch | Transport for London

 

...Customers will soon be able to connect to the internet at Tube stations across the Capital...

 

http://gyazo.com/3f348e5d1225051e51df786ea87dd397.png

 

The London Underground stations planned for installation by the end of July 2012 are:

 

 

Aldgate East

Elephant & Castle

London Bridge

St Paul's

Angel

Embankment

Manor House

Stepney Green

Archway Euston

Mansion House

Stockwell

Arsenal

Euston Square

Marble Arch

Stratford

Barbican

Finsbury Park

Marylebone

Swiss Cottage

Bayswater

Goodge Street

Mile End

Temple

Bermondsey

Green Park

North Greenwich

Tottenham Hale

Bethnal Green

Hammersmith (District/Picc)

Old Street

Tower Hill

Blackhorse Road

Heathrow T1-3

Oval

Tufnell Park

Borough

Heathrow T4

Oxford Circus

Vauxhall

Brixton

High Street Kensington

Paddington (Main)

Victoria

Caledonian Road

Highbury & Islington

Piccadilly Circus

Walthamstow Central

Camden Town

Holborn Pimlico

Warren Street

Canada Water

Holland Park

Queensway

Warwick Avenue

Canary Wharf

Hyde Park Corner

Regents Park

Waterloo

Canning Town

Kentish Town

Seven Sisters

Wembley Central

Chancery Lane

Kings Cross/St Pancras

Southfields

Wembley Park

Charing Cross

Lambeth North

Southwark

West Ham

Clapham North

Lancaster Gate

St James Park

Wimbledon Park

Covent Garden

Leicester Square

St Johns Wood

Westminster

Edgware Road (Circle)

Liverpool Street

[fiza]

Is this a good idea? Isnt it just going to promote and encourage muggings and robbery?

Last time I was on a tube train it was rammed full of tourists and commuters without any room to stand let alone get your Tablet or smartphone out and browse the net etc.

[Bromcom_John]

IIRC the coverage is only on the platforms and concourses. NOT on the trains themselves.

I suspect that a alrge amount of confusion is going to arise from their own information using the term "on track" and people not realising that it isn't actually indicating "where" the service works..just the usual term for keeping a project on time

Poor choice of words considering the subject matter.

Edited June 8, 2012 by Bromcom_John

[fiza]

IIRC the coverage is only on the platforms and concourses. NOT on the trains themselves.

 

Is it going to be a free service?

 

It will be interesting to have a look at statistics in about a years time after the service is introduced to compare how many smartphones/tablets have been stolen compared to before the service started.

[elsiegee40]

IIRC the coverage is only on the platforms and concourses. NOT on the trains themselves.

That's right... It won't be on trains in tunnels.

 

It will also only be free until November. After that tube travellers not signed up with Virgin in some shape or form will only get internet access to limited services like travel news.

 

I can manage without below ground... I'm not paying extra

[Gatt]

Let me think...

 

Crowded concourse / Platform

Pull out Laptop / Tablet

 

I see 3 things happening:

 

1) You connect - surf away - finish put it away

2) You connect - surf away - some prat comes stumbling past in a rush / not looking where they're going and knocks your device out of your hands before it smashes into a million pieces on the floor..

3) You connect - surf away - some ne'er-do-well grabs your device and runs off - (you may or may not incur injuries depending on how much of a struggle you put up...

 

Either that or I'm getting too cynical in my old age..

[fiza]

Not being a regular user of tubes I always want to have my wits about me. Last thing I want to do is be concentrating on my smartphone or Tablet and not knowing whats going on around me.

[fiza]

@Gatt - Totally agree.

[Arthur]

Certain types of websites will also be blocked...

 

To keep up-to-date with the roll-out, please visit www.virginmedia.com/wifi or www.tfl.gov.uk/wifi

 

• To power the WiFi service, Virgin Media is providing connectivity to each Underground station and London Underground has installed in-station equipment, including on-platform access points, to create a station-wide hotspot
  
• Passengers will be able to get online throughout connected London Underground stations: from the ticket hall, on the escalators and on the platforms. Users will be also connected whilst on a train in a platform but WiFi will not work in London Underground tunnels
  
• In line with the established industry approach to adult content on mobiles, Virgin Media will block adult sites on the new WiFi service utilising a Nominum content filtering solution
  
• London Underground and Virgin Media are launching an advertising and customer information campaign throughout Tube stations and online to ensure passengers can make the most of the service. Users will be encouraged to go online to explore the service, find out how the service works and share experiences, hints and tips (Source)
  

 

I imagine TPB will be too.

[elsiegee40]

Let me think...

 

Crowded concourse / Platform

Pull out Laptop / Tablet

 

I see 3 things happening:

 

1) You connect - surf away - finish put it away

2) You connect - surf away - some prat comes stumbling past in a rush / not looking where they're going and knocks your device out of your hands before it smashes into a million pieces on the floor..

3) You connect - surf away - some ne'er-do-well grabs your device and runs off - (you may or may not incur injuries depending on how much of a struggle you put up...

 

Either that or I'm getting too cynical in my old age..

I am a regular underground user and number 2 is pretty likely... Someone rushing to get on the train.

 

There are already loads of people using Smart phones, tablets and laptops on the underground, they just can't surf the net in the deepest part. Number 3 is no more of a problem than it is on the surface. If I'm on my own late, especially late at night, I take precautions, but I've never felt unsafe in the main parts of the underground.

[localzuk]

I don't think this is designed for people to be whipping out laptops. It is designed as more of an 'offload your data usage to a more suitable network' design. Especially during the olympics - millions of people accessing news on their phones in the underground is just not going to work properly.

[CAM]

Scenario 4: Someone knocks a device out of someone's hands and on to the track and they jump down to retrieve it, subsequently...

4a - ...getting electrocuted and killed...

4b - ...getting squished by a train...

4c - ...getting a damn good bollocking...

...and causing severe delays to the entire line.

 

Handy for checking into Foursquare I guess but I am more likely to use my phone on the train then the platform as it feels safer.

Edited June 8, 2012 by CAM

[penfold_99]

Is it going to be a free service? .

 

It's free during the Olympics, but virgin have yet to clarify the cost after it. It could be free to anyone or only free to virgin customers.

[Arthur]

Virgin Media London Underground WiFi Review « Pocket Lint

 

The next test was to give Skype a go. We had no problems on either device (yes we know the Lumia 800 doesn't have a front facing camera but that made it all the easier to show the trains off). Virgin Media isn't blocking the app on the two devices we tested and that means that you can now have a call with your friends from the bowels of London. This being the first day, we did get a couple of looks.

 

The third test, Pirate Bay. Virgin Media broadband customers have been blocked from the service and so have its Underground customers too.

 

Beyond that we tested surfing the web, emailing, and generally all you would do on the web for around 30 minutes. All worked fine, although we did find that after about 10 minutes the service dropped connection. Turning off Wi-Fi and then back on again fixed this and we couldn’t work out whether there was an automatic time-out feature or not, although we suspect there is. We weren't asked to sign in each time.

 

Performance wise we didn’t do any speed tests - really who cares - but the connection is fast enough for you to load up with new emails, watch YouTube, tweet, surf some pages, and update your RSS reader on your phone so you've got something to read on the train immediately after.

 

Trying to keep the connection as long as possible, we lost it at about 30 seconds into the tunnel as we left the station. Remember, the service is for platforms only at the moment.

 

If you find yourself on the platform needing to check whether you’ve received that email, this is going to be a godsend. The system at the moment is very easy to use and signing up involves minimal fuss. Whether that will be different when Virgin Media begins to charge for the service is yet to be seen, however for now, if you like being connected you are going to love it.

[Bromcom_John]

It's free during the Olympics, but virgin have yet to clarify the cost after it. It could be free to anyone or only free to virgin customers.

Cue the demands of existing Virgin Customers insisting they get their full 120mb provision from the bowels of the captial as well

[m25man]

Is this a good idea? Isnt it just going to promote and encourage muggings and robbery?

Last time I was on a tube train it was rammed full of tourists and commuters without any room to stand let alone get your Tablet or smartphone out and browse the net etc.

 

At £5.90 for single ticket Zone 1-5, £10 for a congestion charge, £2.20 for a bus ride over 2 Million+ commuters like me get mugged and robbed every day by TFL.

 

I will take my chances I guess.

[6Foot2]

It's free during the Olympics, but virgin have yet to clarify the cost after it. It could be free to anyone or only free to virgin customers.

 

Link: PSA: Virgin Media begins charging for tube WiFi today