Amtrak Guest Rewards - Amtrak Connect Wi-Fi Expansion

As stated in an Amtrak email, Amtrak Connect Wi-Fi will be expanded to the following routes:

• Northeast Regional
• Ethan Allen Express
• Maple Leaf
• Carolinian
• Vermonter
• Adirondack
• Keystone Service
• Empire Service
• Palmetto
• New Haven-Springfield Shuttle
• Amtrak Downeaster
• Pennsylvanian

According to the Amtrak website, for now, the connection will only be available in select cars on the Adirondack, Maple Leaf, Palmetto, and Pennsylvanian, while the other listed trains will have Wi-Fi available in all cars.

I am quite pleased, as I found this to be a great service, and it's free.

While that is great news, I wish they would focus on improving the existing wi-fi service on the Acela first, before expanding to others. It's extremely slow and service is spotty at best.

While that is great news, I wish they would focus on improving the existing wi-fi service on the Acela first, before expanding to others. It's extremely slow and service is spotty at best.
I agree. I find the wifi on the aclea to be practically unusable because it is so slow.

In contrast, I traveled southbound on the 93 this past Thursday and was pleasantly surprised when I saw the amtrak connect service available. It was quite snappy - but this was before they had any signs advertising it on board. When I traveled back north on the 2152 on Friday, I was unable to use the wifi as it was so slow. So either they have upgraded their service on the regionals compared to the acela, or it is a capacity issue on the acela.

I have only used it on the Cascades, and the speed was acceptable, so the lack of speed may be an Acela-specific problem. I would imagine one cause being that more Acela customers carry Wi-Fi enabled devices than your regular Amtrak customers, so the system must deal with more connections.

At least on the Downeaster, the Wi-Fi is based on cell signals, so if the Acela passes through areas that have poor cell reception, that perhaps explains the slow/spotty service. There are plenty of areas in ME/NH/Northern MA that the Wi-Fi does not work well on the Downeaster, then there are others where it is great.

Is Amtrak Connect different/better than the previous Wi-Fi that was available on the Downeaster?

Kinda funny that Empire Builder is not on that list. Maybe because only satellite reaches the Montana-North Dakota stretch. Was wishing for it on my last trip.

Kinda funny that Empire Builder is not on that list. Maybe because only satellite reaches the Montana-North Dakota stretch. Was wishing for it on my last trip.

I assume equipping Superliners with Wi-Fi capability is more expensive than doing it to their Amfleet counterparts, so I doubt we will see Amtrak Connect on routes such as the Empire Builder anytime soon.

People with 4G plans were browsing away on my ride. So there's still a way for those who really want to be connected.

At least on the Downeaster, the Wi-Fi is based on cell signals, so if the Acela passes through areas that have poor cell reception, that perhaps explains the slow/spotty service. There are plenty of areas in ME/NH/Northern MA that the Wi-Fi does not work well on the Downeaster, then there are others where it is great.

Is Amtrak Connect different/better than the previous Wi-Fi that was available on the Downeaster?
It's not the spotty cell reception, as I will be on my iPhone and surfing away just fine on the acela and still be unable to use the wifi. Or replace iPhone with mifi. I travel with both. I still need to travel with both since the wifi is a joke.

A quick note about AmtrakConnect

“We acknowledge the speeds can be improved. With 1/3 of the train using the system at any give time (which equates to around 100 people at any one time) it is quite a challenge to supply enough bandwidth. Although 4G speeds are becoming more prevalent, they’re not nearly widespread enough, especially for a train which can travel outside of large population area. One of our number one focuses this year is on enhancing the bandwidth on Acela to better speeds and bandwidth. We’re currently in conversations with all of the wireless carriers who support our service. For more information about AmtrakConnect, please visit: http://bit.ly/jRDfrf”

Becky Parks,
Senior Marketing Officer, Amtrak Guest Rewards

I'm glad Amtrak is looking into this.

I was on 88 this past Sunday NYP-NHV. The WiFi was absolutely useless. Some Web pages took 10 minutes to load. My Apple Mail timed out frequently.

I'm glad Amtrak is looking into this.

I was on 88 this past Sunday NYP-NHV. The WiFi was absolutely useless. Some Web pages took 10 minutes to load. My Apple Mail timed out frequently.

Totally agree! It is absolutely and utterly useless...use your own 4G. For now it just provides Amtrak to advertise it as a benefit so rookies will take the train instead of the plane.

It's like winning a jackpot without knowing that the jackpot is only worth a couple of cents. Excitement lasts as long as you don't know the real worth!:D

With so many smartphones out there, I'd guess people would just revert to their 4G and save the high blood pressure.

Tried it on 162 on Thanksgiving WAS-BWI and it was worthless. So was Verizon's 3G, actually.

Good to know that Amtrak understands how useless the service is during peak times... hopefully they will find a solution.

Wil to Was seems to have wifi on all acella and reginal trains... I have never found it to even be usable. It also seems to disconnect at the stations. I understand they are stuck at 3g, and 4 g is simply not in service much.

I dont even bother trying to surf the net. BUT it is nice that it is there, sure it will get better sooner or later.

Add the Pacific Surfliner to the list that nominally has WiFi (well, California Amtrak also claims the San Jouquin, and the Capitals, but I haven't taken them).

Service on the first train of the day from Chatsworth to SLO wasn't too bad...
2-4 bars with page loads taking 15 sec. or less in most cases.

Except that the WIFI connectivity to the Internet was non-existent in the Chatsworth-Simi tunnels & from Gaviota to Guadaloupe...which was also true of cell phone reception. Not really surprising, although the second gap of over an hour out in the wilds of the Central Coast is mitigated by amazing ocean views. (...sit on the coast side of the train! Really!)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++

Edited to add: Just took the San Jouquin from Bakersfield to Emeryville...and the WiFi, while not lightning fast, was certainly usable for simple web surfing and e-mail. A few "server not found" timeouts in the most remote locations....but a page refresh always brought it home.

I took the Pacific Coastal all the way from LA to PDX in October and Wi-Fi was off the whole time. No one understood why and no one on the train knew even how to turn it on. I had my hotspot phone so it wasn't a problem for me.

I took the Pacific Coastal all the way from LA to PDX in October and Wi-Fi was off the whole time. No one understood why and no one on the train knew even how to turn it on. I had my hotspot phone so it wasn't a problem for me.

If you were traveling from LA to Portland it wasn't on the "Pacific Coastal," since there is no train by that name. You might be thinking of the "Pacific Surfliner"...but that runs only between San Diego and San Louis Obispo, California... or shorter segments thereof, with recently installed WiFi service. The Coast Starlight runs from LA to Seattle (including passing through Portland)....but it's no surprise there was no WIFI, since they have not rolled out WiFi service on the route...

If you were traveling from LA to Portland it wasn't on the "Pacific Coastal," since there is no train by that name. You might be thinking of the "Pacific Surfliner"...but that runs only between San Diego and San Louis Obispo, California... or shorter segments thereof, with recently installed WiFi service. The Coast Starlight runs from LA to Seattle (including passing through Portland)....but it's no surprise there was no WIFI, since they have not rolled out WiFi service on the route...

Wi-fi is advertised to be available in the Coast Starlight's Pacific Parlour Car for sleeping car passengers. But its availability is unreliable from trip to trip, and the car attendants are not empowered to troubleshoot en route. :td:

I guess that I have been lucky but the four trips I have taken on ACELA this year the internet has been fine for me.

I am not sure if F has a dedicated bandwidth but I was able to surf and do other internet tasks without much issue.

Dan

Yup, I meant the coast starlight.

NYT: Wi-Fi and Amtrak: Missed Connections (http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/travel/wi-fi-and-amtrak-missed-connections.html?ref=travel)

I have not ridden Amtrak in a really long time...of course, I use trains in the UK all the time. I know on an East Coast trip to EDI, the wifi seemed spotty at times.

For rail travelers of the Northeast Corridor, the promise of Wi-Fi has become an infuriating tease.

First introduced on the Acela amid a heavily promoted marketing campaign two years ago, its press release promising “fast, reliable and consistent connectivity,” Amtrak’s wireless service has instead turned into a source of mockery on blogs and a daily source of angry messages on Twitter and other social media.

“Couldn’t get enough signal on my laptop to complain how bad the Wi-Fi is on my train,” wrote MattSullivan101 on Twitter last month. “Well played, #amtrak,” he continued, “but you missed my phone.”

NYT: Wi-Fi and Amtrak: Missed Connections (http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/travel/wi-fi-and-amtrak-missed-connections.html?ref=travel)

I have not ridden Amtrak in a really long time...of course, I use trains in the UK all the time. I know on an East Coast trip to EDI, the wifi seemed spotty at times.

Just rode the Adirondack from NYP to MTR and back Memorial Day weekend. Not able to get any usable signal and opted to use at&t cellular whenever it came available. But knew enough to disable all cellular connections before reaching the boarder (as Amtrak does as well).

NYT: Wi-Fi and Amtrak: Missed Connections (http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/travel/wi-fi-and-amtrak-missed-connections.html?ref=travel)

I have not ridden Amtrak in a really long time...of course, I use trains in the UK all the time. I know on an East Coast trip to EDI, the wifi seemed spotty at times.

I don't remember the route or company, but on a trip last year from London northwards and back, the wifi was almost completely unusable. In my experiences on Amtrak's northeast corridor, performance ranges from occasionally good to unusable for the entire trip.

The NYT article points out that a massive infrastructure investment would be required to provide efficient wifi to train passengers. Apparently European (or at least British) train operators don't want to make that investment any more than Amtrak does.

NYT: Wi-Fi and Amtrak: Missed Connections (http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/travel/wi-fi-and-amtrak-missed-connections.html?ref=travel)

I have not ridden Amtrak in a really long time...of course, I use trains in the UK all the time. I know on an East Coast trip to EDI, the wifi seemed spotty at times.

spotty? try non-existent!

To be fair, they mention a lady who talks about the pathetic connection on travel "to Lancaster, PA."

I've ridden almost every train on the route, at all times of the day, and still have yet to encounter a sufficiently slow connection that I would complain.

Is it 4G? Probably not. But it has still been fast enough for me to get work done without even thinking of pulling my hotspot out of my bag. Morning trains (605, etc.) ex-PHL tend to have TONS of business-folks on mobile devices/laptops, and it still holds up remarkably well.

I'll start running speed tests each morning and afternoon for a week, and will report back with results!

How can you find out if a train has WIFI or not?

I haven't taken Amtrak in a while but am considering giving them another shot the end of this month since airfare is so expensive to chicago and the train times would wokr ok this trip for me (would either be on the capital limited or lake shore limited) and can't figure out how to find out if the trains are wifi equiped or not. If they are wifi equiped I have no problem taking Amtrak this trip.

That is something I love about VIA Rail, all their trains are wifi equiped and have been for a long time. You do have to pay for the access but you the access works in the lounge as well and the speed is pretty fast. I would rather pay $10 for a decent internet speed and be assured of having it all trains rather than have spotty access for free at Random.

How can you find out if a train has WIFI or not?

I haven't taken Amtrak in a while but am considering giving .

Have you checked amtrak.com for times out of Toledo?

In your case, it might be better to drive up to Dearborn where parking is good.

(I'd avoid I75 because of construction though and come up Telegraph or I275)

Bob H

Have you checked amtrak.com for times out of Toledo?

In your case, it might be better to drive up to Dearborn where parking is good.

(I'd avoid I75 because of construction though and come up Telegraph or I275)

Bob H

Yes and the main reason I avoid Amtrak is the lousy times. But later this month it could work good. I would get into chicago early on saturday morning and can avoid the hotel cost friday night and the return time on sunday is great for me. I can also park for free at the Toledo depot. With the added time of driving to Dearborn, etc, I may as well just drive to Chicago and park further out and take the L.

I considered Ann Arbor as well since the times would be great if I wanted to get in on Friday but can't find info about parking. If AMtrak had the same chicago schedule from here that they do a2, I would probably just take Amtrak to Chicago all the time instead of flying.

I may just do Megabus since the times are good and I know I will have wifi.

James,

Unfortunately the long distance trains that you'd be using out of Toledo are not yet equipped for WiFi. Currently that's budgeted for 2013 to start wiring up the long distance trains.

At present only the short haul trains, Detroit to Chicago for example, are setup for WiFi.

I considered Ann Arbor as well since the times would be great if I wanted to get in on Friday but can't find info about parking.

Ann Arbor has free parking, but space availability may be limited at times -- also the parking lot is on the north side of the Broadway Bridge (aka Plymouth Road) and if you're traveling alone you have to climb up a flight of stairs, cross the tracks, and then climb down.

and US23 is an orange barrel zone this summer.

Bob H

James,

Unfortunately the long distance trains that you'd be using out of Toledo are not yet equipped for WiFi. Currently that's budgeted for 2013 to start wiring up the long distance trains.

At present only the short haul trains, Detroit to Chicago for example, are setup for WiFi.

Thanks! I guess I will have to pay for 4g or use my iphone. Going on that early of a train I will probably be sleeping anyway

US23 is an orange barrel zone this summer.

I went up to Ann Arbor Friday and traffic wasns't bad, but I am sure that will change in the next couple weeks. Unfortunately it seems like Michigan and Ohio is always a orange barrel zone every summer.

Hi all -
I'm doing a 2-zone almost cross country trip, Toledo -> Chicago, Chicago->Sacramento (California Zephyr), Sacramento->Vancouver. While I'm looking forward to the scenery and reading, I'm also interested in some connectivity. I have an iPhone 4s (ATT) but was also considering a prepaid Mifi 2200 which supposedly uses the Sprint 3G network.

Are there any experiences with coverage? Do some of the longer stops (Chicago, Denver, Salt Lake City, Sacramento, Portland, Seattle) have free wi-fi?

I'm not expecting great coverage, just trying to see if it is occasional enough (Sprint) to make the MIFI worth it.

Thanks

p.s. This will be my third long distance trip with my son. We've done Albany to Orlando twice and loved it, so I'm using up the rest of my (existing) Amtrak rewards trip with this MUCH longer one. We shall see how it goes.... :)

Hi all -
I'm doing a 2-zone almost cross country trip, Toledo -> Chicago, Chicago->Sacramento (California Zephyr), Sacramento->Vancouver. While I'm looking forward to the scenery and reading, I'm also interested in some connectivity. I have an iPhone 4s (ATT) but was also considering a prepaid Mifi 2200 which supposedly uses the Sprint 3G network.

Are there any experiences with coverage? Do some of the longer stops (Chicago, Denver, Salt Lake City, Sacramento, Portland, Seattle) have free wi-fi?

I'm not expecting great coverage, just trying to see if it is occasional enough (Sprint) to make the MIFI worth it.

Thanks

p.s. This will be my third long distance trip with my son. We've done Albany to Orlando twice and loved it, so I'm using up the rest of my (existing) Amtrak rewards trip with this MUCH longer one. We shall see how it goes.... :)

IIRC, Sprint has limited connectivity outside major cities. You might pick up some signal while near major Interstate highway corridors, but I wouldn't expect much beyond that. It's possible they've begun to fill in their rural network, but even if so, they're way, way behind Verizon and AT&T.

I've spent a lot of time traveling by road and rail in all 50 states and find Verizon and AT&T to be pretty comparable in terms of coverage. Verizon's 3G (EVDO) network is a bit more expansive than AT&T's 3G network (HSDPA), so occasionally you'll see Verizon grabbing a 3G signal but AT&T shows only EDGE. However, I've also found that AT&T's 2G (EDGE) network is more extensive than Verizon's 2G (1xRTT) network, so in the real boonies, you'll still pick up an AT&T signal (albeit a slow one) while Verizon will be completely dead.

As for your specific route (speaking from an AT&T and Verizon perspective): I recall good 3G connectivity along the TOL-CHI corridor (it's mostly through populated areas along Interstates). I haven't taken the train on CHI-DEN, but I've driven a fair amount through the Midwest and recall both AT&T and Verizon working OK through Nebraska. DEN-SLC is very mountainous, and while I was able to pick up AT&T cell signal when passing through towns, there are some stretches through canyons where you won't get signal. You won't want to be working during that portion of the trip, anyway--the scenery is far too impressive to miss looking at a computer screen. I don't know about SLC-SAC as I haven't done that.

SAC-PDX should be fine up the northern Sacramento Valley and into Klamath Falls (except when passing through mountainous aireas). Past Klamath Falls, there's not much coverage through the Cascades, but again, you won't want to be working for this stretch. Once you enter the Willamette Valley at Eugene, you're near I-5 and in populated areas without mountainous obstructions and signal should be fine most of the rest of the trip.

The only places in the U.S. I recall seeing large stretches of absolutely no signal other than in mountainous areas was in southeastern Colorado (Southwest Chief) and along the northern stretches of Montana and North Dakota (Empire Builder).

Again, all of the above is spoken from an AT&T and Verizon perspective. With Sprint, though, I would not count on coverage for probably most of your trip west of CHI. Take a gander at their coverage maps, though, and see if they've perhaps expanded their network.

Here are a couple of resources:
http://www.cellularmaps.com/3g_compare.shtml
http://3gstore.com/coverage/
http://www.rootmetrics.com/check-coverage/ (based on customer-submitted tests, so data may be limited in rural areas)

SAC-PDX should be fine up the northern Sacramento Valley and into Klamath Falls (except when passing through mountainous aireas). Past Klamath Falls, there's not much coverage through the Cascades, but again, you won't want to be working for this stretch. Once you enter the Willamette Valley at Eugene, you're near I-5 and in populated areas without mountainous obstructions and signal should be fine most of the rest of the trip.


I did the Coast Starlight LAX to PDX in late March and used on-board wifi plus my T-Mobile phone as a tether. Service was very spotty even well south of Klamath Falls. Many of the small towns have particularly small cellular footprints and are also very brief scheduled stops.

Agree on the scenery. In daylight and decent weather one can find more appealing things to look at than a laptop screen. :D

Thanks for the feedback and links. Still considering my options, including doing nothing at all.

for what its worth, i take the trains between DC and Wilmington frequently. These all have the wifi service. Its effectively unusable. I dont bother even trying to do email let alone surf the web. Its so slow that its really unusable in my opinion.

for what its worth, i take the trains between DC and Wilmington frequently. These all have the wifi service. Its effectively unusable. I dont bother even trying to do email let alone surf the web. Its so slow that its really unusable in my opinion.

I've never had it available on Amtrak but found WiFi to be pretty worthless on other modes of transportation except for things like sending emails. I tried WIFI on Via Rail once and it turns out I couldn't stream on nextflix because it was a IP address outside of the US but even if I could have it would have been way to slow, it took five minutes for some websites to load. Same with GoGo on Delta and I am told Southwests wifi is no better.

Next time I take the train toledo to chicago I am thinking about signing up for the 4g on my IPAD but I am just scared I might not have a signal the entire trip.

I've had much better luck with GoGo than Amtrak wifi, though I think that's because there are significantly fewer users, between the fact that a 737 seats a lot less people than a peak NER train and the fact that Amtrak Connect is free and GoGo is a paid service.

I've had much better luck with GoGo than Amtrak wifi, though I think that's because there are significantly fewer users, between the fact that a 737 seats a lot less people than a peak NER train and the fact that Amtrak Connect is free and GoGo is a paid service.

If it's slower than GoGo it must be VERY SLOW:) I have found that when gogo/Delta run specials and access is free, the speed is even a lot slower. I would rather pay for the access myself if it would be high speed than have free access where it takes five minutes for an email to go through after hitting the send button.

I'm curious if you can use Skype and other video chat programs on Amtraks Wifi or if they are blocked out like on Gogo? It makes sense that on GoGo they would be blocked out of courtesy to your seatmates but on AmTrack people can go to the lounge and sightseeing cars to make video calls where it wouldn't be as disturbing or possibly have no seat mate at all if they are in their seat.

Next time I take the train toledo to chicago I am thinking about signing up for the 4g on my IPAD but I am just scared I might not have a signal the entire trip.
You should be fine if its your own service. I had no problem with a 3G verizon mifi on my cross country trip last year between NYP - CHI (which goes through TOL). In fact, I used it on my entire trip on the LSL, SWC and CS. The only points that were spotty were on the SWC through some parts of New Mexico and on the CS north of Klamath Falls.

I'm curious if you can use Skype and other video chat programs on Amtraks Wifi or if they are blocked out like on Gogo?

They're blocked out, along with YouTube, Netflix, and other video-streaming services -- more as an attempt to mitigate the limited bandwidth than due to the possibility of disturbing other passengers.