I suggest that there could be an additional issue: That what (a lot more) people are using it for is a lot more -- well, just a lot more. Streaming, online games and more. A lot of stuff is flowing through those old rickety "pipelines". FWIW, I note that, on the road for three months straight, when I returned last week, the number of routers/hotspots in my in-town neighborhood has multiplied. (Got me to thinking: Was Christmas a factor? I digress...)

Maybe there were a lot of people streaming news reports about the tsunami and earth quake?

I'm thinking this, too. I'm also thinking that this is a good time for people to let UA, RCC and t-mobile know about the issue if we and they are to stay ahead of the curve.@:-) And I think this has been an issue at a lot of hotels, as well. I've been one who has said for a long time that wifi should be free because its maintenance costs are about nil. But maybe we've reached the juncture that it's time to invest in upgrades. Yes, more digression, but since we're on the topic.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.654 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/104)

It's true, and it's hitting the cell networks too. Just last year my 3G aircard was faster than many hotspots, but now that's been slammed as well.

Just glad I'm posting at midnight PST, so I can get some bandwidth right now.

Ditto. I can get good cell signals far into the hinterlands in California, but worse and worse right here at home. Especially from 5-5:20pm every weekday. (AT&T, which is way smaller than Verizon here)

Hoo boy, speaking of pressure on the system, there's a report that there's just been an explosion at one of Japan's nuclear plants (Fukushima?). I'd be thrilled to take this out if it's a false alarm, or if the mods think we're drifting. I'm just going here, here, because if true, there may be a lot more streaming later today.....

I have given up trying to use T-mobile in the RCCs. I never stay connected for more than about 1-2 minutes (literally). When I get kicked off I cannot just reconnect but have to reboot which is to much of a PITA to deal with. I don't even bother to try any more. Very frustrating.

Since February, I have had problems with the Wi-Fi in the domestic RCC at SFO and both DEN RCCs, every time. The tragedy of the commons has struck again; it struck before when Wi-Fi became free for RCC members several years back.

In addition, the three aforementioned RCCs are much more crowded. I've never had to spend as much time to find an area to work and plug in as I have since February.

Relief is coming. Sky high fuel prices will drive up fares and drive down passenger traffic.

Earlier this week that lounge was packed and internet failed miserably. Lots of people complaining as they left.

RCC WIFI is a mess
 

There seem to be two problems with the RCC WIFI. The number of concurrent connections is often exceeded at the busy clubs (I find the IAD club near the international departures the worse), and they are trying to be too careful ensuring the RCC portlet is not displayed outside of the clubs (so everyone, including RCC members, are forced to pay outside of the clubs).

The cost of WIFI is not very high and they need to make significant improvements to their hardware.

T-Mobile uses crappy Cisco equipment for Wi-Fi. Cisco might be good at building switches and routers, but their wireless products are sub-par.

Sorry, but what does "...the number of concurrent connections is often exceeded at busy clubs" mean?

And I think you've identified an additional problem that has existed since day 1: They deliberately maintain a weak signal. Not a problem if you're on the side of those who want to keep out the riff raff. A problem if the idea is to provide quality service to all users. Because the trouble is, sometimes this results in the non-riff raff having unacceptable service, too. Anyway, this can be debated, but it is a fact that the signal is deliberately kept weak.

In the PHX RCC right now and they don't even have a T-Mobile wi-fi connection. Had to connect to the PHX Sky Harbor Free Wi-Fi

So you're saying that they won't let you pay?

No issue at the C17 RCC for me yesterday morning

Well, thankfully PHX airport has its own free wi-fi service, albeit spotty. There was absolutely no T-Mobile signal to be found in the RCC whatsoever.