Ever wondered why so many passengers on your services report a poor onboard wi-fi experience? Fivebars might have the answer
When you’re driving on the motorway, country road or just your standard residential road, you always see a telephone mast along the way. The majority of you have probably never really paid much attention to those tall, grey, metal telephone masts.
But here’s some news that might change the way you feel about them if you’re a coach or bus operator.
What’s the news?
Did you know that most, if not all, mobile networks have now upgraded their services to 4G signal?
What this means is, if you’re an operator and you are currently offering your customers wi-fi, but you only have a 3G signal agreement with your preferred network, you probably use 2G for an extended part of your route – making the user experience less enjoyable.
Why is that happening?
When the networks upgraded their service to 4G, the 3G equipment on the masts was decommissioned, leaving 4G and 2G connectivity as the only two options.
Therefore, if you are operating a 3G sim, you will not be able to pick up any 4G signal and will only be able to operate on 2G.
The reason for this is signal can never jump up – as we all know, it can only get worse. You may be one of the lucky operators that is still able to use 3G; however, that won’t be for much longer.
With more and more networks now using 4G only, the masts will start to phase out 3G signal at a quicker rate. This means that if you are offering passenger wi-fi to your customers, it will only ever be running on 2G.
‘Terrible’ 2G
Fivebars Managing Director Martin Murphy thinks it’s time for everyone to be aware of this. He says: “The passenger data experience on 2G is terrible.
“It’s like trying to open a webpage on my old Blackberry and holding it up in the air. Try switching off your 4G and 3G on your phone and try and load up a webpage or send an email, and you’ll see what we mean.
“2G was meant for voice traffic, which is why you still have 2G on the masts. If you are on a bus or train using a 3G sim, it’s not going to be a great experience.
“I couldn’t believe how many operators are still using 3G sims. This would account for the number of complaints about reception and coverage on these routes, where mobile 4G reception would be showing up as fine.”
The Fivebars team of wi-fi experts can help. Call 023 8020 0680, email hello@fivebars.co.uk or visit fivebars.co.uk
