The Future Of Overground Travel
I found this article in Process and Control Today, which gives insight into the thinking of those behind the development of the London Overground and especially with respect to providing wi-fi for passengers.
I am very much in favour of free wi-fi without cumbersome logins on public transport, as I feel it might help those idiots, who commute by cars, to convert to a more efficient mode.
How many years will it be before all UK trains, buses and taxis have free wi-fi, with city centres providing it just as I found in Gdansk? To quote Cathy McGowan. “I’ll give it five!” But that’s probably only an at most!
I believe that if a city like London, made itself into a free wi-fi zone, that it would give a strong boost to the economy in terms of more tourism and visitors and it would encourage businesses to set up in the city.
But when did I hear a politician ever talk about the benefits of free wi-fi?
More And Better Wi-Fi For Trains
There are reports like this one from the BBC, which say that a Network Rail fine is going to be used to improve wi-fi on trains.
I believe that Chiltern Railways have got wi-fi right, with free access on their Mainline trains to Birmingham. Virgin appear to be going the same way too.
So lets hope that in a few years all trains have free wi-fi in all classes!
I must admit that if GreaterAnglia had free wi-fi in all carriages, then I wouldn’t bother to book First Class when I go to football at Ipswich, which would save me money.
I would think that it could be a good marketing tool for train companies, as it might be the service that will tempt people out of their cars and onto the trains.
And if trains can be wi-fi enabled how about more buses. I had hoped that London’s new Routemasters would be enabled, but they are not.
Virgin To Introduce Free Wi-Fi For All Passengers
Virgin Trains have retained their franchise to run West Coast Main Line services, according to this article from Modern Railways.
What I particularly like is this announcement.
All 76 Pendolino and Super Voyager trains will be equipped with superfast WiFi, which Network Rail intends to support by providing track-side infrastructure, said Virgin: ‘This would be the first major intercity deployment of 4G technology on the UK rail network and provide free WiFi to all customers.”
So they are following Chiltern Railways in making wi-fi free and accessible to all.
This will mean that if say I’m going to somewhere like Huddersfield, where I could use another company, I will travel on a Virgin!
Free Wi-Fi In Gdansk
I was very surprised to find that Gdansk city centre had a totally open and free Wi-fi network.
Free Wi-Fi In Gdansk
I sat in a cafe in the main square and checked all my regular web sites like the BBC on my phone.
There is a list of places listed here on Wikipedia under Municipal Wireless Network. Blackpool, Bristol, Liverpool and Norwich are listed for the UK.
How long will it be before we’ll just list the cities which don’t have it?
One of the reasons, I use Carluccio’s so often is that they have free wi-fi and after connecting once, you get all of their restaurants.
A Holiday In Marrakech
The idea was supposed to be very simple. I would fly out of Gatwick on British Airways, have four nights in a riad in Marrakesh and then fly back on Thursday afternoon. I’d booked through a well-known travel agent and they had arranged everything.
Ten years or so ago, C and myself had flown to Marrakech and stayed for a weekend in the Villa des Oranges and I’d hoped to bring back some happy memories, with perhaps a trip to the Atlas Mountains, taking a lot of photographs and writing my blog. I’d also checked out that the riad had wi-fi and was rated to be friendly and good for solo travellers.
But everything went pear-shaped when I found that my mobile-phone had been lost at Gatwick. I use it constantly for keeping in touch with the world, but no matter as I’d bought a small netbook computer with me and the riad had wi-fi.
The riad was good, except for the wi-fi, which perhaps ran for a minute or so before it dropped out. I even found it virtually impossible to send an e-mail using my Google account. I think I managed just one short post about my mobile phone. But no matter, as from previous experience there were some nice Internet cafes in Marrakech. But of course, I couldn’t find it and all I found was a grotty place, where the computers were virtually unusable. These days, who needs an Internet cafe? Only those in trouble.
I should say there was a nice computer for guests to use in the hotel, but it had the most complicated keyboard I’d ever seen. I couldn’t find the @-sign and it just turned me off everything.
I then booked a tour of the historic sites in the centre. I had been told it would be 400 Moroccan dinars, when I booked it, as I’d have to pay for two people, but in the morning, the guide wanted 400 each for me and my non-existent companion. I also found the tour would be just me and the guide.
That was it! I don’t like being ripped-off and I can afford to take a stand, but others perhaps cannot, so I told the guide where to go in no uncertain terms.
Marrakech was also depressing me, as it wasn’t the place I remembered and i couldn’t seem to find a nice cafe for a drink anywhere outside of the riad.
So as I didn’t want to be trapped there, I did what I always do. I cut my misery and took a taxi for the airport to get a flight home. I had checked that seats were available on easyJet, so perhaps I could be in London by nightfall.
My Hotel In Bilbao
I stayed at the Silken Gran Dominie hotel in Bilbao.
The hotel was comfortable and although it was a five-star one, I got each night of my say at €102.30.
The food and service were good and I ate in the hotel for most of the two days, as they knew their gluten-free and I wasn’t too sure about other places in the city.
But various little things were not what you would expect from a good hotel.
The wi-fi was free, but the passwords were so complicated, I never managed to get connected. My username was all numbers and letters with a password of kKf6vaW6. Ty typing those in on the small screen of a Samsung S3 Mini. But at least they provided a free desktop machine in the Business Centre.
There was no bathrobes, tea or coffee equipment or free water in the room, which I expect in a five star hotel.
There were also a few small details that annoyed. One was that you could only empty the bath from inside it, as you couldn’t reach the control for the plug. Note the picture of the bath! It’s full of water, which I couldn’t release once I had got dressed.
On the other hand the house wine cost just two euros a glass in the hotel’s cafe. And it was good too!
I’d definitely stay again, but I would expect the same cost!
Carluccio’s Do A Gluten-Free Crostini
This week, Carluccio’s have a gluten-free crostini on the special menu.
Carluccio’s Do A Gluten-Free Crostini
It is all about garlic, mushrooms and rocket.
It made a nice change as a starter.
Incidentally, the Carluccio’s in Islington now has wi-fi. And like the system in Manchester Piccadilly, it is easy to connect to it.
The King Is Dead
I stayed at a hotel, I’d used before with C.
The King Is Dead
It was a rather waste of time, as the room I had was noisy and very hot. with little ventilation. but I suppose the wi-fi was good and free.
Dalston Junction Station Gets Free Wi-Fi
My local station now has free wi-fi.
Dalston Junction Station Gets Free Wi-Fi
Not that I had my tablet with me this morning!
P&O Cruises Wi-Fi
I can accept that wi-fi on my P&O cruise was expensive, but quite frankly it wasn’t the best.
They did put in a disclaimer that it was slow and again that I will agree with, as satellites aren’t the best way to connect to the Internet. I’ve used it myself in the past and even that with a dish fixed to the ground had problems.
But I will take issue with the login and the account, which I highlighted here, as it wasn’t the easiest one to connect to, if you accepted the speed. Typing the password on a small Samsung tab device is not easy, especially when it has to use a name it doesn’t usually use. It could have been a lot better, if I compare it with the systems on some of the train companies, which surely have a similar connection to the Internet problem, although they can use the mobile phone network.
I also found a couple of times, that the system didn’t disconnect properly and consequently, I lost some of the wi-fi minutes I’d bought. It didn’t worry me too much, but some will get angry.
If I went on a P&O cruise again, I wouldn’t use the wi-fi, but rely on the normal 3G coverage, I got in the ports, which was generally excellent.
The Anonymous Widower 