I would honestly pay significantly higher taxes if we could get Swiss-quality train service in parts of the US (and especially if they have good internet).<p>When I traveled Boston to NY in the past, compare my flight experience vs Amtrak.<p>Flight:
- Take $25 Uber to airport and get there 1 hour early to go through security and wait.
- Fly to JFK (1h 20m)
- land, wait to get off, go through terminal again, then take $50 Uber to Manhattan (or $20 via public transit but god forbid you are even slightly confused about transfers).<p>Train:
- Take the Red Line to South Station, getting there 15 minutes early
- Take a 4 hour train to Penn Station, with essentially a full desk, no real baggage limitation, freedom to walk around, and good wifi.
- Walk outside into Manhattan<p>Admittedly, I took the Acela, which is business class, but almost all comparisons hold true for the NE Regional except you'd have to tether your own connection and it's a bit more crowded. The main thing is that this 4 hour chunk of time is uninterrupted by checkpoints and transfers and whatever else. It's relaxing rather than stressful.<p>People tell me the reasons that everything is more expensive than in Switzerland is because (a) the US is bigger, so infrastructure cost more [and flights scale easier], (b) the US is bigger, so city-to-city distances eat more of day up, or (c) labor unions make costs higher. But is (b) a real problem if you can work on the train? And I don't really get (c).
It's interesting that they state that the train was moving, but not <i>how fast</i>. My understanding was that one of the challenges with doing good mobile broadband on trains (esp. for VoIP applications) is how seamlessly you manage the handover between cells makes a big difference to real-world usability. If the train was going pretty slowly that would obviously make your time-per-cell a lot higher / % of time spent performing handoff a lot lower...
They are using the same technique they use in Japan.<p>In Tokyo, you get full signal strength, wherever you are (even in tunnels going underwater).<p>That's because they have mobile antennas <i>everywhere</i>, including lining all the railway lines.<p>I'll bet that their service ain't so cheap, though (I was roaming, when I was there, and that was <i>definitely</i> not cheap).
The can brag about this as much as they want, but there are huge gaps in connectivity on major routes. Like literally 2G connection.<p>I ride Luzern-Zürich daily and there are major parts where its terrible, and I believe this is one of the densest lines. Even right in front of Zürich where there is lots of population.<p>And this not the only place by far, even basic low quality video doesn't really work well on my routes.<p>Edit: I'm using a different provider, but I am fairly certain you would have the same problem with that one.
Swiss mobile internet is fantastic. It works in trains, it works in the mountains, it works in the cities, it works everywhere. OK, the country is small, but still it is quite an achievement.
> stream videos, play online games or work in virtual offices. This requires a great deal of bandwidth<p>only the first might if someone were streaming 8K video with 7.1 lossless audio, which wouldn't even come close to 1.2Gbps, but on a mobile device on public transport? no<p>I'm pretty certain 1.2Gbps would serve an entire train 720p video with 128kbps stereo audio, which for 99.9% of people would be adequate for a mobile device on public transport<p>it's a bit like breaking the land speed record, a bit pointless and you'll never get (nor need) to be the driver
I'm surprised this was an issue. I've never had trouble maintaining a stable 4G connection when traveling at 80mph down the highway. I'd be interested in some reasons why a train is a much tougher situation.
Musk: SpaceX's Starlink Internet Service Will Work in High-Speed Moving Vehicles<p><a href="https://www.pcmag.com/news/musk-spacexs-starlink-internet-service-will-work-in-high-speed-moving-vehicles?amp=true" rel="nofollow">https://www.pcmag.com/news/musk-spacexs-starlink-internet-se...</a>
Has anyone noticed that the comments here are only tangential to the topic of the heading, ie "stable internet on moving trains". Most are on the trains and the country where the trains are located. Not complaining; just my observation.
The other day, a friend who has been working in mainland China for a while, shared that China's logistic networks have enabled a distinct manufacturing process. There, one can expect most goods be delivered next day, across hundreds of city hubs. That efficiency allows factories to have far more choices of their locations that can achieve the same overall efficiency as the centralized factories decades ago.<p>I thought about it for a while, one conclusion I got is that, unless US significantly curb the capitalism freedom in business activities, there is no chance that one can revert the centralization of the global manufacturing inside mainland China. Simply put, the logistic networks for both goods and people, and many other investment, makes mainland China the best manufacturing hub. That's a straightforward economy outcome.