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I visited London this weekend and found even many underground _stations_ were without mobile service, 15 years after I got used to having spotless end-to-end mo

I visited London this weekend and found even many underground _stations_ were without mobile service, 15 years after I got used to having spotless end-to-end mobile coverage even in deepest tunnels. I don't know why the London Underground lags that of other cities? Knowing the next station is usually a solved problem that doesn't need a smartphone, because that's displayed in the train itself and called out on speakers. But once you are on the platform and you need to ask the route planner what the fastest route is to a specific station (It could be walking to the surface and taking a bus, so it's not as simple as looking at the subway map) - then you are out of luck if platforms don't have 4/5G coverage!

vinay427 2y ago
The usual answer that will be thrown around to justify this is that London has the oldest underground metro system, whether that’s relevant or not. It doesn’t seem very relevant when even the deepest stations in Prague (which are newer but much deeper than most of London) have later added 5G throughout tunnels with download speeds of ~200 Mbps between stations. I suspect the UK just doesn’t have modern standards for mobile internet service, as it isn’t limited to TfL services in London. There isn’t even reliable mobile coverage on stretches of the West Coast Main Line rail corridor in England, which is outdoors and connects the UK’s most populous cities. Much of London isn’t particularly reliable either on most mobile networks, in my experience. Meanwhile, in cities like Prague or Washington I can often get mobile download speeds outdoors of 400 Mbps - 1-2 Gbps.
beejiu 2y ago
Almost all tunnel sections now have 4G/5G and everything should be done by the end of this year according to Tfl.
- lol768 2y ago
  They've given "targets" and deadlines before and failed to meet them. I would take whatever they say with a large portion of salt.
DrBazza 2y ago
Half the LU tunnels are barely larger than the train, the other half are cut'n'cover. And they're rarely straight. And most lines run from 5am to midnight. Some now run almost 24 hrs. That probably influences the decisions on roll-out and cost. TFL has been ahead-of-the-curve with the rollout of some tech (Oyster cards, tap'n'go), but not so much with others when they get hacked. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gqg2elkj4o https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gqg2elkj4o https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oyster_card#Precursor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oyster_card#Precursor

vinay427 2y ago

The usual answer that will be thrown around to justify this is that London has the oldest underground metro system, whether that’s relevant or not. It doesn’t seem very relevant when even the deepest stations in Prague (which are newer but much deeper than most of London) have later added 5G throughout tunnels with download speeds of ~200 Mbps between stations. I suspect the UK just doesn’t have modern standards for mobile internet service, as it isn’t limited to TfL services in London. There isn’t even reliable mobile coverage on stretches of the West Coast Main Line rail corridor in England, which is outdoors and connects the UK’s most populous cities. Much of London isn’t particularly reliable either on most mobile networks, in my experience. Meanwhile, in cities like Prague or Washington I can often get mobile download speeds outdoors of 400 Mbps - 1-2 Gbps.

beejiu 2y ago

Almost all tunnel sections now have 4G/5G and everything should be done by the end of this year according to Tfl.

lol768 2y ago
They've given "targets" and deadlines before and failed to meet them. I would take whatever they say with a large portion of salt.

DrBazza 2y ago

Half the LU tunnels are barely larger than the train, the other half are cut'n'cover. And they're rarely straight. And most lines run from 5am to midnight. Some now run almost 24 hrs. That probably influences the decisions on roll-out and cost. TFL has been ahead-of-the-curve with the rollout of some tech (Oyster cards, tap'n'go), but not so much with others when they get hacked. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gqg2elkj4o https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gqg2elkj4o https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oyster_card#Precursor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oyster_card#Precursor