{"id":8524,"date":"2014-10-14T21:55:51","date_gmt":"2014-10-15T01:55:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gwsolutions.com\/black-spots-on-rails-commuters-forced-to-look-out-of-the-window-as-up-to-1-in-3-mobile-internet-tasks-attempted-on-trains-fail\/"},"modified":"2023-11-30T07:50:12","modified_gmt":"2023-11-30T12:50:12","slug":"black-spots-on-rails-commuters-forced-to-look-out-of-the-window-as-up-to-1-in-3-mobile-internet-tasks-attempted-on-trains-fail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gwsolutions.com\/2014\/10\/14\/black-spots-on-rails-commuters-forced-to-look-out-of-the-window-as-up-to-1-in-3-mobile-internet-tasks-attempted-on-trains-fail\/","title":{"rendered":"Black-spots on rails: commuters forced to look out of the window as up to 1 in 3 mobile internet tasks attempted on trains fail"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Three crowned best network for commuters who like to talk, Vodafone for commuters on 3G, and EE for commuters on 4G, following most rigorous train connectivity study ever conducted<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>1 in 3 mobile internet tasks and 1 in 7 voice calls attempted on commuter train routes failed during testing<\/li>\n<li>Three has best network for commuters who like to talk<\/li>\n<li>Vodafone\u2019s subscribers get best 3G data service, EE subscribers best 4G data service\u2026<\/li>\n<li>\u2026but EE, O2, and Vodafone all heavily relying on their older 2G networks to cover commuters<\/li>\n<li>St. Pancras wins mobile connectivity wooden spoon<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>OCTOBER 14, 2014 &#8211; <b>LONDON, UK \u2014 <\/b>Almost a third of mobile internet tasks (30.3%) attempted on commuter train routes failed during a connectivity study carried out by Global Wireless Solutions (GWS).<\/p>\n<p>GWS engineers carried out high-level tests while travelling back and forth on the ten most popular commuting routes into and out of London, and discovered that\u2014on average\u2014almost 1 in 4 3G data \u2018packets\u2019 (23.2%), and well over 1 in 3 4G data packets (37.2%) travelling across the networks of the four major UK operators didn\u2019t make it to their intended destinations.<\/p>\n<p><i>Figure 1: Packet data reliability: the big four operators on 3G and 4G<\/i><\/p>\n<div class=\"Tables dataTable dataTableBeforeHeader OrangeNYellow\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<td>Data Type<\/td>\n<td>3<\/td>\n<td>EE<\/td>\n<td>O2<\/td>\n<td>VODAFONE<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>3G<\/td>\n<td>77.4%<\/td>\n<td>69.8%<\/td>\n<td>78.0%<\/td>\n<td>82.0%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>4G<\/td>\n<td>35.4%<\/td>\n<td>74.1%<\/td>\n<td>65.9%<\/td>\n<td>75.1%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<p>GWS\u2019 testing suggests that Vodafone subscribers get the best 3G data service while commuting \u2013 Vodafone\u2019s 3G network is the most reliable (in terms of getting data packets through) and offers the fastest download speeds (2Mbps on average during testing).<\/p>\n<p>EE currently offers the best 4G data service; its 4G network tied with Vodafone in the reliability stakes but was the fastest when it came to downloads (5.6Mbps on average during testing).<\/p>\n<p><i>Figure 2: how long it is likely to take commuters with 3G data to upload a picture\/download a song\/download a video?<\/i><\/p>\n<div class=\"Tables taskTable taskDataTableBeforeHeader OrangeNYellow\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<td>Task<\/td>\n<td>3<\/td>\n<td>EE<\/td>\n<td>O2<\/td>\n<td>VODAFONE<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Time to upload 4MB picture (seconds):<\/td>\n<td>33<\/td>\n<td>36.2<\/td>\n<td>45.4<\/td>\n<td>48.4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Time to download 4MB song (seconds):<\/td>\n<td>23.3<\/td>\n<td>21<\/td>\n<td>26.8<\/td>\n<td>16.1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Download time for 4 minutes of HD video (seconds):<\/td>\n<td>41.2<\/td>\n<td>42.4<\/td>\n<td>46.8<\/td>\n<td>41.5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p><i>Figure 3: how long it is likely to take commuters with 4G data to upload a picture\/download a song\/download a video?<\/i><\/p>\n<div class=\"Tables taskTable taskDataTableBeforeHeader OrangeNYellow\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<td>Task<\/td>\n<td>3<\/td>\n<td>EE<\/td>\n<td>O2<\/td>\n<td>VODAFONE<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Time to upload 4MB picture (seconds):<\/td>\n<td>16.3<\/td>\n<td>10.8<\/td>\n<td>16.3<\/td>\n<td>9.5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Time to download 4MB song (seconds):<\/td>\n<td>10.8<\/td>\n<td>5.8<\/td>\n<td>7.1<\/td>\n<td>7.7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Download time for 4 minutes of HD video (seconds):<\/td>\n<td>16.2<\/td>\n<td>7.8<\/td>\n<td>11.2<\/td>\n<td>12.4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p><b>Every carriage is a quiet carriage now<\/b><\/p>\n<p>GWS\u2019 testing suggests that it\u2019s not just the mobile internet that Londoners struggle to use while commuting: 1 in 7 voice calls (14%) made from trains fail too.<\/p>\n<p>Three won GWS\u2019 voice calling run-off; its network was the joint-first-most reliable, but emerged as the clear winner when call quality was factored in.<\/p>\n<p>Commuters are likely to experience poor call quality (e.g. sound breaking up) when mobile operators use older 2G networks to route their calls, and\/or use \u2018half-rate codecs\u2019 to decode voice call data.<\/p>\n<p>GWS\u2019 engineers were \u2018on 2G\u2019 with O2 for more than 60% of the time while testing on commuter trains. In addition, O2 used half-rate codecs to handle almost a third of all the calls (28.16%) engineers made during the testing programme.<\/p>\n<p>EE fell back on its 2G network two-fifths of the time (41.82%) during testing, but only used half-rate codecs to decode 2.96% of the test calls made.<\/p>\n<p>Vodafone also relied on its 2G network 40% of the time during testing; it used half-rate codecs to decode 7.92% of all the calls made by engineers in the course of the testing programme.<\/p>\n<p><b>No signal on the Hogwarts Express<\/b><\/p>\n<p>1 in 4 of the data task failures (24.18%) GWS\u2019 engineers experienced occurred while they were on trains in stations, while 1 in 5 occurred when they were on trains on open stretches of track.<\/p>\n<p>However, voice calls are more likely to fail on open track than in a station (1 in 4 of the voice \u2018failures\u2019 GWS\u2019 engineers experienced occurred when they were in a station, compared to 1 in 3 when they were on open track).<\/p>\n<p>GWS found that voice and data failures are more likely to occur when a train is travelling from 0-5 MPH than when it is travelling between speeds of 5 and 50 MPH. Failures are most likely to occur when a train is travelling above 50 MPH.<\/p>\n<p>St. Pancras has by far and away the worst connectivity of all of the stations tested by GWS. GWS\u2019 engineers experienced an average of 99 voice and packet data failures (across the four operators) while testing in the famous station.<\/p>\n<p><i>Figure 4: Top 10 worst-connected commuter stations<\/i><\/p>\n<div class=\"Tables rankStation rankStationBeforeHeader OrangeNYellow\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<td>Ranking (worst to best)<\/td>\n<td>Station<\/td>\n<td>Average number of Voice and data failures<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<td>St. Pancras<\/td>\n<td>99<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>2<\/td>\n<td>Radlett<\/td>\n<td>53<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>3<\/td>\n<td>Kentish Town<\/td>\n<td>43<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>4<\/td>\n<td>Upminster<\/td>\n<td>42<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>5<\/td>\n<td>Elstree and Borehamwood<\/td>\n<td>36<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>6<\/td>\n<td>Hendon<\/td>\n<td>33.5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>7<\/td>\n<td>St. Alban\u2019s City<\/td>\n<td>33<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>8<\/td>\n<td>Cricklewood<\/td>\n<td>27.5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>9<\/td>\n<td>Kidbrooke<\/td>\n<td>27<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>10<\/td>\n<td>Ockendon<\/td>\n<td>26<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p><b>Paul Carter, CEO of GWS, commented<\/b>: \u201cLeaves on the track, the wrong kind of snow, having to stand up all the way to work and back \u2013 commuters have enough to contend with without the kind of mobile connectivity problems we\u2019re revealing today. It\u2019s hard to believe we\u2019re in 2014 and in a situation whereby a trained wizard would have a tough time getting a signal on the Hogwarts Express while it\u2019s sitting in St. Pancras.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPressure from commuters makes it inevitable that trains won\u2019t keep their status as mobile dead zones for much longer. It\u2019d be great to see networks, rail operators and station-masters taking the lead on improving connectivity for commuters \u2013 rather than having to be dragged into the 21st Century kicking and screaming.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><b>Methodology<\/b><\/p>\n<p>GWS\u2019 engineers benchmarked the ten most popular commuter train routes into and out of London, and used an array of 12 Samsung Galaxy S4s (powered by Rohde &amp; Schwarz\u2019s SwissQual QualiPoc Freerider) to gather data for its study of commuters\u2019 mobile connectivity. Three SIMs from each of the four major UK operators (3, EE, O2 and Vodafone) were used during testing \u2013 in each case one SIM was used for voice testing, one SIM was used for 3G-only data testing, and one SIM was used for 4G-only data testing. An extremely wide range of voice and data metrics were analysed during the study of commuters\u2019 connectivity experiences; a specific rundown of these metrics is available on demand. The figures posted have been weighted and stat-tested. Testing was conducted in June 2014.<\/p>\n<h3>About Global Wireless Solutions, Inc.<\/h3>\n<p>Global Wireless Solutions, Inc. (www.gwsolutions.com) defines the industry standard for network benchmarking, analysis and testing. Working with some of the world\u2019s largest wireless network providers, Global Wireless Solutions offers standardized, high-quality network data and engineering analysis to its customers through a suite of benchmarking products, including drive testing, in-building testing and App testing.<\/p>\n<p>Firmly rooted in a deep understanding of network engineering, Global Wireless Solutions provides best-in-class, turnkey solutions to help customers better understand overall network performance as today\u2019s wireless networks grow and evolve.<\/p>\n<p>Founded in 1996, Global Wireless Solutions is headquartered in Dulles, VA. At last count, Global Wireless Solutions has driven more than 8 million data collection miles for its customers. For more information, visit www.gwsolutions.com and follow us on Twitter at @gwsolutionsinc<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Media Contact:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Megan Hughes-Evans\/Edward Butterfield<br \/>\nDiffusion PR<br \/>\n+44 (0)207 291 0238<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:gws@diffusionpr.com\"><strong>gws@diffusionpr.com<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Three crowned best network for commuters who like to talk, Vodafone for commuters on 3G, and EE for commuters on 4G, following&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"_blank"},"categories":[22],"tags":[25],"class_list":["post-8524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release","tag-london-commuter-rail-report"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gwsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8524"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gwsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gwsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gwsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gwsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8524"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gwsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8524\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10207,"href":"https:\/\/gwsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8524\/revisions\/10207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gwsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gwsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gwsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}