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MTA Is Now Testing Out Wi-Fi Service INSIDE Subway Cars
By
Ben Yakas
Published Jun 2, 2016
Modified Jun 2, 2016
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Jun 2, 2016
Modified Jun 2, 2016
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We have Wi-Fi on buses, in our parks, on sidewalks, in dozens of subway stations. And now, one of the last No Wi-Fi Zones is about to go the way of the subway token.
NY1 reports that the MTA has begun quietly testing out Wi-Fi inside subway cars. They point out that there have been no signage or publicity announcing that Wi-Fi has been installed on four cars along the E line so far, which seems like a strange strategy for testing out public usage: if no one knows it's there to use, how can the MTA tell if the signal will hold up to lots of people using it all at once?
But it seems that despite the strides in Wi-Fi technology everywhere else in the city, they're not quite there yet with subways. As NY1 discovered when they rode one of the Wi-Fi enabled trains, "the signal wasn't all there," and mostly seemed to be working at the platform.
This Wi-Fi testing will continue through June 7th, and the MTA has previously said it hopes to have subway tunnels wired for internet and cellphone usage by the end of next year. We've contacted them to see whether there will be other rounds of testing on other lines in the near future.
Tagged
internet
MTA
subway
train
wi-fi
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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