Free Wi-Fi has appeared on Moscow buses since Monday, but so far only in test mode and only on four routes of Mosgortrans State Unitary Enterprise. Passengers who have already become accustomed to free wireless internet in the metro and at public transport stops, were able to evaluate the innovation together with a RIAMO correspondent.
Do you have wi-fi?
On February 1, 2016, the first buses with free Internet access took to the streets of the capital. The wireless network is available for passengers of semi-express No. 902, which runs from the Kievsky railway station to the south-west of Moscow, No. 904, following from the Belorussky railway station to Mitin, as well as on the night bus No. H1, which runs to Sheremetyevo Airport, and route No. 1002, operating in New Moscow.
An Internet access point was found on the first bus of route 904, but it is not so easy to understand that the vehicle is indeed equipped with free Wi-Fi. There are only three stickers with information about the possibility of connecting to free Internet in the cabin, which does not “catchy the eye” of the passenger. At the same time, each of them has a technical support phone number, which any passenger can call in case of connection problems.
“I was lucky that I saw a sticker with information about free Wi-Fi connection, because I sat next to this sticker,” said one of the passengers.
Simple but slow
The procedure for connecting to the Internet operates in the bus according to the same principle as in the Moscow metro. When connecting for the first time, you must leave your phone number, which will receive a confirmation code within 1-2 minutes, it must be entered in the empty field that will appear in the browser window after sending SMS to the number.
Authorization turned out to be simple and fast, which cannot be said about the speed of the Internet. According to the Yandex Internetmeter service, the incoming connection speed did not exceed 0.95 megabits per second, and outgoing - 0.88 megabits per second. At the same time, according to the version of the SpeedTest Internet application, the incoming speed reached only 0.59 megabits per second, while the outgoing speed was 1.07 megabits per second.
Meanwhile, according to the press service of Mosgortrans, the connection speed reaches 10 megabits per second. In general, when viewing social networks and news on the Internet, there are no problems, but in order to watch a video, you will have to be patient and wait until it loads.
Useful service
Of the ten passengers on route 904, only three were aware of the arrival of free Wi-Fi on the bus. At the same time, opinions regarding the new function differ.
“To be honest, I found out that free Wi-Fi appeared on my route, not by accident, but only after I purposefully searched the Internet for information about the implementation of such a project in Moscow buses,” said Maxim, a Moscow student.
According to him, this service is very important for him. “Often on the way to the institute you need to prepare for a couple, in this case the Internet is indispensable. It's great when you can connect to free Wi-Fi for such purposes, because the network is not caught everywhere, and it costs money. It would be faster if all the transport in Moscow was connected to such a service," the young man shares.
As another passenger Marina noted, wireless access to the Internet, in her opinion, will be in demand only on "long" routes.
“I think it's great that people have more and more opportunities to be sociable anywhere in the city. I actively use social networks, so the ability to watch updates in them in any form of transport makes life much easier," the girl shared.
Passengers "disappeared"
Photo: RIAMO, Tatiana Korobeinik
However, not all passengers share the joy of the penetration of the Internet into all spheres of life. According to one of the passengers, the number of people reading in public transport has decreased significantly in recent years.
"Just look how few people with books are sitting in public transport. I do not see anything useful in the free Internet on the bus, it will further alienate young people from books. And nothing can replace simple human communication, and young people today, and middle-aged people, too, have simply disappeared into their mobile devices," the agency's interlocutor complained.
Mosgortrans plans to test free Wi-Fi on buses until April 2016. After passengers try out the innovation, a decision will be made on the further introduction of free Wi-Fi on rolling stock.
Anton Shamarin
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For businesses with user identification: in cafes, restaurants, business and shopping centers. Today we will talk about how we build mobile Wi-Fi networks - that is, networks that do not have a permanent location. For example, Wi-Fi in public transport, which moves around the city throughout the day, taxis, at offsite business events, is also a convenient option for catering services. Our product is made in such a way that it does not matter to us which network the client needs: mobile or fixed. In any case, you get a full-fledged Wi-Fi zone with identification. So, again we pass the floor to Andrey Plavich, MTS Business Market Marketing and Product Manager.
We can build a Wi-Fi network on any mobile transport: whether it be buses, trolleybuses, trains, steamships and taxis. At the same time, the service is implemented in compliance with all legal requirements. In general, the operation of the network can be described in two steps: the router communicates with the base station, and the signal is forwarded to our identification platform. A more detailed diagram is in the figure below:
To connect the service, we use Enterprise-level (industrial) Wi-Fi routers. They can certainly be placed in dusty rooms, used in difficult temperature and vibration conditions. Such a router is powered by 220 Volts, 48 and 12, so we can easily integrate them into transport, where there is a standard 12-volt battery - now we are testing such a network in St. Petersburg. It should be noted that MTS equipment is provided as part of the service, the client does not bear additional costs for the purchase of equipment and does not experience difficulties with its configuration - all issues are resolved by MTS engineers.
We always do for our clients Personal Area with all client statistics. In the case of installing a router in public transport, you can see how many users were in each trolleybus (bus or minibus), which users were in which trolleybuses and how often they move around the city, and which routes are the most popular. Having such information, the client can plan various marketing activities - the network has wide analytical capabilities.
The uniqueness of the mobile network lies in the fact that, in addition to transport, it is also useful for companies that organize meetings, seminars, negotiations and video conferences outside the offices. Of course, you can always “give out” your Internet to guests as an alternative, but, firstly, the list of invitees may be too large, and secondly, you will not fulfill the requirement of the law on user identification. That is, you are not immune from the fact that the visitors to your conference will not commit any illegal act using your network. With our Wi-Fi network with user identification, you can rest easy, all legal conditions will be met. Moreover, you will have all the statistics on the participants (who connected to the network) and their contacts, which will be a good help in future marketing activities.
Such a network can also be deployed at field events in nature. By placing several routers around the perimeter, we can organize a single network in several areas (at the request of the customer, we have the opportunity to separate zones - one for guests with identification, the other for employees with a single login and password). Although such a network may have limitations on bandwidth base stations outside settlements, because the signal is taken from ordinary base stations - 3G or LTE, but even in the case weak signal- at the request of the client - we can strengthen it.
Active development open points access to the Internet was associated with the World Cup in 2018. This is one of the popular reasons for such a sharp increase in the use of Wi-Fi in the bus and other public transport. Many users are still wondering: how to connect to Wi-Fi on the Mosgortrans bus.
Free open Wi-Fi hotspots are already actively operating on more than 1,500 public transport units in Moscow and over 800 units in St. Petersburg. This number is constantly growing, as it is associated with the popularity of this service. In other regions, there are much fewer active access points, but at the same time, growth is noted, nevertheless.
Together with the participation of the Kamchatka communications operator LLC InterKamService, five buses will be launched in Kamchatka, in which Wi-Fi Internet will be active.
In Kazan, student buses to Naberezhnye Chelny are actively moving. At the same time, the ticket price does not differ from the usual intercity flights.
Since the beginning of the year, the number of Internet sessions on buses in the capital has tripled.
Bus routes with internet access
Back in February 2016 in Moscow, the first routes with equipment and Internet access were as follows:
- No. 902 "11th microdistrict Solntsevo - Kievsky railway station";
- No. 904 "4th microdistrict Mitino - Belorussky railway station";
- No. 1001 "Troitsk ( Shopping center) - Kievsky (village)";
- No. H1 (night route) "Ozernaya Street - Sheremetyevo Airport".
To date, WiFi-connection is actively working in public transport with the route "Petersburg-Helsinki".
Reference! Buses, minibuses and trams with built-in Wi-Fi are actively operating throughout Russia.
How to use Wi-Fi in public transport
Residents of the capital actively use accessible internet in any convenient place. The city bus is recognized as the most popular. But not everyone knows how to connect Wi-Fi on the Mosgortrans bus. In fact, establishing an Internet connection is not difficult.
Authorization methods
Connection instructions
There are two ways to connect to the Internet: via SMS or a single portal "Gosuslug".
Connect via SMS:
Connect through "Gosuslugi":
Reference. Reconnecting does not require authorization. The connection will be made automatically.
What to do if Wi-Fi in transport is declared, but does not work
Despite the serviceability and variety of open access points, WiFi on buses may malfunction or not work at all.
There are many reasons: a malfunction of the passenger's gadget, a breakdown of the router on the bus, and others.
In addition, given the number of connected passengers in transport, we can conclude that the router simply cannot cope with the flow of information, so access to the Internet is impossible.
Available manipulations to solve the problem are as follows:
Conclusion
The article answered the question of how to connect to open wifi on a Moscow bus, instructing in detail on how to connect and perform the appropriate step-by-step actions.
It should also be added that for security reasons the buses are equipped with CCTV cameras. Now there are free access points in public transport - an excellent solution to improve the quality of life of citizens. Therefore, if the balance is negative, the subscriber can be online thanks to an open Wi-Fi network.
All articles on our site are audited by a technical consultant. If you have any questions, you can always ask them on his page.
Separately and especially important is to provide WiFi in corporate transport: your employees will be able to quickly respond to important email right on the trip, download the right materials, prepare commercial proposal: time spent in transport will not be wasted. And with redundant communication channels and powerful 3G/LTE solutions, Internet access will be uninterrupted even during long intercity and international trips.
What can we do
We offer a comprehensive range of services for organizing WiFi in private and public transport, understanding and taking into account the specifics of this task: the need to ensure uninterrupted Internet access, high density customers, the need for centralized management (if we are talking about the bus depot / depot / air fleet), etc. Intercity and international buses used to transport sports teams are equipped with additional high-bandwidth communication channels to provide the ability to view video traffic and make voice and video calls. For enterprises that own a large number of vehicles, a centralized WiFi management system is provided on each transport unit, a GPS tracking system for vehicles. The solutions developed by us will take into account the design features of vehicles (metal walls, ceilings, shielding surfaces, lack of 220V power). When developing a solution, we consider design vehicle, we select equipment that organically fits into it, if necessary, we carry out hidden installation. The solutions we offer are guaranteed to meet the key needs of the customer: reliability, high performance, stability.
As part of the organization of WiFi for transport, we will carry out all the work on a turnkey basis:
- Carrying out a radio survey (if necessary)
- Designing a solution, selecting equipment taking into account interior design (if necessary, custom-made device cases are manufactured and painted)
- Supply of equipment and software
- Installation and configuration of the system
- Configuring QoS (Quality Of Service; a set of rules that allows you to give the highest priority to network bandwidth for certain types of traffic or for certain users / groups of users)
- Setting quotas, billing
- Setting up an identification service in accordance with Federal Law No. 97
- Detailed documentation
- Integration with related systems (if necessary)
- Cable work (if necessary)
At the request of the customer, further maintenance of the deployed system can be organized(monitoring of equipment status, regular firmware updates, adaptation to changing customer needs, network scaling, proactive replacement of equipment).
We offer solutions based on leading manufacturers of WiFi equipment:
| Manufacturer | Positioning | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
 | Ruckus is a Hi-End vendor and one of the key trendsetters and trendsetters in WiFi worldwide. Ruckus equipment catalog: | Ruckus solutions have the following features:
|
| TP-LINK is a vendor offering budget and mid-range equipment. It has high quality, manufacturability, the most modern element base, provides high-quality WiFi broadcasting both indoors and outdoors. TP-LINK equipment catalog: | TP-LINK solutions have the following features:
|
|
 | is one of the most famous WiFi vendors in the world. Occupies one of the central places in the budget price segment both in terms of popularity and manufacturability of the products offered. Ubiquiti Equipment Catalog: | Ubiquiti solutions have the following features:
|
| Cambium is one of the leading manufacturers of professional WiFi equipment carrier and enterprise class. Occupies the middle price segment. Cambium equipment catalog: | Cambium solutions have the following features:
|
| Mikrotik is a European manufacturer of budget WiFi equipment. The lowest price threshold. Provides very rich functionality. |
In Svetlogorsk city buses, it became possible to use the Wi-Fi network for free to connect to the global web.
Wi-Fi equipment is installed on more than 60% of the buses involved in urban passenger transportation. So the opportunity to ride in a bus that distributes “free” Internet is quite high. So far, the buses do not outwardly give out their technological filling, but soon stickers should appear on them indicating the presence of Wi-Fi in each particular bus.
I took a ride on several city buses to test and understand how the innovation works. I will describe my experience of using it step by step so that it is more clear what to do and in what sequence. Testing was carried out on an iPhone smartphone. Perhaps on Android devices, some windows or steps will be slightly different from those presented in the article, but I think you will succeed!
How to connect to Wi-Fi on the bus (instruction with photo)
Step 1. If your smartphone is set to automatically notify you when you can connect to a new WiFi networks, then the phone itself will prompt you to connect. If no such notification is received, then you can go to wifi settings and manually connect to the desired network. In all buses, the network we need is called the same - GomelAuto Free WiFi.
This network is connected without a password. Therefore, if everything is done correctly, you will be redirected to the welcome page from Gomeloblavtotrans OJSC.
Step 2 On the welcome page, we are prompted to enter a number mobile phone to get an access code. This procedure is completely free.
What is it for. In Belarus, there is a law according to which access to the Internet can only be obtained by passing identification. This can be done in several ways, including through a mobile phone number.
After entering the phone number, you should press the "Get Code" button and after a few seconds you will receive a message from Velcom with a 4-digit digital code.
Step 3 A new window will open prompting you to enter the received code. There should not be any difficulties here. Enter the code and click the "Login" button. If for some reason it was not possible to receive the code (for example, you entered the phone number incorrectly), click the "Back to receive the code" button and repeat Step 2.
If this step is completed correctly, then you will again see the familiar picture with the greeting of Gomeloblavtotrans OJSC.
Step 4 At the top of the window, click the "Finish" button. At this point, we see that the phone is disconnected from the mobile data connection (in my case it is 3G) and switches to a Wi-Fi connection. The first site that you will see after connecting to Wi-Fi will be the official site of Gomeloblavtotrans OJSC. (Apparently this increases the traffic and rating of this site)))
Step 5. ALL! You are connected to global network the Internet. If you have not been online for a long time, then you will start to receive messages from all messengers, notifications of likes on Instagram and other amenities. But to surf web pages, you need to minimize the connection window and go to the browser, because, alas, you won’t be able to access your favorite site through the connection window.
In the browser or other applications, you can freely and in the usual way surf the web, chat in social networks and messengers. Also at the time of testing, I could freely watch videos on YouTube. Of course, I was the only one in the salon who knew about the availability free internet on the bus, and therefore the entire access speed (1 Mbps per bus) was mine. If you divide the connection speed between at least 10 passengers, then enjoy high speeds is unlikely to succeed.
Negative point
the only negative point it became that the equipment that distributes Wi-Fi can be put into operation for quite a long time after the ignition is turned on or the bus is turned on (up to 10 minutes).
What it looks like in practice: the bus starts up after stopping at the final stop, at which time the equipment is turned on. The bus can travel several stops or even half of the route (they are small in our city) before Wi-Fi is fully operational. But, I think, the drivers themselves are interested in ensuring that everything always works without interruptions). Practice will show.
Instead of a conclusion
The technology and connection method seemed quite convenient to us. I was also pleased with the fact that when moving from one bus to another, you can reconnect without unnecessary gestures - Wi-Fi is picked up automatically as a familiar network (if, of course, the corresponding setting is activated).
Speeds on this stage enough to comfortably communicate in the social. networks to all bus passengers (but this is if you do not watch the video). The connection signal is strong and stable.
Anyway modern technologies they are slowly getting to our city, making the life of the Svetlana mountain people a little more pleasant and convenient.
Testil: Grigory Polessky.
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