MBTA WiFi a Great Feature!

MBTA has rolled out it's free WiFi service, but curious about exactly what we can expect from it, I delved a little deeper to find all of the hidden features of the service.

MBTA has contracted with a cell company Propel Wireless Internet, basing their uplink during my tests through Kansas City, MO. This seems to me like a long distance for IP over Phone to travel before terminating to the internet. Why didn't the MBTA get the provider to terminate connections closer to Massachusetts, eliminating lag?

Speedtest.net reports 338 kb/s download and 132 kb/s upload with a 351 ms ping on January 25, 2009 8:45pm Eastern on the first attempt. Subsequent tests are below:

391/592/341ms

384/666/350ms

379/642/311ms

385/661/349ms

During the testing, it was interesting to watch the data rate, because when the server was originally being pinged for speed, upink was rather low, then shot way up when the demand for bandwidth uplink increased.

Coverage is based on cellphone reception. These tests were done within the range of Central Square, Lynn and Swampscott. I don't know what cell provider they use to maintain reception.

Overall, the MTBA wifi system seems very robust and adaptable to the needs of commuters who use the system. It has a lot of speed to share between its users, and allows me to enjoy some well deserved Pandora radio on those commutes between Salem and Boston.