I’m going to be commuting on this line soon (the one that goes via Royston) and need to use the time for work as much as I can, which means I need the most stable/fast mobile data connection I can get (not bothered about voice calls).
Anyone on here do this journey regularly and can comment on the mobile data coverage they experience?

A bit of googling and I’ve found a few people moaning that Vodafone was pretty much useless on this line, but I can’t find any comments on any of the other networks.

I do this commute at the moment. There are some patchy bits, plus some tunnels. One of the other commuters I spoke to reckoned that they got on best with EE or Three, I think the former.

I’ve got Vodafone and for most it’s ok, but you don’t tend to get 4G till other than either end of the journey.

O2 can’t maintain connection between Cambridge and KK, coverage is very patchy for a major commute line.

Theres folk working on laptops using mobile data but from Stevenage Southwards you’ll have several longish tunnels and cuttings to deal with.

Plus from same point the train will be busy so data slow.

Vodafone gets 4G in a couple of places but struggles really.

I use this line from Royston. O2 (well giffgaff) was worse than useless. Vodafone a little better and 3 the best of the bunch. As above tho, it’s still pretty patchy especially south of Stevenage

I’ve always found it hopeless between Peterborough and London, but it gets better once you get further away from the city. Tried Virgin Wi-Fi once (part of a 1st class package), and it was worse than mobile data. 🙁

EE is all over the place once you’re 10 minutes out of Cambridge, and then just as you get into the outskirts the London you have full 4G <-> no service yo-yoing in and out of tunnels.

Does always amaze me that we can’t seem to engineer mobile coverage between two of the high tech capitals of the UK on a very busy 50 mile train line….

Thanks for the replies.
Oh dear! Sounds like EE or 3 are the best of a bad bunch then…

By the way, how’s the reliability of the train service itself in general? Is it OK or am I going to hate my new life??

Three always seems pretty good to me on that line, although the signal is generally better on the segment between King’s Lynn & Cambridge than it is as the train continues south between Cambridge & London King’s Cross.

IF you get a seat, you should be able to get some work done. Getting on at Lynn means I always get a seat but I reckon at popular times only half of those getting on at Cambridge have a seat.

As far as reliability of the line, it’s MUCH better than it used to be. Really quite good, tbh.

Rachel

By the way, how’s the reliability of the train service itself in general? Is it OK or am I going to hate my new life??

I live nearer Cambridge than Huntingdon, but I commute from Huntingdon daily. I’m not a fan of Cambridge station, too small, terrible parking facilities and the city is a pain to get in and out of, for your sake I hope you are walking/riding to the station.

Overall you need to accept that 1) it will be busy, 2) you have no control over the lateness of a train, so don’t get wound up by it. Reliability, well I’ve been very late home 2, maybe 3 times since January, so on the whole I’d say the line I am using is pretty good, given that it’s KGX as well most trains suffer similar fates.

As for mobile signal, my current phone seems to not want to connect to mobile data reliably, can’t tell if it’s the sim or phone, but as others have said, expect dropouts along the way.

Using three I find it so so from Welwyn into London. Fair number of tunnels and cuttings.

I live in Royston. Three have just shoved a load of new telecom cabinets and a mast in one of our parks, much to the chagrin of the local NIMBYs. It’s not pretty but it’s bloody effective;

So on Three you should be good for a couple of minutes of your journey! I think Three are generally OK when I get the train into Cambridge or London.

Even the radio in the trains cab (uses the GSM-R network) drops out frequently on that section.

Ability to get a seat will depend upon which trains you’re planning on catching and how early you get to the station. At Cambridge I find you can generally get a seat if you’re there 7 mins before departure, but not always. Homeward it’s a bit of a lottery.

Reliability isn’t too bad, haven’t had to claim that many delayed journeys this year but you can only claim if it’s more than 30 mins late. Depends on your judgement of reliability.

Thanks all – some great info here.

I will actually be getting on a couple of stops south of Cambridge, so getting on the slower train that does more stops at around 7:45am. Hopefully this will be significantly quieter than the fast train from Cambridge…