This is pretty cool, I’m sitting on the AVE from Madrid to Barcelona, Macbook on the table in front of me, hooked up to the orange 3G Internet Everywhere usb modem, landscape shooting by at nearly 180 mph, and all this tech stuff just works!
It was worth bringing all that crap after all!
Doh! Just went into a series of long tunnels, there goes that internet connection…
Tom
27 Aug 08 at 12:25 pm
I got up to 302 km/h the other day!
Oh, and benvinguts a Catalunya!
Pepino
27 Aug 08 at 12:29 pm
I thought the AVE trip I made to Madrid was fab. Comfy & smooth all the way, decent film to watch… and no turbulence! jeje.
Apparently, it can safely go quite a bit faster than 300Kph but they set that as the acceptable limit.
raytibbitts
27 Aug 08 at 1:25 pm
So glad to hear it. 3G should allow for uninterrupted mobile & internet connections along the whole length of all the ‘legs’ of the AVE in Spain. Siemens, along with Adif, Renfe, and the governments of Spain, have really put some good technology into making rail travel more enjoyable.
We are really working on filling any dead spots. Some people completely lose their connectivity in the tunnels, others just lose partial reception / bandwidth. There is transmission equipment in the tunnels , as well as an “industrial-strength” fiber-optic net, running parallel to the tracks.
Now y’all know who I work for on these long, hot nights.
If anyone asks, tell them coverage along the Córdoba-Málaga line is fabulous.
jon.jaques
27 Aug 08 at 2:55 pm
I thought those tunnels were pretty cool, although I wasn’t trying to use the internet, even made a short video of some of them.
Don’t know if this will post.
http://www.new.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=23640673342
gary
27 Aug 08 at 8:42 pm
Technology, I love it… communicating with the world from a moving train… just because you can… fantastic, we didnt even have a telephone til I went to college.
gary
27 Aug 08 at 8:43 pm
… or a dog
AndrewW
27 Aug 08 at 9:18 pm
¿cómo se compran las “Tarifas Promo” que están mostrado en la página web del Renfe?? €82 euros ida y vuelta!
Chiny
27 Aug 08 at 10:30 pm
Are those clouds I see
ValenciaSon
28 Aug 08 at 2:16 am
I’m so jealous!
raytibbitts
28 Aug 08 at 7:51 am
@AndrewW:
La mejor oferta depende del horario, origen y destino. Tienes razón al fijarte que hay ofertas en la página renfe.es que son bien baratas.
La manera para aprovechar de estas ofertas depende del sistema operativo y navegador que utilizas para acceder la red, pero hacer tu cuenta de usuario es fácil y grátis, y comprar “online” con tarjeta de crédito es fácil y ‘barato.’
La información que he compartido aquí es nada más que mi propia opinion, y lo que recomiendo para los demás usuarios de notesfromspain, y no pretendo representar la empresa renfe, sino compartir lo que he experimentado por mi propia cuenta.
gary
28 Aug 08 at 7:36 pm
aaaaaagh
Renfe site down:
Secure Connection Failed
w1.renfe.es uses an invalid security certificate.
The certificate is not trusted because the issuer certificate is not trusted.
(Error code: sec_error_untrusted_issuer)
raytibbitts
29 Aug 08 at 2:37 am
@gary:
You can tell your browser to trust the renfe certificate manually, but the steps to take to do this vary from browser to browser.
@Ben, sorry to fill your site with unrelated comments.
leftbanker
30 Aug 08 at 10:33 am
I’m not too tech savvy as far as combining transportation and communication, but the other day I gave a driver the finger who cut me off on my bike.
What does that trip cost one-way and round trip? I took the Madrid-Sevilla AVE line and it was truly a marvel. You can almost feel the G forces in your gut when the train gets up and runs. The Valencia-Madrid line looks to be progressing rapidly for its intended 2010 start.
Phoenix Arizona Spanish
30 Aug 08 at 9:21 pm
Its amazing sometimes. We don’t think about how amazing some of the technology we have truly is.
ValenciaSon
31 Aug 08 at 4:13 pm
We can put a man on the moon but we can’t build a train!
raytibbitts
2 Sep 08 at 7:34 am
LA used to have the largest electric-powered train system in the world. They tore it all up and replaced it with the current freeway system now in place in Southern California.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/godblessbotox/2815070029/
A truly myopic decision, as they are now trying to figure out how to re-install a light-rail system that worked just fine nearly a century ago.
PSB
3 Jun 09 at 11:04 am
Korean KTX bullet trains operator has partnered with KT to provide the same 3G Internet in the cars for passengers between Seoul-Busan route. They are upgrading the network to Wibro now, an Wimax wireless broadband Internet with download speed at up to 50Mbps. I miss my AVE trip to Seville long time ago.