Fix Slow and Unreliable Train Wi-Fi on Amtrak
Use train Wi-Fi and your 4G / 5G cellular connection at the same time
Speedify optimizes and secures your connections for faster, more reliable and secure Internet on the train.
With Speedify you get reliable internet while traveling by train
If you regularly commute on Amtrak or other trains you already know how slow and unreliable the free Wi-Fi can be. But no matter if you’re riding the train for business or pleasure, there’s nothing worse than losing work or getting constantly interrupted because of flaky Internet access.
With Speedify, you can use all of your Internet connections at once for faster uploads and downloads, uninterrupted web browsing, and smoother streaming video – even on the train!
Why is Train WiFi so slow?
In this video, Speedify's Alex Gizis explains why fiber optics can't be used to power high speed Internet on trains.
Running the signal through the tracks would create interference and signal loss over short distances. Wireless repeaters could work, but they’re no more practical than the cellular 4G/5G networks most trains already use. Satellite internet is also appearing on more trains, but it still faces line-of-sight limitations and weather disruptions.
Until there’s a breakthrough in rail-based connectivity, most passengers will still be relying on a mix of overcrowded cellular, limited satellite, and on-train caching for their onboard internet experience, which makes things pretty slow.
How We Tested Speedify on Amtrak
New York City to Philadelphia, 2 external network adapters, one laptop
Connection performance on the Amtrak – when used separately
We used the following connections:
- The laptop’s built-in WiFi card, connected to the Amtrak WiFi network;
- A Verizon LTE MiFi, tethered via USB;
- A CLEAR USB WiMAX card.
The laptop ran a speed test every two minutes to check the connectivity and bandwidth of the various links. Here’s what we got:
| Connection | Average Speed (while connected) | Reliability (>0 Kbps) | Good Internet (>2 Mbps) | # of times offline |
| Amtrak Wifi | 2.583 Mbps | 94.12% | 67.65% | 2 |
| Verizon Mifi | 3.875 Mbps | 85.29% | 70.59% | 5 |
| Clear WiMax | 4.700 Mbps | 61.76% | 47.06% | 13 |
Amtrak riders want to stay online with a connection reliable enough to get some work done. This is where Speedify comes in: our bonding VPN service gives users the power to combine two or more Internet connections at once. With Speedify bonding VPN, the Amtrak WiFi and Verizon LTE, we never lost connectivity – that’s 100% uptime! We even had at least 2 Mbps throughput for 85% of the trip.
The chart below plots the speeds of the Verizon, Amtrak and combined connections (Speedify). Because we wanted to see places where the speed is LESS than 2 Mbps, we capped all the speeds at 2 Mbps, so the failures will be clearer:
Bandwidth of each connection, and combined connection, capped at our 2 Mbps goal.
| Connection | Reliability (>0 Kbps) | Good Internet (>2 Mbps) | # of times kicked offline |
| Amtrak Wifi | 94.12% | 67.65% | 2 |
| Verizon Mifi | 85.29% | 70.59% | 5 |
| Speedify (Amtrak + Verizon) | 100% | 85.29% | 0 |
We love talking about connectivity!
On our social channels, Alex Gizis and the engineers from Speedify discuss and explain interesting connectivity technology including Starlink satellites, Wi-Fi 7 routers, Apple networking features, Fiber optics, broadband internet, 5G mobile networks, AI, networking protocols, and much more.