Off The Rails

Communicate

Off The Rails: The Truth About Wireless Broadband

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11:30AM September 15, 2010 | Angus Kidman

Not many people would deliberately devote four days to train travel in order to work out just how good Next G broadband coverage is, but it does provide some unusual insights into when 3G broadband services are useful (and when they aren’t). Here’s the five key lessons I’ve learnt during the Off The Rails project. More »


Travel

Off The Rails Day 5: A Seamless Gold Coast Test

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8:30AM September 14, 2010 | Angus Kidman

The Off The Rails experiment has seen some pretty variable results, so it was pleasing to run a test journey from the Brisbane CBD to the Gold Coast and back again and encounter no issues whatsoever. More »


Travel

The Issue With 3G Broadband Is Its Unpredictability

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11:30AM September 13, 2010 | Angus Kidman

Off The Rails has a pretty clear lessen so far: The further north in NSW you head on a train, the less likely it is that Next G wireless broadband will work effectively. And when it does, the performance is anything but guaranteed. More »


Travel

Off The Rails Day 2: Maitland Meanderings

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2:00PM September 10, 2010 | Angus Kidman

The Off The Rails project diverts to Maitland to see how well wireless broadband works where the regions meet the city. The most impressive outcome? The best ping times I’ve seen so far. More »


Travel

Off The Rails Day 1: Software Blues

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4:00PM September 9, 2010 | Angus Kidman

Welcome to Off The Rails, where I’m venturing along the north coast of NSW on a cheap rail pass to see just how well 3G broadband in general (and Telstra’s Next G network in particular) perform on the go and outside capital cities. After the first day, I’m wondering whether the software that drives the process is going to be up to the task. More »