BVG Free Wi-Fi Trial at U-Bahnhof Osloer Straße

The BVG, which is responsible for running the U-Bahn, trams and ferries in Berlin, is currently trialling a free Wi-Fi service at U-Bahnhof Osloer Straße.

The 3-month trial has been running since the beginning of August and is due to complete in a couple of days at the end of October.

The underground station at Osloer Straße was selected for the trial because it has a connection for the U8 and U9 lines.  This makes it ideal for testing the strain placed on the service, and any technical difficulties experienced, when several hundred passengers arrive at the station simultaneously.  The stated aim of the trial is to assess the feasibility of rolling out free Wi-Fi on the entire network.

I wanted to know if it was really as simple as the instructions on the BVG website make it seem:

Simply select the Wi-Fi settings on your device and choose the Wi-Fi network “BVG Wi-Fi” and open the browser.  The login page of the service provider HOTSPLOTS loads automatically.  Confirm the Terms of Use and that’s it.  You are then registered for the next seven days and only after a hiatus of more than a week will you need to accept the conditions again.  A password is not necessary.

And would the Wi-Fi really be reliable and fast enough to make it worthwhile using.

My experience was overwhelmingly positive.

The connection process was simple and straightforward and I was very quickly online.

The first thing I did was run a speed test with OOKLA and I was amazed at just how quick the connection was.  At just over 40Mbps the connection speeds during the BVG Free Wi-Fi Trial are depressingly faster than the service I pay 1&1 for at home.

I’ve been back to run a re-test and received a very similar result (within 0.25 Mbps).

I do wonder just how many people are even aware of the trial though, let alone how many of those users are actively seeking to use the service often.

I really hope that the BVG Free Wi-Fi Trial at U-Bahnhof Osloer Straße has been a success.  The true test will come if (and I really hope this is a when) the BVG decides to roll out a network wide service and give it the kind of marketing push that ensures all public transport users in Berlin are aware of it.