The commute became a working day long before anyone officially acknowledged it. For millions of UK hybrid workers, the train journey is where emails get answered, calls happen and client prep gets done. The connectivity that the working commute depends on has never been fit for purpose. This week, Ofcom made it official.
The regulator’s threshold for ‘good performance’ was deliberately modest – a download speed of just 5Mbps, upload of 1.5Mbps and a response time of 50 milliseconds, the bare minimum for video calls, social media and basic streaming. Vodafone met it 17% of the time. Three, 21%. O2, 20%. EE, the best performer, 42%. Train WiFi performed well just 1% of the time. For too many people, Ofcom concluded, stepping on board means going off grid.
The government has announced £57m to upgrade train WiFi via low-earth satellites, with a formal announcement expected this summer. Mobile UK has also called for planning reform and taxpayer funding to address black spots along the network. Both are long-term solutions, and neither changes anything for the commuter on the 07:43 this morning, or any morning in the foreseeable future.
For commuters who can’t wait for that investment, a dedicated mobile WiFi device provides a practical alternative today. Unlike a phone hotspot, which competes for processing and battery with everything else the phone is doing, the Nighthawk M7 Pro routes exclusively – powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon X75 modem with up to 13 hours of battery life and WiFi 7 output – keeping laptops, tablets and phones on a stable, private 5G connection for the full working day, regardless of what the train’s network may or may not provide.
For frequent travellers, hybrid workers and anyone running a business from wherever the day takes them, waiting for infrastructure investment is not an option. The commute, the client visits and the journey between meetings are working hours now, and they depend on a connection that the rail network cannot provide.
When the infrastructure catches up, it will be welcome. Until then, the commute does not have to mean going off grid.