I took a trip up to Albany this weekend. I decided to try using the wifi provided by the train, and found that it’s hardly reliable. Assuming of course your able to actually connect, mine failed for about 20 minutes trying to obtain an IP Address from the train’s router, the connection is slow at best. It’s only meant for basic internet use.

Once you accept the terms and continue, granting you access to the wireless network, your shown a brief message stating streaming services will NOT work. I of course wanted to test this. 

Does Not Work:
Netflix
Hulu
Disney Plus
Youtube
Vimeo
Pandora
Facebook Watch
Remote Desktop/ShowMyOffice
Citrix
VPN Software
Security Cameras

Works:
E-Mail/Websites
Facebook Feed
Instagram (Posting images did not work)
File Downloads (Slow but eventually completes)

I did some digging and found an article on Amtraks website. They state in their blog “The golden rule of Amtrak WIFI is it supports general web browsing.”

Virtual Office customers may notice ShowMyOffice does not connect. I did a network scan and found they only allow port 80/443 inbound and outbound. Makes sense for basic internet browsing. Most of the service ports appeared to be blocked, hence why the streaming services do not work. I noticed the person next to me was on a remote session and I asked him, how do you connect to your office?  He said “oh, my company provides a hotspot for travel, the WIFI on-board isn’t the greatest.” I laughed.   

With the holidays coming up and most of us traveling home to see relatives, we recommend you download anything important you’d need to access, or email yourself any important files. Bringing your own hotspot may be the best choice, just be aware that cellular signal between Penn Station and the northern most tip of Manhattan is spotty. The train is underground for most of this stretch. Once you reach The Bronx however, 5G service is pretty reliable.