question about gprs 'coverage'

I frequently use Orange's PAYG £1 a day when on train journeys. Great
for simple internet use, though it's worthless when on the new Virgin
trains. (For the obvious reasons.)

I've noticed that when going from Manchester to Liverpool (either via
Warrington or Newton-le-Willows) that the connection in the morning is
generally very good- it can even usually survive the tunnels near Lime
Street. In the afternoon and evenings, I find the connection less good
on the return journeys. I was wondering why that is? Could it be that
the network is busier then?

TIA

David, passing through Rainhill!

--
(*) ... of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
David Horne- http://www.davidhorne.net
(don't email yahoo address) usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk

David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*) <d4g4hd@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> I frequently use Orange's PAYG ?1 a day when on train journeys. Great
> for simple internet use, though it's worthless when on the new Virgin
> trains. (For the obvious reasons.)
>
> I've noticed that when going from Manchester to Liverpool (either via
> Warrington or Newton-le-Willows) that the connection in the morning is
> generally very good- it can even usually survive the tunnels near Lime
> Street. In the afternoon and evenings, I find the connection less good
> on the return journeys. I was wondering why that is? Could it be that
> the network is busier then?

GPRS is 'best effort' - it degrades as more call capacity is used, plus
if more GPRS is used, it'll of course slow.

Ian Stirling <root@mauve.demon.co.uk> wrote:

> David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*) <d4g4hd@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> > I frequently use Orange's PAYG ?1 a day when on train journeys. Great
> > for simple internet use, though it's worthless when on the new Virgin
> > trains. (For the obvious reasons.)
> >
> > I've noticed that when going from Manchester to Liverpool (either via
> > Warrington or Newton-le-Willows) that the connection in the morning is
> > generally very good- it can even usually survive the tunnels near Lime
> > Street. In the afternoon and evenings, I find the connection less good
> > on the return journeys. I was wondering why that is? Could it be that
> > the network is busier then?
>
> GPRS is 'best effort' - it degrades as more call capacity is used, plus
> if more GPRS is used, it'll of course slow.

OK- thanks. After I posted this morning, I lost the connection, and
thought "damn, I invited bad luck." What had happened was the phone
battery had drained! I replaced it, and all was fine again. The
connection seems fine now (5pm) but it's only been up for around 10
minutes!

--
(*) ... of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
David Horne- http://www.davidhorne.net
(don't email yahoo address) usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk