O2 down the Tube with free underground Wi-Fi on 22 July
O2 has joined Virgin Media, Vodafone and EE in offering free Wi-Fi on the London Underground from 22 July.
If you're on O2 and on the Tube, you'll be able to get online before the end of the month. On 22 July O2 joins Virgin Media, Vodafone and EE in offering free Wi-Fi on the London Underground.
From that date anyone registered with O2 Wi-Fi can connect underground at 120 stations, leaving Three as the only major network not offering free Internet access on the Tube.
The London Underground Wi-Fi network is run by Virgin Media. It was originally free for everyone during the Oympics and afterwards, but now costs £2 per day if you're on O2, Three, GiffGaff or any other network. Virgin Media, Vodafone and EE customers get to go online for free.
Wi-Fi is available on platforms and throughout stations, but not on trains. So you can cache, buffer, refresh and update apps and Web pages as you pull into each station, but once you're entrained there's no continuous wireless Internet connection.
O2 originally promised the free Wi-Fi service in June, but is still testing. Meanwhile above ground, the oxygenated network today rejigged its wireless hotspot options, cutting off access to free BT Wi-Fi.
Do you use Wi-Fi on your journey? Has it transformed your commute or is that your only quiet time away from the Web? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or stand clear of the doors on our Facebook page.