Public Buses Get Free Speedy Wi-Fi Hotspots, Plus Our How-To Guide

Beijing's public transportation system just rolled out superfast Wi-Fi – but unfortunately only on the bus systems.

The good news: it works, and 12,000 (more than half) of the buses covering most of the downtown routes are now equipped with the service, providing speeds of 50Mb/s – unprecedented in China. The bad news (at least for non-Chinese speakers) is connecting to it is a bit of a runaround, necessitating downloading an app and registering for an account in advance (with interfaces only available in Chinese).

However, with a bit of common sense, even a monolingual foreigner can do it (or just read our guide below).

Unfortunately, this is not really the news we were really looking for: what we'd really like to see is the installation of the long-rumored (and much desired) Wi-Fi system in Beijing's subways, where even regular cellphone reception can be spotty. Despite the incessant rumors, no hard evidence of a plan to bring Wi-Fi to the subway is currently available. Maybe all the extra cash they'll haul in from the December 28 price hike could pay for the network.

Nevertheless, we're big fans of anything that makes Beijing's miserable commute even marginally better, and this bus wifi is definitely a nice development. I immediately hopped on a bus yesterday afternoon to give the new Wi-Fi a test run.

After walking in the furious below-freezing gusts of Beijing winter wind (what I do for you, fellow Beijingers!), I finally made to the bus depot at the corner of Dongdaqiao, and was immediately surprised to see that every one of the buses were already equipped with the new wifi feature – as indicated by a blue board put by the driver’s side window.

How to Get Online
You can either download the Wi-Fi app from a regular Wi-Fi connection or by logging onto the bus' network:

i) Download App Using Regular Connection

On your phone, head to www.m.16wifi.com and select the orange button (see below):

You will then be directed to the app store and simply download the app. Once you're on the bus you must then register your account (see two paragraphs below). Et voila!

ii) Download App Using the Bus' Connection

Once on the bus (or near the bus if you like living dangerously) select the "16wifi" network, which will automatically redirect you to a page asking you to download the app “E-Road Wifi,” offered for IOS, Android, and WAP systems.

After downloading the app, you must then register an account. Use your phone number as the username and you'll get a verification code sent to your phone. Stick that code in the password field and you're all set.

The process was simpler than I expected, and woohoo, I was ready to go!
 

The connection was stable, if not particularly fast. There was smooth sailing as I sent WeChat messages to friends and looked for my way back to the office on Baidu Maps.

However the connection slowed down when I tried to load pages with pictures or play online poker, so I doubt the network is fast enough for video streaming, which I did not try. At 50Mb/s, the bandwidth is allegedly fast enough to allow 40 simultaneous users (think of the racket!), though anyone taking a bus at rush hour knows that it is mere fantasy to think there's ever that few people crammed onto a bus (we'd guess closer to double).

At least surfing the web can help you forget that you are rubbing butts and sharing secondhand baijiu breath with complete strangers but don't expect much else to change in terms of human interaction – Wi-Fi wasn't necessary for everyone to stare at their phones anyway.

Image: Wikipedia, Patrick Li