Are you one of the millions of people who go on vacation by bus every year? Perhaps you have the image that this type of transport is not updated or that it does not offer technological advances. But, in reality, we must tell you that WiFi is already offered on many of the buses in Spain . With that in mind, now you just need to know how you can enjoy the service. We tell you!
Being able to connect to WhatsApp to talk with our friends or download a game and have a good time are actions that are essential when we travel. But, for this, we need WiFi if we do not want to depend on the consumption of our data. Fortunately, as we are going to tell you, there are many bus transport services that offer a Wi-Fi connection so that you can make the most of it while you travel. This helps buses cut distances and catch up with what is offered with WiFi on the AVE and Renfe trains .
Buses with Wi-Fi
In practically the majority of long-distance bus lines it is possible to find a free Wi-Fi connection to which you can connect with your mobile and thus remain online at all times. In recent years, the installation that the teams display has improved considerably and has gone from being a paid service, as it was in some cases, to being available free of charge and without limits.
Some of the bus companies that have WiFi in their vehicles include: Alsa, Avanza, Socibus, Damas, Hife or Vibasa, among others. Keep in mind, however, that the availability of WiFi on some of its buses does not mean that it is present on absolutely the entire fleet. Therefore, we recommend that you find out about it at the time you are going to get the ticket for your trip.
In the case of urban buses, availability depends and varies much more between cities . In Madrid, for example, buses have had a free Wi-Fi connection service since 2010. It was the first city to offer this type of service, which has since been adopted in other parts of Spain.
How to connect?
Each of the bus companies has its own WiFi service provided by various specialized providers. However, in most cases the connection system is similar. One of the usual options is for your device to detect the WiFi connection of the bus and, when you click on it to select it, your mobile browser opens. At that time you will have to make a quick registration or even, in some cases, use the username and password of your access to the account of the bus company in question. Below you can see how WiFi works with Avanza buses and here you can access the WiFi website in Alsa , two good examples of what you can expect traveling around the country.
There are some WiFi services that provide you with sessions for a certain time , while others allow you to stay connected for as long as you need once you have logged in. If your bus has a connection limited by time, you will only have to re-enter once the connection period is over, so there is no problem either.
In other cases, the connection will be made with the username and password that appears printed on the ticket that you obtained when making the purchase to travel. If you have purchased the ticket digitally , we recommend that you take a look in the email or in the file that you received in PDF format.
Is it a good service?
It depends on each bus. There are some cases where you may be traveling on premium lines that have more comfortable seats, USB charging ports and other technology, as well as faster Wi-Fi networks . In other cases you could find yourself with a much less efficient WiFi service. In addition to this, keep in mind that the bandwidth provided by these WiFi connections is shared with everyone else on the bus. Therefore, if you travel on a line that is very crowded at an hour in which the passengers do not sleep, it is very possible that the speed that reaches your mobile will not be too high.
Taking this into account, we recommend that you download the files or content that you are interested in seeing on the trip so that you do not have to depend on the WiFi connection on the bus, because you may find that it does not give you enough speed. You can comfortably use WiFi on the bus for messaging tools such as WhatsApp, browsing or checking email, but downloads and streaming will always depend on many factors to guarantee stability.