More Than 100 NYC Subway Stations Now Online

The New York City underground is slowly but surely getting more connected.

Transit Wireless, which owns and operates the NYC subway wireless network, on Thursday announced that more than 100 subway stations in New York City are now connected. The organization also announced the end of construction for phase four of the underground cell phone and Wi-Fi network build-out.

Phase four comprises 20 underground stations in the Bronx and 17 stations in Upper Manhattan, which are expected to be online to riders by the end of this year. This includes key transfer stations like 51st St/Lexington Ave, 59th St/Lexington Ave, 149th St. Grand Concourse, and 125th St. The cell phone and Wi-Fi service at 149th St. Grand Concourse will be good news not only for NYC commuters, but also Yankees fans traveling to and from games.

Riders should be able to connect via AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile USA, and Verizon Wireless in stations, or sign on to Wi-Fi via the "Transit Wireless WiFi" network.

At this point, Transit Wireless is on track to hook up all 279 underground stations by 2017, several months ahead of schedule.

"We're pleased to extend connectivity and E911 services to MTA subway riders in The Bronx," William A. Bayne, CEO of Transit Wireless, said in a statement. "As we celebrate the 100th station coming online, we want to thank our wireless carrier partners, the MTA and our team at Transit Wireless for all their efforts in helping us reach this goal ahead of schedule. We have hit a significant milestone in deploying our high-capacity wireless and Wi-Fi underground network, a huge accomplishment considering the complexity of this project."

Some 47 million monthly MTA riders traveling in Manhattan and Queens currently connect to the subway station network. Transit Wireless estimates that phase three of the project, which is currently underway and includes 39 stations, will connect an additional 12 million monthly riders. By the end of phase 4, Transit Wireless says that 72 million monthly riders will be able to receive free wireless and Wi-Fi service as they travel NYC by subway.

About Our Expert

Angela Moscaritolo

Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

My Experience

I'm PCMag's managing editor for consumer electronics, overseeing an experienced team of analysts covering smart home, home entertainment, wearables, fitness and health tech, and various other product categories. I have been with PCMag for more than 10 years, and in that time have written more than 6,000 articles and reviews for the site. I previously served as an analyst focused on smart home and wearable devices, and before that I was a reporter covering consumer tech news. I'm also a yoga instructor, and have been actively teaching group and private classes for nearly a decade.

Prior to joining PCMag, I was a reporter for SC Magazine, focusing on hackers and computer security. I earned a BS in journalism from West Virginia University, and started my career writing for newspapers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

The Technology I Use

My little Florida beach bungalow is brimming with smart home tech. I have a smart speaker or display in every room, allowing me to control other connected devices by voice. The Nest Hub on my bedside table lets me set wake-up alarms, control my smart light bulbs, and set the temperature on my smart thermostat. I use the Amazon Echo Show 8 on my kitchen counter to browse recipes, reorder protein powder, check the weather, and watch the news while I do dishes.

Because I suffer from allergies, air purifiers are essential. My favorite model is the Dyson Purifier Cool TP07, which doubles as a fan and continuously sends indoor pollution data to its companion mobile app.

My pitbull Bradley sheds, so a good robot vacuum is a must. I currently use a premium Ecovacs Deebot that can both vacuum and mop, empty its own dustbin, and wash its own mop cloth.

For fitness, I like to mix up my routine with cycling, indoor rowing, running, and strength training in addition to yoga. I take classes on the Tonal 2 smart strength training machine, I row indoors on an Aviron machine, and track my beach runs with an Apple Watch while listening to music on my Apple AirPods Pro. On the weekends, I love riding e-bikes like the rugged, beach-friendly Aventon Aventure for fun and fitness.

My job involves a lot of virtual meetings, so a quality webcam, microphone, and ring light are important. I use the Jabra PanaCast 20 webcam, the Elgato Wave: 3 microphone, and a Yesker tripod ring light.

As for my preferred phone platform, I'm an iPhone person, but I've also extensively used Android for product testing.

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