December 8, 2025, 5:49 am | Read time: 7 minutes
The Wi-Fi on Deutsche Bahn trains is notoriously unreliable. The stability and speed of the connection depend heavily on the quality of mobile coverage along the route–and outside major cities, it’s often spotty. But honestly, does anyone still get upset when the internet on the ICE fails again? Or have people become accustomed to this “eventuality,” which is more of a rule than an exception? Still, the sometimes frustrating conditions can be surprising–even to those who frequently travel by train, such as for work. One of them is forensic biologist Dr. Mark Benecke. In a recent Instagram post, he commented on the Wi-Fi in the ICE and reminded TRAVELBOOK to check with DB once more to see if passengers can expect noticeable improvements anytime soon.
The Wi-Fi on Deutsche Bahn trains–like a crowded onboard bistro or restaurant–is officially considered a “voluntary additional service.” Passengers have no entitlement to it. It’s seen as “nice to have,” but not treated as part of the transport conditions. This explains why, in case of doubt, you have no choice but to pull out a book again when the internet connection is so weak that working on the train is simply not possible. At least there are demands for DB to soon offer compensation for missing Wi-Fi.
Nevertheless, one can certainly wonder. That’s exactly what Dr. Mark Benecke, a well-known forensic biologist, forensic scientist, and expert in biological traces, did a few days ago on his Instagram profile. “Why is there almost no usable internet (Telekom) on the ICE between Hanover and Berlin?” He has been wondering about this for a long time, but since a trip to Scandinavia, he is now truly puzzled. TRAVELBOOK wanted to know more about this aha moment from him.
Forensic Biologist Dr. Mark Benecke on Wi-Fi at DB
Until now, Dr. Benecke assumed that poor coverage in Germany was simply “normal.” But during his time in Scandinavia, where he didn’t experience a single dead zone–”it was 5G everywhere”–the contrast to Germany was particularly striking.
“I thought until then: In wealthy countries like Switzerland, it’s very good because they have a lot of money. And in Italy, Austria, Poland, England, Liechtenstein, France, Belgium, etc., I might have been lucky because I was in areas with many people and therefore good coverage.” Only the experience in Scandinavia showed him that even large and sparsely populated countries can provide comprehensive stable mobile networks on the rails.
With his post, Dr. Benecke didn’t intend to complain. He asked his community purely out of interest for “serious answers with measurements or real info.” The comments offer little truly enlightening information, but his experiences are confirmed. Users report unstable data connections, changing network standards, and sudden total failures. Specifically, the connection between Hanover and Berlin, which he criticized, seems notorious for weak internet. This is partly due to some cell towers being far apart and the trains rushing through frequently changing cells at high speed. An infrastructure issue is mentioned, as several mobile providers have to share a network. TRAVELBOOK explains it in more detail.
How Wi-Fi Works at DB–and Why It Often Fails
The Wi-Fi on the ICE doesn’t rely on its own internet line from the railway (like in Denmark) but on existing mobile networks along the route. The trains use roof antennas to capture signals from the three major German network operators and feed them into the onboard Wi-Fi. This technology is complemented by so-called repeaters–these have been installed in all ICE and Intercity-2 trains since 2016 and amplify the radio signal inside the train.
One reason it often fails is that many ICE cars are structurally poor at allowing radio waves to pass through. This is partly because the window panes have a thin metal layer as sun protection. This shields the mobile signal like a Faraday cage. The internet quality on the train thus heavily depends on how good the mobile coverage is along the railway line and how much of it actually reaches the inside of the train.
In recent years, the system has been continuously modernized technically. The newer ICE series, for example, have more powerful routers that are supposed to reduce outages. Some 5G-capable routers are already in use, and these have achieved data rates of over one gigabit per second in tests. A DB spokesperson reports this upon TRAVELBOOK’s inquiry. Still, in everyday use, the new performance is only evident in certain areas. Because even if the infrastructure on the train has been improved, the comprehensive mobile coverage along the tracks remains the bottleneck in many places.
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Why Crowded Trains Exacerbate Internet Problems
The Wi-Fi itself is a so-called “shared medium,” explains the DB spokesperson. This becomes particularly noticeable when DB trains are especially well-attended or even overcrowded. All passengers on the train share the available bandwidth. The more there are, the more noticeably the individual speed decreases. “Imagine several hundred people sitting in your living room at home, all wanting to stream a movie.” This is how the company spokesperson wants to illustrate the problem. “This becomes difficult to impossible even with a powerful internet connection. And then the living room also travels at up to 300 km/h through a mountainous landscape.”
How DB Plans to Improve the Situation
The DB spokesperson emphasized once again that the quality of internet access on the ICE heavily depends on the expansion of mobile networks along the routes. In cooperation with all major network operators, the company supports measures to improve coverage along the railway lines. The Telekom has even achieved its expansion goals faster than planned: “On 99 percent of the 7,800 kilometers of main traffic routes, at least 200 Mbit/s are available. Since summer 2021, around 5,500 kilometers of track have been newly supplied, 470 masts built, and 1,900 locations modernized.”
In parallel, the railway is relying on its own technical solutions. New ICE trains like the ICE 3neo and ICE L have window panes that allow mobile signals to penetrate better into the train interior. Existing vehicles are to be retrofitted gradually. Additionally, the railway and mobile providers are working on pilot projects for gigabit-capable connections, including on a test track in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The long-term goal is to develop central routes like Hamburg–Berlin into an innovation axis for high-performance mobile communications. The combination of improved windows, 5G routers, and optimized Wi-Fi systems is intended to reduce fluctuations in reception and bandwidth.
There are indeed concrete projects for better internet on the train. But the expansion is technically complex and time-consuming. It will likely take several years before stable, fast Wi-Fi becomes standard across the board.