Train Wi-Fi guide
Northern England

Northern Wi-FiIs it free, how to connect and which trains

Northern offers free, unlimited Wi-Fi on its new and digitally refurbished trains. Join Northern Wi-Fi, open a browser and enter your email address.

Checked 6 November 2026 · prices and policies as of November 2026

Is it free? Free Northern says customers can use free, unlimited Wi-Fi while travelling with it. Limits Unlimited, per Northern Northern calls the Wi-Fi free and unlimited. Where it works Northern says many passengers connecting at once can lower bandwidth. Before you go On an older 156 or 150 train, Wi-Fi may be missing until the train is refurbished.

Step by step

How to connect to Northern Wi-Fi on a Mac

  1. Search for the Northern Wi-Fi network on board.

  2. Open your browser.

  3. Enter your email address. A You are now connected page confirms you’re online.

If it fails, turn Wi-Fi off and on, restart your device, or use Forget Network and join again.

Free or paid

Who gets Northern Wi-Fi, and what it costs

  • Northern says customers can use free, unlimited Wi-Fi while travelling with it.
  • Northern has no First Class on any of its trains, so everyone gets the same Wi-Fi.
  • Wi-Fi is on all new and digitally refurbished trains.
  • Some 156, 150/1 and 150/2 trains still await their digital upgrade and may not have Wi-Fi yet.

As of November 2026.

Coverage

Where Northern Wi-Fi works, and where it drops

  1. Northern says many passengers connecting at once can lower bandwidth.

  2. The signal can drop in rural areas and tunnels.

  3. Northern names Icomera as its Wi-Fi partner.

  4. Northern is working to add Wi-Fi to its remaining fleet.

The rules

Data limits, streaming on Northern

Limits and streaming

Northern calls the Wi-Fi free and unlimited. It is certified under the Friendly WiFi standard, so indecent and inappropriate material is blocked. Northern doesn’t publish a speed cap, streaming rule, device limit or VPN rule.

Tips

Before you board

  1. 1

    On an older 156 or 150 train, Wi-Fi may be missing until the train is refurbished.

  2. 2

    For help, call Icomera on +44 (0)208 028 0353 or email northern.support@icomera.com.

Connectivity hell

Northern Wi-Fi on the complaint board

Northern has fewer than 3 public Wi-Fi complaints in the last 90 days, so it isn’t ranked. These train operators have the most public Wi-Fi complaints in the last 30 days, as of 5 November 2026.

  1. Amtrak 10 in 30 days
  2. CrossCountry 7 in 30 days
  3. Avanti West Coast 5 in 30 days
  4. Brightline 4 in 30 days
  5. Eurostar 4 in 30 days

See the full board · How the count works

On board with Kilobat

Make a shared train link go further

Kilobat is a Mac menu-bar app that shows what each app sends and holds back what can wait. On Northern Wi-Fi on board:

  • The sign-in page. When it doesn’t open by itself, the menu bar says This Wi-Fi wants you to sign in, with Open sign-in page. Turn your VPN on again after you’ve signed in. Free
  • Why it can’t connect. When a VPN, iCloud Private Relay or custom DNS hides the sign-in page, Kilobat names the layer that broke: VPN, DNS or the network. Free
  • See what’s using it. Every app’s upload and download, live in the menu bar, so you know which one is taking the shared link. Free
  • Mark it metered. macOS treats train Wi-Fi as unlimited. Mark it Metered and Kilobat skips its own speed tests; with automatic switching, Travel blocks backups and the like on that network. Pro
  • Send later. A big upload, such as Dropbox syncing a folder, can wait until you’re on unmetered Wi-Fi again, for up to eight hours while Kilobat is open. Pro
Download for Mac ↓
brew install seifip/kilobat/kilobat

Pro is $29 once for two Macs, with a 7-day free trial and 14-day refunds. More in saving hotspot data.

Free
Safari3.2 MB/s824 MB
Cloud backup2.1 MB/s240 MB
Night Drive186 KB/s312 MB
Kilobat12 KB/s14 MB

What is eating your bandwidth? Live traffic for every app, right in your menu bar. Catch the backup choking your call.

Pro Travel · on a metered network
Cloud backup
Google UpdaterPaused
macOS Software UpdatePaused

Hotspot data gone in an hour? Travel blocks backups, and updaters wait until you’re off the hotspot. The apps keep working.

Questions

Is Northern Wi-Fi free?

Yes. Northern says its Wi-Fi is free and unlimited for customers on its trains.

Do all Northern trains have Wi-Fi?

No. Some 156, 150/1 and 150/2 trains are still waiting for their digital upgrade.

What is the Northern Wi-Fi network called?

Northern names its network Northern Wi-Fi. Join it, then sign in on the page that opens.

Why won’t the Northern Wi-Fi sign-in page open on my Mac?

A VPN, iCloud Private Relay or your own DNS can keep the page from opening. Turn them off, open http://captive.apple.com in Safari, and turn the VPN on again after you’ve signed in. Kilobat shows Open sign-in page when a network is waiting for you.

Sources

Checked on 6 November 2026.

Get your Mac ready for the Northern Wi-Fi.

Download for Mac ↓
brew install seifip/kilobat/kilobat