Wi-Fi service extended to some bus routes (2)

"With Internet speed this poor, you can only browse some web pages, and viewing a video clip is out of the question," he said.

Wang Xiangyu, a 34-year-old engineer in the city who takes Bus 52 every Monday, said he is also disappointed with the service.

"I took the bus to work every Tuesday when I could not drive my private vehicle because of traffic restrictions in the capital," he said. "However, it seems I can only get access to the free Internet haphazardly. I couldn't get connected last Monday, and I don't know if it's my problem or the network's."

Other residents complained of similar problems.

"I work around Xidan, but can barely get connected to the free local area network," said Wang Yu, a bank clerk in Beijing.

Hangzhou and Shanghai provided free Wi-Fi to passengers in 2012.

Beijing has launched free Wi-Fi service in several areas, including Xidan, Wangfujing, the Olympic Center, three major train stations, Financial Street, Yansha and Zhongguancun.

As part of the wireless local area networks construction project targeting more than 60 percent of the capital in the next five years, 90,000 WLAN access points will be built, according to the Beijing Commission of Economy and Information Technology.

"I hope the pilot project will carry on as promised," Chen said.