The free Wi-Fi hotspots on public transport and in some public places in Shenzhen were found to be unusable because of slow connection speeds, the Daily Sunshine reported Thursday.

When the Daily’s reporter connected his phone to the Wi-Fi hotspot on Bus 111 on Saturday morning, he couldn’t use WeChat or open websites on his phone. A passenger, surnamed Li, said he found most Wi-Fi hotspots on buses are unusable or not connected to the Internet.

The reporter also accessed the Wi-Fi network on his phone when taking Bus B689, but the Internet connection was smooth only when he opened the Wi-Fi provider’s website, and the loading speed became slow when he viewed other websites.

A spokesperson for the Shenzhen Bus Group said the company has cooperated with Shenzhen Mobile TV Co. Ltd. to offer free Wi-Fi access on buses. But the Guangdong public security department issued new standards in June last year for Wi-Fi devices on buses.

The spokesperson said previous Wi-Fi devices failed to meet these standards, so the company will install new Wi-Fi devices on buses.

The Shenzhen Metro Group announced in July 2014 that Metro Lines 1 and 2 had free Wi-Fi. But the Daily’s reporter didn’t find any Wi-Fi network on Metro Lines 1, 4 and 5 on Tuesday afternoon.

A resident, surnamed Yin, said he once accessed a Metro’s Wi-Fi hotspot, but he had to download a phone app, and beat a game on the app before he could get a verification code to access the Internet.

“It was so difficult to beat the game, so I gave up,” Yin said.

A Shenzhen Metro Group’s staffer said the free Wi-Fi network on the Metro lines is under maintenance with some technical problems to be fixed.

The Daily reporter accessed the Wi-Fi network of “Intelligence Luohu” with a stable Internet speed at Shenzhen People’s Hospital in Luohu District.

The hospital’s information department’s head Tang Xuemin said the hospital set up its own free Wi-Fi network earlier this year, but the network’s account and password are only available in the inpatient department.

Tang said the free Wi-Fi uses the same Internet connection as the hospital’s office, which has slowed down connection speeds.

“We are preparing to install another connection to enhance Internet speed,” Tang said.

Shenzhen Maternity and Child Healthcare Hospital also has free Wi-Fi coverage. “But the Internet speed is quite slow,” said a pregnant woman, surnamed Huang, who had accessed the Wi-Fi network at the hospital.

The hospital’s spokesperson Li Shaoli said the Internet connection has been smooth after the free Wi-Fi was set up. “Sometimes when many patients connect to the network, the Internet speed slows. Our technicians will improve it,” he said.