Mobile network coverage map

Our mobile network quality map can help you find out how signal strength varies in different locations in the UK, such as your home or workplace.

Once you've found the network with the best signal in your area, browse the best and worst mobile phone networks in the UK to see which providers have the most satisfied customers.

Mobile network quality map

Enter a postcode below to see network quality in the local area. Quality is shown for each of the big four networks. If you're using a virtual network, you can expect the quality measure to be the same as the parent network indicated below.

• EE: 1p Mobile, BT Mobile, Lycamobile, Spusu, Utility Warehouse
• O2: Giffgaff, Lycamobile, Sky Mobile, Tesco Mobile
• Three: Honest Mobile, iD Mobile, Smarty
• Vodafone: Asda Mobile, Lebara, Talkmobile, Voxi

How to use our mobile network quality map

• How to use Basic mode. Using the map in Basic mode is simple, either enter a postcode that you want to find out about, or scroll around the map and click on an area of interest. 
• How to use Advanced mode. Switch the map to Advanced mode to compare up to five multiple locations against each other. You'll see a comparison table with network performances in these locations, and a combined average score. 
• What’s the difference between network quality and network coverage? The map shows the average quality of network performance that users experience when connected to 4G and 5G networks. Based on ‘how often will it work’, this represents how useful and consistent the signal is. In contrast, a coverage map would just tell you whether or not a network provides coverage in the area, but not how good it is. As all networks claim around 99% UK coverage, this isn’t particularly useful.
• What do the percentages mean? The percentage scores represent ‘how often is the network good enough’ to support everyday tasks like browsing the internet, streaming videos, or making video calls, all without major slowdowns or disruptions. The metrics are chosen to represent performance requirements of common mobile applications. Cases where the network has weak or no signal or where the performance is low will reduce the percentage score.
• How is the data collected? Opensignal, an independent network analytics company, gathers data using an app downloaded on people’s phones. Data is collected from over one million UK mobile handsets across a 12 month period. The handsets chosen represent a diverse mix of iOS and Android users, across a range of demographics, device types and locations. 
• How often is the coverage map updated? The map will be updated regularly throughout the year to reflect the latest available data and any changes in network performance. However, the timing of updates may vary.

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Can mobile providers using the same network have different signal quality?

Based on analysis of over 20 million results from Opensignal data, in the vast majority of cases virtual network providers (eg Giffgaff, whose parent network is O2, or VOXI, who uses Vodafone) offer a signal quality that is indistinguishable from that parent network. In some limited cases, certain virtual providers may apply speed restrictions that can impact performance, but in short, network quality should be the same for most people.

Our survey of the best and worst UK mobile networks found that the most common issues mobile customers have are constantly poor phone signal and continuous brief network dropouts – and in fact no network in our survey received a five star rating for network reliability. Ratings from our survey are subjective based on customer’s experiences and perceptions, and of course the reality of connectivity is that it varies significantly around the country, and quirks of particular areas can impact different users. High satisfaction with the overall service could also create a more positive opinion of the network’s technical performance. 

So overall we recommend using a signal quality map to see how each of the big four networks perform in your area, and use this as a fair indication of how a virtual provider on that network would perform as well. This opens up your options for switching once you've narrowed things down to who has the best coverage. Switching mobile provider is so easy now and can be done with just a text message, rather than calling your provider, so there’s no reason to put up with connection issues.

More mobile network coverage maps

You can also use these links to check coverage directly from the telecoms regulator Ofcom and mobile network websites.

• Ofcom mobile coverage checker
• EE coverage and network status checker
• O2 coverage checker 
• Vodafone network status checker
• Three coverage checker

Are you with the best provider? Check our guide to the best and worst UK mobile networks, based on feedback from real customers. You can also read about the best and worst broadband providers.