Our Methodology: How We Determine the Best Mobile Networks

How do you rank the best mobile networks? Here at PCMag, we turn to the data. And lots of it.

Specifically, we examine over 2 million speed and quality tests performed on mobile networks across the US in the first six months of 2026. We then layer in data on network coverage, plan pricing, and wireless subscriber satisfaction. In the end, we land on a final metric that lets us instantly compare carriers, regardless of their service areas. The result is the Best Mobile Networks .

In the US, network performance data for this annual report is supplied by our partners, BestPhonePlans and sister site CoverageMap.com , drawn from their speed-testing apps for iOS and Android. The crowdsourced data provided includes coverage area and speed. BestPhonePlans also provides us with extensive pricing data for all the phone plans offered by major wireless carriers and MVNOs (mobile virtual network operators) that don't own their own towers (though many MVNOs are owned by the major carriers). For the customer satisfaction component, we integrate our Readers' Choice survey results .

We also receive speed data for Canadian carriers from CoverageMap.com. For pricing and coverage in Canada, we partner with PlanHub.ca . A full explanation of how we crunch the numbers to select nationwide, state, and city-level winners follows.

A few notes: We have set floor and ceiling thresholds for each measure listed here. Some extreme ratings fall below or above those numbers, earning them a 1 or a 10, depending on the direction. For example, a speed below the 30Mbps floor threshold will earn the carrier a 1.0 index in that category. By setting these thresholds, we ensure that the index ratings we calculate are consistent across all of our results.

Our reporting is limited to wireless carriers with at least 1,000 tests at each location. For MVNOs, we apply speed and coverage numbers at each location based on the mobile network they operate on. For example, Mint operates on the T-Mobile network, so we use T-Mobile's numbers for Mint.

Speed Tests

We analyzed 5G network speed data from 2,185,418 tests conducted between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2026. The data for each test indicates it is from one of the major carriers with their own network: AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon Wireless in the US. (For Canada, we include Bell, Rogers, Telus, and Videotron.) These networks are also used by MVNOs, many of which are owned by the major carriers, with some exceptions (such as Consumer Cellular, which uses AT&T's network, but is privately owned).

The data includes download and upload speeds (in Megabits per second; higher numbers indicate better performance) and latency, the time it takes for an internet packet to travel from its source to its destination (measured in milliseconds; lower numbers indicate better performance). 

Our floor and ceiling measures for 2026:

• Download Speed: 30 (worst) to 350 (best)

• Upload Speed: 3 (worst) to 25 (best)

• Latency: 100 (worst) to 15 (best)

We crafted a formula to calculate a 1-10 score, which we call the PCMag Mobile Speed Index. Download speed accounts for 70%, upload speed is 20%, and latency is 10%. 

Network Coverage Area

Coverage area results are for 5G network percentages for each carrier, based on data from CoverageMap.com . It pulls data from its iOS and Android app tests and from passive data collection on Android devices.

Rather than simply converting the coverage percentage to a score by dividing by 10, we developed a formula that uses floor and ceiling thresholds, with 25% coverage as the low threshold and 90% as the high threshold. Some carriers do indeed fall below 25% coverage in some areas and earn a 1.0; any carrier at 90% coverage or greater earns a 10. 

Pricing Information

Pricing information is the trickiest thing to nail down in our rankings. Major wireless carriers all offer multiple plans to suit different types of customers, while the MVNOs tend to offer lower-cost options.

To narrow things down to a usable per-line-per-month price, we use the extensive pricing data from BestPhonePlans and focus only on plans that offer one or more lines with unlimited data. We also factor in extra fees, but not taxes, which can vary by location.

We average the unlimited data single-line plans, then all the two-line, three-line, and so on plans together. We then average them all together—giving extra weight to the two-line plan average to reflect the heavy use of discounted multi-line plans—to create an average entry price per line per month. This is used to calculate a Price Index score ranging from 1-10. 

No matter the network type, whether a major carrier or an MVNO, we set the floor and ceiling for pricing at $20 per line per month (best) and $60 per line per month (worst). That range keeps us within the confines of most per-line pricing. Any carrier with a price over $60 per line would receive a 1.0 index; pricing under $20 per line would receive a 10.0.

Subscriber Satisfaction

Each year, thousands of PCMag readers rate their wireless service providers in our annual Readers' Choice survey . The carriers earn several scores, on everything from cost to call quality, but no score is more important than the overall satisfaction rating. 

This year, reader satisfaction ratings for US mobile carriers and MVNOs ranged from 7.3 to 9.1 on a 1-10 scale. Not all MVNOs in our Best Mobile Networks results had enough survey responses to earn their own score. Rather than leaving those carriers out of the running entirely, we calculated an average satisfaction score for unrated MVNOs based on the ratings earned by MVNOs with sufficient responses. This way, unrated MVNOs aren't penalized with a zero, but top-tier MVNOs still get full credit for their actual results.

To calculate the Readers' Choice Satisfaction Index, we set the floor at 6.0 (worst) and the ceiling at 9.5 (best). 

The Final Score: The PCMag Mobile Network Index

The final calculation is more than just adding up the four scores explained above. We also weight them based on importance:

40% Speed Index + 20% Coverage Index + 20% Price Index + 20% Satisfaction Index = Mobile Network Index

The final index is represented on a 1-10 scale. 

The carrier with the highest Mobile Network Index receives the Best Mobile Network award.

Not every MVNO in the US could be included in our reporting, but we took steps to ensure those owned by major carriers and popular independent MVNOs (such as Consumer Cellular and US Mobile) are represented.

Ben Gottesman and Stetson Doggett contributed to this methodology. 

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