Built for the places where coverage actually matters
CheckCellCoverage answers one question, simply: which carrier really works where you are? Here's why we built it, and why the ranking will never be for sale.
Price no longer tells you about quality
Plenty of people stick with a big-name carrier assuming they're paying for the best network: it's expensive, so it must be good. Switch to a smaller carrier once and you learn otherwise. Price no longer reflects network quality — and it definitely doesn't tell you whether there's a tower near your home.
Out in rural areas, that's the whole game: which towers actually serve your spot. No price tag tells you that. At home you often have Wi-Fi, so cellular feels secondary. The real problem shows up elsewhere: the vacation cabin, your parents' place, the stretch of road where you spend the summer. That's where you wonder, too late, "am I going to have any bars?"
The day it clicked
A family member farms for a living. He was paying $40 a month for a plan that didn't even include unlimited calls. He has a flip phone; internet is the least of his concerns. What he needs is to have signal out in his fields and to be able to call without asking people to call him back.
That year we looked at which towers actually served his land. Surprise: it wasn't his big-name carrier. We got him a plan for under $15, unlimited calls included.
You shouldn't have to guess anymore
Those two stories are where CheckCellCoverage came from: turn a common-sense habit — look at the towers before you choose — into a tool anyone can use in ten seconds, at any address.
Not one more comparator sold to the highest bidder. A ranking that simply tells you, where you are: who works best.
Where the ranking comes from
Computed from public FCC broadband coverage data: which carriers cover the point, and the best available technology. Nothing is weighted by advertising: no carrier can pay to move up a spot. Every ranking expands.
Sources: FCC, US Census/TIGER.
Knowing whether you'll have signal where you live shouldn't be a question anymore. The founder.