How bad is the mobile coverage in Wales really? Interactive map lets you check out your area
Users have long bemoaned the quality of the mobile data coverage in Wales, but a new interactive map provides a visual guide to how terrible it really is – and yes, it’s often quite bad.
The interactive map collects the latest information from users of the nPerf application on Android, creating a map of mobile coverage not just in Wales but across the world.
When an user travels to a specific location, the app uploads the data. Therefore it is based not on what the mobile network operator claims but on real data on the ground.
It suggests that while coverage may be good under under some mobile network operators in urban areas, in many rural areas the coverage in Wales is substandard to completely nonexistent.
There are some parts of Wales, such as south of Snowdon, where it would be a very unfortunate for your car to break down. But even in many large towns, users struggle to access top data speeds.
The map allows users to see data for EE Mobile, 02 Mobile, Three Mobile and Vodafone Mobile, as well as choose to see Network Coverage or Download Bitrates. The map can be expanded by pressing the large gray button above the centre of the map.
The country can also be changed, allowing users to compare Wales’ mobile coverage with any other nation around the world, from Afgahnistan to Zambia.
All the data obtained for the map is for the last two years, with the oldest data then deleted to make way for an updated assessment.
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At one level this is quite interesting but I note that these data are derived from drivers’ phones since all the lines appear to be existing roads. I can imagine that some might be using their phones as satnavs but, if not, it is somewhat worrying that these people are driving and having active phones. Does this app operate while one’s phone is on standby?
Could be from passengers phones as well! I don’t have the app but today I have been driven from near Abertawe to Caernarfon and have tried to get data access several times without success