Best Cell Phone Coverage in 87023
What carrier is best in 87023?
We used data from our crowdsourced speed test map and signal strength data from the FCC to rank the best carriers in 87023:
The Carrier with the Most Coverage in 87023
What carrier has the most coverage in 87023?
The answer is AT&T.
AT&T has the most coverage in 87023. It covers 87.7% of the ZIP code with its 4G LTE and 5G networks.
Here is AT&T's coverage broken down into areas with good, great, poor, or no reception in 87023:
- Total coverage area: 87.7%
- Great reception: 7.7%
- Good reception: 26.7%
- Poor reception: 53.3%
- No coverage: 12.3%
T-Mobile has the second most coverage in 87023.
Its 4G LTE and 5G networks cover 74.7% of the ZIP code.
Here is the breakdown of T-Mobile's coverage in 87023:
- Total coverage area: 74.7%
- Great reception: 3.3%
- Good reception: 36.1%
- Poor reception: 35.3%
- No coverage: 25.3%
Verizon is the third best option in 87023.
It covers 43.5% of the ZIP code with its 4G LTE and 5G networks.
How is the quality of coverage?
Here is Verizon's coverage broken down in 87023:
- Total coverage area: 43.5%
- Great reception: 1.1%
- Good reception: 3.8%
- Poor reception: 38.6%
- No coverage: 56.5%
Cell Phone Coverage Comparison in 87023
How do AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon compare in 87023?
Here is a side-by-side comparison of their coverage:
Best Cellular Data Speeds in 87023
Getting great coverage is one thing.
Getting fast data speeds is an entirely different thing.
What is the point of having great coverage if your speeds are slow and apps take forever to load?There is probably not much point at all.
To help you out, we analyzed data from our crowdsourced speed test map. The map is made from people measuring download and upload speeds on the different carriers in 87023 using the built-in speed test in our free Coverage Map app.
Here is what we found from our analysis:
- T-Mobile has the fastest speeds in 87023. Its median download speed is 118.3 Mbps. Its median upload speed is 14.8 Mbps.
- AT&T is in second place. It has a median performance of 67.6 Mbps for download speeds and 8.9 Mbps for upload.
- Verizon has the slowest speeds in 87023. Its median download speed is 5.3 Mbps. For upload speeds, Verizon got 5.2 Mbps.
Compare the performance on all the carriers below:
Download Speed Comparison
Upload Speed Comparison
What Affects Data Speeds?
Data speeds can be affected by various factors, including network congestion, signal strength, device capabilities, and the technology used by the service provider.
You might experience slower data speeds during peak hours when many people are using the network simultaneously, or in areas with weak cellular coverage.
Best Cell Phone Plans in 87023
Now that you know what carrier has the most coverage and fastest data speeds in 87023{{page-value-context}}, you are probably wondering:
What cell phone plan should I sign up for?
There are a few great options, and some will save you a LOT of money.
Before you pick a plan, it may be helpful to understand the three types of carriers in the US: MNOs, MVNOs, and carrier-owned prepaid brands.
- MNOs: MNOs, or mobile network operators, are the big carriers that own and operate their own cellular networks. Examples include AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon. These carriers build or lease cell towers, purchase spectrum licenses, and lay fiber optic cable. They will also lease access to their networks to MVNOs.
- MVNOs: MVNOs, or mobile virtual network operators, are any cell phone carriers that do not own their own cellular networks. Instead, they lease access to the existing cellular networks built by the MNOs. Examples include US Mobile, Tello, and MobileX.
- Carrier-Owned Prepaid Brands: Carrier-owned prepaid brands are carriers that are owned and managed by the MNOs directly. For example, AT&T owns Cricket Wireless. Verizon owns Visible, Tracfone, Total Wireless, and others. And T-Mobile owns Metro by T-Mobile and Mint Mobile.
Why is this important?
Understanding the three different types of carriers in the US is important because it means you can sign up for a plan from an MVNO or carrier-owned prepaid brand and get the same coverage as one of the big carriers directly.
Plus, plans from MVNOs and carrier-owned prepaid brands are typically more affordable and can save you a LOT of money.
Would you save money?
Compare cell phone plans on each of the major networks below to find out:
Frequently Asked Questions
What carrier has the best cell phone service in 87023?
AT&T has the best overall cell phone service in 87023. It offers the best balance between coverage, data speeds, and reliability.
What carrier has the most coverage in 87023?
AT&T has the most coverage in 87023. It covers 87.7% of the ZIP code.
What carrier has the fastest speeds in 87023?
T-Mobile has the fastest speeds in 87023. Its median download speeds are 118.3 Mbps and its median upload speeds are 14.8 Mbps.
How is the Reliability Score calculated?
The Reliability Score is on a scale from 0 to 10. The goal for the Reliability Score is to estimate how likely you'll have a usable connection when you have service.
To calculate the Reliability score, we look at the bottom 10%, 5% and 1% of data speeds in a given area. The download speeds are weighted at 50% of the score. Upload speeds are weighted at 20% of the score.
We also look at latency to calculate the Reliability Score.
Latency is a measurement of how long it takes a data packet to travel from the sender to the receiver. You can think of latency as answering the question, "how much delay is there in the network?"
If there is high latency (30ms to 100ms), it takes a long time for data packets to be sent and received by your phone. Your connection may feel slow or "laggy."
If there is low latency (under 30ms), your connection will feel fast and responsive.
Latency is weighted at 30% of the Reliability Score.
Where does CoverageMap.com get its coverage and speed data from?
CoverageMap.com gets different data from different sources.
The overall coverage and signal strength data comes from the FCC's mobile broadband map.
The information about data speeds and network performance comes from community members contributing speed test results to our crowd-sourced coverage map. If you are interested in contributing to the project and helping to build better, more accurate coverage maps for everyone, you can learn more here.