# How PCMag Ranks Best Mobile Networks with 2 Million Data Points

> PCMag uses 2 million speed tests and customer data to rank US and Canadian mobile networks.
- Title: How PCMag Ranks Best Mobile Networks with 2 Million Data…
- Summary: PCMag uses 2 million speed tests and customer data to rank US and Canadian mobile networks. PCMag calculates a 1-10 Mobile Network Index using speed…
- Keywords: pcmag, mobile networks, speed tests, network coverage, pricing information, subscriber satisfaction, mobile network index, us mobile networks, canada mobile networks, best mobile networks, technology, Ranks
- Source: PCMAG — https://pcmag.com/articles/best-mobile-networks-methodology
- Author: Eric Griffith
- Published: 2026-09-24T14:02:57+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: pcmag, mobile networks, speed tests, network coverage, pricing information, subscriber satisfaction, mobile network index, us mobile networks, canada mobile networks, best mobile networks, technology
## How PCMag Ranks Mobile Networks
PCMag turns to data to rank mobile networks across the US using over 2 million speed and quality tests from January to June 2026.
## Data Sources for US Networks
PCMag partners with BestPhonePlans and CoverageMap.com for speed tests, pricing data, and subscriber satisfaction surveys.
## Speed Tests Methodology
PCMag analyzed 2,185,418 tests conducted between January 1 and June 30, 2026 for US 5G networks and Canadian carriers.
## Speed Metrics
Download speed ranges from 30 (worst) to 350 (best) Mbps, upload speed from 3 (worst) to 25 (best) Mbps, latency from 100 (worst) to 15 (best) milliseconds.
## Speed Index Calculation
PCMag Mobile Speed Index uses 70% download speed, 20% upload speed, and 10% latency to create a 1-10 score.
## Coverage Area Methodology
CoverageMap.com provides 5G network percentage data for carriers with 25% as the low threshold and 90% as the high threshold for scoring.
## Pricing Information
PCMag uses BestPhonePlans data to calculate pricing for unlimited data plans with a $20 (best) to $60 (worst) per line per month range.
## Subscriber Satisfaction
Reader satisfaction ratings for US mobile carriers and MVNOs range from 7.3 to 9.1 on a 1-10 scale with 6.0 as the lowest threshold.
## Final Score Calculation
PCMag Mobile Network Index combines 40% speed, 20% coverage, 20% pricing, and 20% satisfaction scores into a 1-10 ranking.
## Canadian Methodology
Canada uses a different formula with 50% speed, 25% pricing, and 25% satisfaction scores for 5g and 4g networks.
## Mobile Network Index
The carrier with the highest Mobile Network Index receives the Best Mobile Network award in the US and Canada.
## Data Partners
PCMag partners with BestPhonePlans and CoverageMap.com for speed tests, pricing data, and subscriber satisfaction surveys.
## Contributors
Ben Gottesman and Stetson Doggett contributed to this methodology.
## Key takeaway

PCMag calculates a 1-10 Mobile Network Index using speed, coverage, pricing, and satisfaction data from 2 million tests.