Best Mobile Network

There’s a lot to consider when picking a mobile network - coverage, speed, value and more besides, and none of it really matters if you don’t get a signal where you live or work.

So before jumping in with a network it’s best to weigh up all the pros and cons, and we’ve just made that a whole lot easier by laying them out for you, highlighting which is the best network across a number of categories.

Table of Contents Network Coverage Network Speeds Data Limits Tethering Roaming Business Added Extras Conclusion

Network Coverage

Network Coverage

Network	4G Coverage	5G Coverage
EE Check Coverage	>99%	Over 60% / over 1,000 towns and cities
Three Check Coverage	99.8%	Over 60% / at least 588 towns and cities
O2 Check Coverage	99%	Over 50% / over 3,000 towns and cities
Vodafone Check Coverage	99%	At least 161 towns and cities

For a long time EE was well in the lead when it came to 4G coverage, but as you can see in the chart above all of the networks now have almost complete 4G population coverage.

It’s hard to say for sure which networks are doing best here, as they don’t update their figures at the same time, so some will be more dated than others, but the good news is that whatever network you’re on there should be widespread 4G coverage.

However, we suspect that EE still has the greatest coverage overall, since it’s unlikely that it will have totally lost its lead. Its population coverage may be similar to rivals, but its geographic coverage is probably greater.

5G is even trickier to judge, and networks are constantly improving their 5G coverage. Looking at the chart above, it appears O2 has 5G in the most towns and cities, but we’d take that with a serious pinch of salt, as those figures are simply the most up to date we can find, but could still be dated, and the networks themselves don’t always keep up to date lists of where 5G is available. Plus, this doesn’t factor in the size of those places, or coverage amounts in those places.

So while O2 seemingly has 5G in the most places, it may not necessarily have as much coverage in those places, so don’t just go by the location numbers. For example, EE was the first to launch 5G, so it had a head-start on rivals and may well offer better coverage in some of the places where its 5G is available.

Indeed, both EE and Three have exceeded 60% UK population coverage. It’s not clear exactly how much O2 has but the network has said it planned to exceed 50% coverage by the end of 2023 (with no updates on this that we can find as of 2024), so presumably it’s trailing Three and EE. Vodafone hasn’t given any population percentage figures that we can see, but that in itself suggests it’s not leading there.

This then suggests either EE or Three is in the lead, but it’s hard to say for sure.

• Winner: EE and Three

Network Speeds

Standard 4G is around five times faster than 3G and all the networks offer that, but some go above and beyond with faster services such as LTE-A, and that’s before we get to 5G, which we’ll also look at.

In most tests, including ones by Opensignal and Speedtest, EE has been found to have the highest average 4G speeds in cities UK-wide. That’s not really surprising, especially when you consider that it offers 90Mbps LTE-Advanced (marketed as 4G+) in many locations.

Opensignal – Mobile Network Experience, September 2023 (speed) and April 2020 (latency)

Network	Overall download / 5G download speeds (Mbps)	4G latency (ms)
EE	40.0 / 99.5	36.0
Three	34.5 / 205.5	48.3
Vodafone	27.9 / 114.3	39.0
O2	20.9 / 77.0	38.1

Vodafone and Three also offer LTE-A / 4G+ services, but as with EE they’re not available everywhere (they’re mostly found in major cities), and as the chart above shows, these networks' overall download speeds aren’t a match for EE’s, while O2’s trail far behind.

By ‘overall’ we mean the typical everyday speeds a user will experience across a network’s mobile data types – so 5G, 4G and 3G will all be factored in.

EE also leads for latency (the time it takes for a network to respond to a request), though O2 and Vodafone are close there, with Three trailing, and notably our latency data is a bit dated, as recent reports don’t paint a clear picture of that.

Of course, the networks are also rapidly growing their 5G services, though these aren’t available everywhere at the time of writing, and coverage is changing rapidly. There’s a growing amount of data on 5G speeds, with average download speeds for each network (from Opensignal as of September 2023) recorded in the chart above, and some key findings from a RootMetrics report in the second half of 2023 listed in the chart below.

Key takeaways of the data above then are that Three’s top and average 5G download speeds may be the highest, while EE has the highest median speed and the second highest top speed, and Vodafone takes the second highest average speed. O2 comes last for all of these.

Ultimately all the networks are fast, but right now EE looks to be the best network for speed on 4G, while Three leads for 5G. That 5G lead will become ever more important over time, but with 4G still being the fastest option in a lot of locations, we’re calling this a tie for now.

• Winner: EE and Three

Data limits

UK Networks Maximum Data Allowances

Network	Max data	Roaming
Three	Unlimited	12GB
Vodafone	Unlimited	25GB
O2	Unlimited	25GB
EE	Unlimited	50GB

For a long time Three was the clear winner in this category, as it was the only major UK network to offer unlimited data. Now though, its rivals have all started matching it, and even have it beat for roaming limits.

You should however be aware that some of the networks have fair usage limits even in the UK. On EE for example you can only use up to 600GB of data per month, and mustn’t tether more than 11 devices simultaneously. O2 is similar, but allows up to 650GB of data use. Vodafone doesn’t have these restrictions, but some of its unlimited plans do have speed caps. Three is the only one that’s really restriction-free in the UK, but it allows the least data when roaming.

EE meanwhile has a slight edge for roaming limits, and therefore we’re calling this a tie between EE and Three.

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• Winner: EE and Three

​Roaming

UK Networks Roaming Destinations

Network	Free roaming regions on all plans	Free roaming regions on select plans
EE	0	52
Three	0	71
Vodafone	0	51 or 83
O2	48	75

The data limits while roaming have been covered above – and give EE the edge, but what about where you can roam for free in the first place?

EE doesn’t let customers roam anywhere inclusively as standard, with a £2.29 daily charge to access allowances in 47 European destinations.

However, customers with a Roam Abroad pass won’t have to pay that, and can also use their allowances in the US, Canada, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand (for 52 destinations in total) for no daily charge.

The Roam Abroad pass is available either as an optional Inclusive Extra on select plans (where it doesn’t cost any extra, but has to be selected in place of other possible benefits), or at a cost of £25 per month.

Vodafone similarly will charge between £1-£2.25 per day to roam (with the lower prices being available if you buy an eight-day or 15-day roaming pass). However, those on Xtra plans won’t have to pay, and select Xtra plans extend the included roaming locations from 51 European destinations to 83 global ones.

As for Three, this network charges for roaming on its standard plans. The cost is £2 per day to use your allowances in Europe, and £5 per day outside Europe – with 71 destinations included in this scheme in all.

However, roaming is free of charge on Pay As You Go, and you also get a certain number of roaming passes with Value plans and Complete plans. You can get between 14 and 56 such passes (depending on the plan type and duration), with each one allowing for one day of inclusive roaming.

O2 meanwhile is the only one of the big four networks to offer inclusive roaming as standard, with 48 locations included, while select plans bump that up to 75.

Note that the details above refer to new and upgrading customers – in some cases existing customers of these networks will still have access to free roaming until their next upgrade.

But as O2 is the only network that offers free roaming for everyone, it’s the clear and obvious winner here.

• Winner: O2

Tethering

Network Tethering Allowances

Network	Pay Monthly	SIM Only	Pay As You Go
Three	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
Vodafone	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
O2	650GB	650GB	125GB
EE	600GB	600GB	125GB

Three and Vodafone are the only major UK networks to offer unlimited data for tethering on all plan types.

O2 and EE meanwhile have fair use policies for tethering with unlimited data, though at 650GB and 600GB respectively they’re unlikely to be an issue.

• Winner: Three and Vodafone

Business

All of the major UK mobile networks have business tariffs and services and they all come with extra features to help them stand out.

For example, Three gives you a price promise that will see it beat major competitors by at least £1 per month. It also has a Boundless offer which charges less per SIM the more you buy.

With EE you can get a dedicated account manager (if you have ten or more connections), and a promise to keep you connected, even if you use up your data.

Vodafone meanwhile offers numerous business connectivity solutions (such as Vodafone Pulse Connect, which is a mobile, broadband and cloud collaboration solution), and O2 puts a focus on flexible tariffs, as well as offering additional benefits when you’re a customer of both O2 Business and Virgin Media.

These networks also support businesses of most sizes, so it largely comes down to personal preference as to which is best.

So this category is close. Ultimately though EE and Three edge the win as the best networks for business use due to their coverage, which we’ve rated elsewhere but which is even more vital for business users, who rely on 4G and 5G to work wherever they are.

• Winner: EE and Three

Added extras

Each of the networks has its own ways to try and draw in customers and some rely heavily on extras above and beyond your phone contract. Vodafone has some of the most appealing extras, with Spotify Premium, Amazon Prime or YouTube Premium subscriptions included on a variety of its plans.

Given that many people have and can make use of music and TV subscriptions, at least one of those is bound to be a great extra for almost anyone. And even if you don’t select a plan with those extras, you’ll still get access to Vodafone’s VeryMe Rewards app, which has discounts and offers from other brands.

EE meanwhile gives you access on some plans to ‘Inclusive Extras’, which let you choose one or more benefits from a selection including EE’s Roam Abroad service, an Entertainment Data Pass, Netflix, Apple Music, Apple TV Plus, Apple Arcade, Apple One, TNT Sports on Discovery+, Microsoft 365 Personal, and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. The exact selection varies depending on the plan you choose.

O2’s extras include various exclusive deals, offers and early ticket sales through O2 Priority, as well as automatic access to thousands of its free Wi-Fi hotspots across the UK. Some plans also come up to six months of access to a streaming service or similar, and some come with double data if you also have Virgin Media broadband.

Finally, Three has the Three+ app, with offers and discounts from other brands. If you take out a Value or Complete plan, then you’ll also get access to Paramount+ for either half your contract or the full duration, along with an extended warranty if you buy a device on contract, and if you take a 24-month Complete device plan you’ll additionally get a free screen repair.

All of these networks offer some nice extras then, but – due to its extras lasting the life of the contract and being high-value – we’d give Vodafone and EE the edge.

• Winner: Vodafone and EE

​Conclusion

There you have it then. EE wins or ties for the win in the coverage, speed, data limits, business, and extras categories, meaning it has five wins and therefore takes joint first place with Three, which has wins or ties for coverage, speed, data limits, tethering, and business.

Vodafone meanwhile as well as tying with EE for extras ties with Three for tethering, giving it two wins, while O2 comes out with just a win for roaming. However, in most categories the networks are all close and in some cases the winner is very subjective, so it’s worth making your own decision.

It’s also worth considering the many MVNOs which share their infrastructure. For more on that check out the following guides:

• Who uses EE’s network?
• Who uses Three’s network?
• Who uses Vodafone’s network?
• Who uses O2’s network?