ZDNET tests AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon 5G in rural America

9 articles · Updated · ZDNet · May 6

Using Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra phones, the three-day country-road trip covered Iowa and Wisconsin and logged more than 52,000 nPerf data points over about 15 hours.
Verizon ranked first overall for network level and signal strength, while T-Mobile was the only carrier to record standalone 5G and showed 5G nearly 90% of the time.
The tester reported complete internet failure only in southern Wisconsin and said all three carriers still struggle away from interstates, though rural performance was better than expected.

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