Coverage? App Update – Now Includes Boost Mobile/Dish Coverage

For many nomads, keeping connected is crucial.

Fifteen years ago, long before MIRC founders Chris & Cherie launched the Mobile Internet Resource Center, they actually developed an app to help fellow nomads stay connected while they explore.

Coverage? allows you to directly overlay multiple cellular carrier coverage maps on a single map so you can compare coverage - or plan for where you will be able to stay connected.

The maps are based on the carrier's own provided maps, and are now supplied by our mapping partner Ookla. While the carrier's maps are in part marketing and actual signal quality is highly dependent on several factors (distance to tower, terrain, your own devices, signal enhancing gear, tower load, etc.)  - Coverage? is a useful tool in planning your RVing or boating travels, along with utilizing crowdsourced resources. 

And now for 2025, we have rolled out a new release to the Coverage? app to help keep it up to date as technology continues to shift.

Coverage? App Update Video Overview

Boost Mobile / Dish Now Included

For many years the major cellular carriers were AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile. But Boost Mobile (owned by Dish Network) is poised to become to next big national carrier, taking the place of Sprint as the nation's 4th carrier. And we have now added their network to our Coverage? app.

Boost/Dish took over a bunch of cellular spectrum and network assets as part of the agreement that was made when T-Mobile and Sprint merged, and the federal government wanted a new 4th carrier to ensure competition. Boost/Dish also received roaming rights agreements to give them enough coverage to be able to complete with the other carriers.

Unlike the other three carriers, Boost/Dish is building its core network from scratch, which means it is a native 5G network with no support for LTE outside of roaming agreements with other networks. The network has grown significantly—it currently covers about 270 million Americans with a true 5G and innovative network unlike what the other carriers offer.

Boost/Dish has struggled not with its technology but with getting customers and staying afloat financially. In early 2024, EchoStar, which owns Dish Network and Boost Mobile, hinted at bankruptcy, which was ultimately avoided. However, the problem of not attracting enough customers and not generating enough revenue remains.

One problem is branding, which even we have struggled to track. Dish started out with the "Project Genesis" brand (which still exists), but also had Boost Mobile, Republic Wireless, and Ting. Now, the company seems to have settled on the Boost Mobile brand for consumers.

One advantage of Dish's growing network and having so few customers is great performance when on a native dish tower - congestion is almost never a problem. Dish also still has roaming agreements with AT&T and T-Mobile for other areas.

The major downside for our mobile internet audience, is that Boost/Dish currently only offers smartphone plans. Although those who snagged their unlimited hotspot lines for $20/month when available, continue to enjoy the benefits. 

Here is the February 2025 map from our Coverage? App, which now includes Dish. 

Key Features of the Coverage? App

• Available in both free (Lite) and paid (full featured) versions.
  • Price $2.99, one time charge. 
  • In App subscription to quarterly HD Carrier Maps and Satellite Maps - $4.99/year.
  • In App Unlock Canadian Carrier LTE Maps - $2.99, one time charge.
• Available for both Android and iOS.
• Easily know before you go: Avoid having to check each provider’s coverage map individually to know where you’re most likely to keep connected.
• Record SpeedTest results: Run Ookla's SpeedTest from within the app, and mark pins so you know the actual speeds you had in favorite camping or boating locations. 
• No internet needed: All maps are stored locally, so you can see where coverage next is most likely even when you have none.
• Urban and rural areas: Maps are at a regional level, and cover the entire continental USA, Canada, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands.

  • Carriers Included: AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Boost/Dish, UScellular.

  • Canadian Carriers: Bell, Telus, Rogers (optional one-time in-app unlock)

• Know where to roam: view 5G, LTE, and roaming areas as separate overlays, focus on the coverage type you need. 
• Unlocked Paid Version includes free standard resolution map updates a couple times a year
• In App annual subscription includes quarterly HD Map updates with 4x the resolution, mmWave 5G cities marked, plus use of satellite imagery in the background.

Get the App

We first launched Coverage? back in 2010 - at a time when only 3G coverage maps were available. A lot has changed in the industry since then. In thanks to a loyal Coverage? customer base and our relationship with Ookla - we've been able to continually keep the app updated over the years as the cellular industry continues to evolve and change. 

Coverage? for Android starts out as a free trial of the standard app functionality for a few sessions, with in app options to purchase the full app or HD Map subscription.

Coverage? for iOS was originally launched long before in-app purchases were even an option, and to preserve the user base it starts out as a paid app, with in-app options to upgrade to the HD Map subscription.

However, Coverage? Lite is offered as a free iOS trial of Coverage? – it allows you to use the full app with standard definition overlayable maps for a few sessions to check it out, before forcing you to pick a single carrier to continue for free. Or, you can upgrade to the full versions in-app.

Download Free / Paid Versions

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