I tested 5G across rural America during a 3-day roadtrip - and it didn't go well

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I tested 5G on country roads and farmland for three days.

The results were predictable in some ways but surprising in others.

I found 5G in a tiny town my ancestors founded in the 1800s.

My quest to test 5G has taken me to a baseball game and interstates between Chicago and Nashville. Through the journey, I've carried three phones from the three major US carriers to determine which has the best coverage. I just did it again, but I changed some things up.

Also: I compared Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T 5G coverage on a road trip - and the winner surprised me

I still packed my car for a weekend away, and I still had three phones riding in the back seat. I used nPerf (more on that later) to continuously run and test carriers and network performance for the entire journey. But this time, I went a little John Denver on you and stuck to those old country roads. Interstates were off the menu. As I mentioned during the Nashville trip, it benefits carriers to build networks where people are, like major cities and interstates. So I wanted to go where people were not.

I also changed up the devices. In the past, I carried three Google Pixel 10 Pro phones. This time, I upgraded to three identical Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultras. One of these was provided by Samsung, and the other two came from AT&T and T-Mobile, respectively. All three ran on eSIMs provided by the carriers.

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