Service area coverage: your complete guide to finding the best mobile signal (5 proven steps)

Why checking your mobile coverage is your first step to reliable service

Mobile coverage checking is not a luxury; it's a critical verification step to avoid the frustration of dropped calls and failed data connections. It means confirming your ability to connect to a mobile network at a specific location to access voice, SMS, and data services with reliable quality. According to the ARCEP's 2025 methodology, this verification is based on a 95% success rate for maintaining a call for at least one minute outdoors with a standard terminal.

Skipping this check is the primary reason for service dissatisfaction. Common scenarios where verification is essential include moving to a new home, switching providers, planning a business site, or monitoring 5G deployment in your region. For instance, a business relocating its office without checking coverage could face operational disruptions, impacting customer service and internal communications. The official "Mon réseau mobile" tool, updated in 2025, provides the regulator-grade data needed for this precise assessment.

This proactive step transforms you from a passive consumer to an informed user. It allows you to choose an operator based on empirical evidence of their network performance at your exact location, not just marketing promises. By starting with a coverage check, you lay the foundation for consistent connectivity, which we'll now methodically achieve through the official procedure.

How to check mobile coverage in 6 simple steps (official arcep method)

To obtain a reliable, regulator-approved assessment of your mobile signal, follow this structured six-step process using France's official tools. This method leverages the latest Q2 2025 departmental data from ARCEP.

1. Access the Official Tool: Navigate to the "Mon réseau mobile" website (monreseaumobile.fr) or the ARCEP "Cartes et données" portal. These are the primary sources for unbiased, comparative coverage maps.
2. Select Location and Period: Choose your department or commune and ensure you are viewing the most recent data period (e.g., Q2 2025). Coverage evolves, and outdated maps are misleading.
3. Enter Your Precise Address: For granularity at a 10-100 meter resolution, input your full address or postal code. A vague search (e.g., just a city name) will not provide accurate results for your specific building or street.
4. Choose Service and Operator: Select the service type (Voice/SMS, Mobile Internet, or 5G) and toggle between the four main operators (Orange, SFR, Bouygues Telecom, Free) to compare.
5. Analyze the Coverage Map: View the interactive map. The color-coded zones will indicate the predicted coverage level (e.g., "Très bonne couverture") for your selected parameters.
6. Review Supplementary Data: Check the available layers for indoor coverage estimates and note any "zones à couvrir" (areas to be covered) or evolution indicators that show recent network improvements.

By systematically following these steps, you move from guesswork to a data-driven decision. The next step is mastering the tool itself to decode exactly what these maps are telling you about signal quality.

Mastering the interactive map: your key to decoding signal quality

The "Mon réseau mobile" interactive map is your central dashboard for signal intelligence. Mastery of its interface, enhanced in the 2025 update, is what separates a superficial glance from a professional-grade analysis. Its key elements are designed to deliver precise, actionable insights.

The core components you must command include:

• The Search Bar: Your entry point for specific addresses, postal codes, or landmarks.
• Layer Toggles: These buttons allow you to filter the display by service (Voice, Internet, 5G) and by operator, enabling direct, visual comparisons.
• Zoom Function: Essential for achieving commune-level granularity. Zoom in to see how coverage can change block by block.
• Coverage Indicators: Beyond simple colors, look for specific pins marking 5G commercial sites deployed in Q2 2025 and icons for reporting issues ("J'alerte l'Arcep").
• Detail Panels: Clicking on a zone often reveals a panel with precise terminology and notes on indoor/outdoor service availability.

Navigating this map effectively means starting broad (department view) and drilling down to your exact location, toggling between operators to see whose "très bonne couverture" zone you fall within. This visual decoding leads us directly to the critical task of interpreting the map's universal language: its color spectrum.

From green to red: how to interpret coverage map colors and zones

The transition from green to red on a coverage map tells a clear story of connectivity probability. Interpreting this color code, standardized by ARCEP in its Q2 2025 departmental cards, is fundamental to making an informed choice.

Green zones ("Très bonne couverture") represent the highest guarantee. Here, the operator's network is predicted to successfully complete and maintain a call outdoors 95% of the time and support data exchange. This level often includes reliable indoor coverage in most building types. Yellow or orange zones indicate fair or partial coverage, where service is available but may be less consistent, with potential for dropped calls or slower data speeds, especially indoors. Red zones signify "No Service" or areas where the success rate falls below the 95% threshold, meaning a reliable connection is not predicted.

Furthermore, maps use shaded areas to show population coverage percentages and distinct icons for newly deployed 5G commercial sites. A crucial best practice is to always verify the data period (e.g., Q2 2025) in the map legend, as networks are constantly evolving. Understanding this visual language requires fluency in the specific technical terms used, which we will now define.

Très bonne couverture vs. no service: the 5 key terms you must know

To accurately interpret your check results, you must understand the official terminology:

1. Couverture: The ability to connect to a network. Officially, this means a 95% probability of establishing and maintaining a 1-minute call outdoors.
2. Très Bonne Couverture: The highest level, indicating reliable outdoor service and data access, with indoor service available in most typical buildings.
3. Qualité de Service (QS): The technical performance metrics of the network, including accessibility and maintained bitrate, which underpin coverage.
4. No Service: An area where the network's call success rate is below the 95% threshold, indicating unreliable or non-existent connectivity.
5. 5G Couverture: Specifically refers to areas with deployed commercial 5G sites, as shown on the latest ARCEP maps.

Faq: 5g, indoor coverage, and why your signal varies – your questions answered

Q: Is 5G available at my address?

A: Check the "5G" layer on the "Mon réseau mobile" map or the latest ARCEP Q2 2025 departmental card, which shows all commercial 5G sites.

Q: Why is my indoor signal different from the outdoor map prediction?

A: Maps show theoretical outdoor coverage. Indoor reception is an estimate and can be significantly weakened by building materials (concrete, metal). The "très bonne couverture" level accounts for this in most, but not all, cases.

Q: Why does my signal strength vary?

A: Coverage is a statistical prediction. Real-world factors like network congestion (number of simultaneous users), weather conditions, physical obstacles, and your movement can cause momentary variations.