Dish Wireless Coverage Map

Stetson Doggett

Updated:

September 30, 2024

Does Dish Wireless have good coverage?

Use the interactive maps below to check Dish Wireless coverage in your area.

You can also download the free Coverage Map app for iPhone and Android to compare cellular coverage between carriers.

Map Key:

Great coverage

Good coverage

Poor coverage

Great coverage = stream 4K videos, video call, use your phone to its fullest potential

Good coverage = stream 480p videos, browse social media, stream music, use the web

Poor coverage = make phone calls, send a text

*The Estimated Coverage Map is created with coverage data from the FCC

Dish Wireless Cell Phone Plans

Affordable Cell Phone Plans that use for Coverage

Data-Only Plans that use for Coverage

No items found.

See all data only plans

About Dish Wireless

DISH Wireless was formed in 2020 as part of the Sprint/T-Mobile merger.

The Justice Department was concerned that if Sprint and T-Mobile merged, it would reduce competition in the wireless space for consumers.

That's where DISH Network LLC stepped in. DISH agreed to purchase Sprint's prepaid wireless business, including Boost Mobile and all Boost Mobile subscribers, and build its own 5G network to become the fourth largest wireless carrier in the United States. This would keep competition healthy in the wireless space.

DISH Network LLC officially purchased Boost Mobile from T-Mobile for $1.4 billion on July 1st, 2020.

With the acquisition of Boost Mobile, DISH Network LLC launched DISH Wireless LLC to operate its wireless business.

DISH also acquired Ting Mobile (August 1st, 2020), Republic Wireless (March 8th, 2021), and Gen Mobile (September 1st, 2021) to grow its subscriber base and its portfolio of prepaid brands.

While DISH originally branded its wireless subdivision brand as DISH Wireless, it recently changed the branding to be Boost Mobile in July of 2024.

This article has been updated to reflect the new Boost Mobile branding.

DISH Wireless Coverage Quick Stats

Here are fast facts about DISH Wireless's (now Boost Mobile's) nationwide 5G network:

Network: Boost Mobile
Total area covered: 9.0%
Total square miles covered: 299,260
Total population covered: 72%+

The above statistics come from our analysis of the FCC signal strength data for the United States.

DISH Wireless Coverage

DISH Wireless, now operating as Boost Mobile, is the fourth major mobile network operator (MNO) in the United States.

Being an MNO means DISH puts up cell towers, deploys network equipment, and develops a network core to fully operate its own cellular network.

DISH currently covers 9.0% of the land area in the United States with its 5G network. This may seem like a small amount at only 299,260 square miles, but Dish says its network covers over 240 million Americans.

DISH is able to cover such a large number of people because most people live in cities.

DISH has been diligently rolling out its 5G network in over 15,000 cities, which has allowed it to cover 72% of the U.S. population with a relatively small coverage footprint.

Still, only covering 8.5% of the land area in the U.S. leaves a lot of the nation without coverage. What does DISH do in areas where it does not yet have service? It turns out DISH has roaming agreements with AT&T and T-Mobile.

If a DISH customer is in an area without native Dish coverage, then their phone will automatically switch to using either the AT&T or T-Mobile network for service.

You can browse the DISH 5G coverage map below to see exactly where you can get service on the DISH network (again, now branded as Boost Mobile).

You can also check out the AT&T coverage map or the T-Mobile coverage map to see where you will get service if you end up roaming on one of those networks.

Get the Free Coverage Map App

Measure your cellular data speeds. Compare cellular coverage. Completely free.

What network does DISH Wireless use?

DISH Wireless uses its own 5G network to provide coverage, which is now branded as the Boost Mobile network.

DISH also has a roaming agreement with AT&T and T-Mobile, so DISH customers can use AT&T and T-Mobile's 4G LTE and 5G networks in areas where the Boost Mobile network does not have service.

DISH Wireless 5G Coverage

DISH Wireless has the smallest 5G coverage area out of any of the MNOs.

It covers just 8.5% of the United States.

For comparison, AT&T covers 43.3% of the U.S. with 5G, T-Mobile covers 36.0%, and Verizon covers 14.5%.

Despite having small physical footprint, DISH's 5G network still covers over 70% of the U.S. population. DISH is lucky that most Americans live in densely populated cities.

5G download speeds on the DISH 5G network range from about 5 Mbps on the low end to over 500 Mbps on the high-end. Upload speeds range from 1 Mbps to over 60 Mbps.

We will continue to see DISH rapidly expand its 5G network throughout the year.

You can track the rollout of DISH 5G near real-time on our crowdsourced coverage map.

Customers can experience the DISH 5G network by signing up for Boost Mobile with a compatible device in an area with active service, or by signing up for Project Genesis.

DISH Wireless LTE Coverage

DISH does not have any LTE coverage.

It only offers 5G coverage.

If you are a DISH customer with an LTE device, then you will roam on either the AT&T or T-Mobile LTE networks for coverage.

DISH Wireless Coverage by State

State	Total Coverage	Great Coverage	Good Coverage	Poor Coverage
Alabama	11.1%	5.6%	3.8%	1.7%
Arizona	6.3%	2.0%	2.4%	1.9%
Arkansas	7.9%	3.7%	2.6%	1.6%
California	8.9%	1.9%	3.4%	3.6%
Colorado	5.1%	2.5%	1.8%	0.8%
Connecticut	44.7%	12.8%	20.8%	11.1%
Delaware	56.6%	25.2%	17.7%	13.8%
District of Columbia	94.0%	28.6%	55.4%	10.0%
Florida	31.3%	15.8%	10.5%	4.9%
Georgia	10.4%	4.5%	4.2%	1.7%
Idaho	2.7%	1.4%	0.8%	0.5%
Illinois	22.4%	10.0%	6.3%	6.0%
Indiana	24.3%	10.8%	7.3%	6.1%
Iowa	7.5%	2.6%	2.7%	2.2%
Kansas	3.3%	1.3%	1.0%	0.9%
Kentucky	7.2%	2.7%	2.6%	1.9%
Louisiana	15.0%	6.9%	4.3%	3.9%
Maine	0.9%	0.3%	0.4%	0.3%
Maryland	44.9%	18.9%	17.6%	8.4%
Massachusetts	18.8%	4.8%	8.2%	5.9%
Michigan	17.1%	9.2%	5.3%	2.6%
Minnesota	5.1%	2.0%	1.8%	1.3%
Mississippi	4.8%	2.6%	1.3%	0.9%
Missouri	6.2%	2.6%	2.4%	1.2%
Montana	0.6%	0.1%	0.2%	0.3%
Nebraska	2.9%	1.1%	0.9%	0.8%
Nevada	1.9%	0.9%	0.7%	0.3%
New Hampshire	3.6%	1.0%	1.5%	1.1%
New Jersey	62.9%	25.8%	24.6%	12.5%
New Mexico	2.3%	1.1%	0.7%	0.5%
New York	18.4%	8.4%	6.6%	3.4%
North Carolina	23.2%	10.4%	8.9%	3.9%
North Dakota	1.6%	0.4%	0.5%	0.7%
Ohio	28.5%	15.1%	8.0%	5.4%
Oklahoma	5.4%	2.2%	1.8%	1.5%
Oregon	4.7%	1.6%	1.8%	1.3%
Pennsylvania	26.8%	10.0%	11.9%	4.9%
Rhode Island	15.2%	2.7%	6.2%	6.2%
South Carolina	19.5%	7.9%	7.6%	4.0%
South Dakota	1.1%	0.4%	0.4%	0.3%
Tennessee	15.5%	7.4%	5.8%	2.4%
Texas	12.3%	5.3%	3.9%	3.1%
Utah	3.7%	1.6%	1.3%	0.9%
Vermont	1.3%	0.6%	0.4%	0.2%
Virginia	14.6%	6.0%	5.8%	2.8%
Washington	6.7%	2.4%	2.9%	1.4%
West Virginia	3.3%	1.3%	1.4%	0.5%
Wisconsin	16.0%	8.7%	4.7%	2.7%
Wyoming	0.7%	0.3%	0.2%	0.2%

DISH Wireless vs. T-Mobile Coverage

DISH Wireless has less coverage than T-Mobile does.

DISH only covers 9.0% of the land area in the U.S. with service.

T-Mobile, meanwhile, has as a seven times bigger coverage area. Its LTE network spans 46.6% of the U.S. and covers 99% of Americans. T-Mobile's 5G network is also the second largest in the country. It covers 36.0% of the U.S.

That said, the irony here is Dish has a roaming agreement with T-Mobile, so DISH customers can use the T-Mobile network for coverage in areas where DISH does not offer native service.

This means DISH Wireless customers will effectively get identical coverage on DISH Wireless as they would on T-Mobile.

There is one exception though. T-Mobile has some domestic roaming agreements with small regional carriers in certain parts of the country. Dish does not have those same roaming agreements. In the few areas where T-Mobile has domestic roaming agreements and DISH lacks native 5G coverage, DISH customers will not have service.

You can also check our T-Mobile coverage map to see how T-Mobile service is in your area.

DISH Wireless vs. AT&T Coverage

AT&T has the largest coverage area of any carrier in the U.S. right now.

It covers a massive 78.1% of the U.S.

That is over 8.5x more coverage than DISH Wireless!

It is comical to compare the two networks:

There is a plot twist though:

DISH has a roaming agreement with AT&T.

This means DISH is able to use the AT&T network for coverage in areas where the native DISH network does not yet have service.

In effect, DISH Wireless customers will have identical coverage to AT&T customers because they will be able to roam on the AT&T network.

And this is great news for DISH Wireless customers because AT&T’s 4G LTE and 5G networks are excellent.

You can check AT&T coverage in your area using our AT&T coverage map.

DISH Wireless vs. Verizon Coverage

DISH has worse coverage than Verizon.

DISH covers 9.0% of the country while Verizon covers a massive 67.4% of the country.

There is basically no comparison.

Except... there is a catch.

DISH has a roaming agreement with AT&T, which means DISH customers are able to use the AT&T network for service in areas where DISH does not have native 5G coverage.

And AT&T has the most coverage in the country with 78.1% of the U.S. being covered.

This means DISH, when roaming on AT&T, would give you more coverage than Verizon:

In effect, the coverage between DISH and Verizon would not be too different.

You will get excellent coverage on both carriers.

Check Verizon coverage in your area using our Verizon coverage map.

DISH Wireless Coverage Frequently Asked Questions

Is DISH Wireless coverage good?

DISH Wireless, now branded as Boost Mobile, is still building out its network so it only covers a small portion of the U.S. right now. Thankfully, DISH has a roaming agreement with AT&T, so DISH customers are also able to use AT&T’s network for service. AT&T has great coverage in most locations.

Does DISH Wireless offer 5G?

Yes, DISH Wireless offers 5G. In fact, DISH is only building a 5G network! There will be no 4G LTE service available from DISH Wireless directly. Customers who connect to 4G LTE will be using AT&T’s network for service under Dish’s roaming agreement with AT&T.

Does DISH Wireless have coverage in Canada?

Yes, DISH Wireless offers coverage in Canada for an extra cost on its Boost Mobile service. Boost Mobile customers can purchase the North America Connect add-on for $5. The add-on includes unlimited talk, text, and 5GB of high-speed data in Canada.

Does DISH Wireless have coverage in Mexico?

Yes, DISH Wireless offers coverage in Mexico for an extra cost on its Boost Mobile service. Boost Mobile customers can purchase the North America Connect add-on for $5. The add-on includes unlimited talk, text, and 5GB of high-speed data in Mexico.

Does DISH Wireless have international coverage?

Yes, DISH Wireless offers international coverage for an extra cost on its Boost Mobile service. The international roaming add-on on Boost Mobile is $20 per month and includes unlimited minutes, unlimited texts, and 1GB of high-speed data while traveling abroad. You can add more international data any time you need it for $10 per GB.