Signal Station Labs
The measurement work behind every comparison
Labs is our testing and research arm. We run fixed test sites, sample routes and long-duration monitoring, then publish the method alongside the result so anyone can check it.
Current programme
Four measurement streams, running continuously
Fixed site monitoring
Urban, suburban, rural and upland sites sampled every fifteen minutes across mobile and fixed connections.
Route testing
Repeated drive and rail routes recording signal, band and throughput, to compare coverage claims against experience.
Hardware bench
Routers, mesh systems and antennas measured at fixed distances under sustained load.
Resilience simulation
Deliberate power, line and network failures, to see what recovers and how quickly.
Labs library
Tests, comparisons and analysis
Longer pieces of work, each with the method stated and the raw picture rather than a single headline figure.
Can 5G replace home broadband?
We ran a 5G home router alongside full fibre for six weeks. Here is where it held up, and where it quietly fell apart.
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Best connectivity for rural homes
Fixed wireless, 4G with an external antenna, satellite or a community network — how to work out which one your address actually supports.
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Starlink versus 5G
Two very different ways to get online without a fixed line. We compare cost, latency, weather resilience and where each one makes sense.
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How to get reliable internet in a campervan
A practical setup for working on the road: SIM choice, roof antennas, power draw and what to do when you park in a dead spot.
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What happens when the mobile network goes down?
Outages are rarer than they feel, but they expose how much we route through one connection. What actually keeps working, and what does not.
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Building a resilient home connection
Failover, battery backup and sensible redundancy for people who work from home — without building a data centre in a cupboard.
ReadPlaceholder dataArticle content is initial editorial copy written for launch; datasets are being collected.
How we score
What goes into a Labs score
Scores out of 100 combine the seven criteria below. Coverage and reliability carry the most weight, because they decide whether anything else matters.
Coverage
Where a connection works, not where a map says it should. We record signal and band on fixed routes and at static test sites.
Speed
Download and upload measured repeatedly across the day, reported as medians and ranges rather than best-case figures.
Reliability
Dropouts, latency variation and recovery time. The measures that decide whether a call survives.
Price
Total cost over the full term, including setup fees, hardware and any scheduled increases.
Contract terms
Minimum terms, exit fees, price rise clauses and what happens at the end of the deal.
Hardware
Supplied routers and optional antennas, tested for range, thermal behaviour and useful configuration options.
Real-world usability
Setup, apps, billing clarity and support. The parts of a service you deal with after the speed test is over.