Manhattan's Best (and Worst) Subway Lines and Stations for Cell Reception and Wi-Fi

NEW YORK, NY — A new study released by Global Wireless Solutions (GWS) ranks the best and worst Manhattan subway lines and stations for cellphone reception and Wi-Fi.

To gather the data, GWS staffers ran over 70,000 tests within the Manhattan subway system — using AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon service and public Wi-Fi — during the month of October 2016. (FYI, the study only examined stations south of 125th St, and only stations that claimed to have connectivity as of August.)

Here are some highlights:

• The 4 and 6 lines were ranked No. 1 for connectivity across all stations.

• The J and Z lines came in dead last.

• Manhattan's best subway platform for connectivity: the 1 train station at 103rd street.

• The top three worst stations for connectivity were all in SoHo: the Spring Street A/C/E, the Prince Street N/Q/R and the Houston Street 1/2/3.

And here is the full ranking of Manhattan's subway lines, from best-connected to worst-connected, according to GWS testing.

1. 4/6
   
2. 5
   
3. F
   
4. 1
   
5. M
   
6. A/C
   
7. B
   
8. R
   
9. Q
   
10. 3
    
11. 2
    
12. N
    
13. L
    
14. E
    
15. D
    
16. J/Z

Lastly, here the best and worst individual subway stations for connectivity, according to GWS.

Service overall in the Manhattan subway system is steadily improving, the GWS study found: Since last year, cell service speed in the stations has increased 36 percent, and the Wi-Fi speed has doubled.

These improvements may lead riders to expect reception everywhere, even when it's not quite there yet, GWS said.

“It’s not uncommon to see subway riders on their phone struggling to send an email, load a news article or check their Facebook page not realizing that their connection has become intermittent or disappeared altogether,” Paul Carter, CEO and founder of GWS, said in a statement. "This annual evaluation is important for us given its impact on New Yorkers over the years, helping them understand where on the subway they can reliably use their phones, and where they can’t.”

According to Transit Wireless, the company that supplies the MTA with cell service and Wi-Fi, the full subway system is being connected to the grid in seven phases. "We are in phase five of seven," the company's website says, "with over 180 stations providing connectivity throughout Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx."

A hat tip to Gothamist. Lead image via Transit Wireless