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Optimal, the long-running telecom emblem, has been rated because the worst for mobile reception within the U.S. At the beginning referred to as CableVision from 1973 to 1996, Optimal supplies TV, telephone, and web programs. Alternatively, in a up to date survey from Consumer Reports, the corporate was once discovered to give you the worst mobile reception score out of each and every different corporate. The survey had 123,670 submissions, discovering Optimal to be the worst general provider. Up to now, this went to AT&T.

In its breakdown, Optimal scored poorly around the board. Each price and knowledge are ranked the similar as reception, which is just a little extraordinary, as Optimal makes use of T-Cell’s community to offer its carrier. For reference, T-Cell is ranked upper in mobile reception, in addition to general upper in comparison to Optimal. In step with Optimum’s website and Navi, an unbiased protection tracker, sign in main places is solely tremendous. There is not any easy clarification out of doors of heavy site visitors coming during the community, as there are just about 60 other networks leveraging T-Cell’s infrastructure around the U.S.

This stated, the net reactions from shopper assessment websites like TrustPilot and boards like Reddit appear to substantiate its score. On TrustPilot, all main community suppliers are rated poorly, with Optimal discovering shut pals with Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile itself. The similar more or less reaction has been fired at its web carrier as neatly, with some claiming its some of the worst internet providers in the US. 

Over on TrustPilot, of the 1,791 evaluations, 94% are rated one celebrity. That is a complete of one,683 poorly rated evaluations, bringing the whole reasonable to one.1. Filtering those with key phrases like “sign” and “reception” highlights years of problems through more than a few customers, with the newest one complaining in February 2026. Maximum evaluations are about house broadband, however with regards to telephones, a July 2025 assessment stated that the client does “now not get sign anyplace.” Those responses proceed, with the oldest one filtering the phrase “signal” courting to April, 2020. That assessment additionally claims that reception was once deficient when in their very own house.

Taking a look additional than TrustPilot, Reddit customers additionally claim that there are problems with cellular protection when within their houses, or out and about. It will have to be famous that there is some confusion over cellular carrier in the house and simplest connecting to Wi-Fi. Maximum telephones nowadays can leverage the Wi-Fi community to make a choice, but it surely varies through tool.

Optimum is clearly a phone carrier to avoid. The throughline, on the other hand, is that the corporate itself isn’t useful, regardless of being provide on Reddit and TrustPilot. It may be tough to position the blame completely at Optimal’s toes for its deficient cellular reception, as on the finish of the day, it is piggybacking off of T-Cell’s infrastructure. If that isn’t to be had or poorly applied within the space, it’s going to affect Optimal telephones.