Which Mobile Network Provider Is The Best When It Comes To Himachal Pradesh

In todays world getting disconnected from the internet and outside world is just unfathomable. Everybody loves to stay connected with their loved ones and outside world via mobile network especially when on trips. So those who are looking to visit Himachal might have a question “Which Mobile Network Is Best for Himachal”

The question arises due to lack of facilities for years especially internet and mobile network in Himachal. But things have drastically changed from the past 5 to 7 years. Even the remotest villages in Himachal are now equipped with High speed internet and good mobile Network.

And based on my experience traveling to the remotest corners of Himachal, I can certainly say that Jio and Airtel work best in Himachal. You can find Jio and Airtel in almost all the places including remote villages. So in this blog I am going to be talking about which mobile network is best for Himachal.

Which Mobile Network is Best For Himachal – All The Details You Need 

So there are 4 different network providers in Himachal. They include Jio, Airtel, Vodafone, BSNL. Back in the day network connectivity was just limited to popular places and major towns of Himachal.

But the things have drastically changed for good. The change was definitely brought about by Jio. They started installing mobile towers even in the remote villages and Airtel also strengthened as a result. But Vodafone has lagged behind. You can only find Vodafone in popular tourist places and Major Towns.

BSNL was the most ubiquitous network provider until Jio and Airtel provided even the remotest corners of Himachal with super good network and internet. BSNL worked well bbut only with calls and SMS, their internet till date works terribly slow.

By the way, here is a detailed blog on mobile networks available in Kasol. If you are planning to visit for the first this will be quite helpful to you.

How Good Is Jio Network In Himachal

So as I mentioned earlier Jio has the currently the best network coverage in Himachal in my opinion. You’ll almost get Jio Network everywhere even in the remote villages of Himachal. The internet also works fine in most of the remote villages except for a few.

You can easily stream, surf, make videos and almost do everything as far the internet is concerned even in the remote villages. Yes I have been to several remote villages in Kullu district and 90 % of them which had Jio network had got decent internet speed and of course clear voice calls and SMS.

For the matter of fact, some of those villages didn’t even have road connected to them yet, but the internet indeed was 4g. So you can best rest assured. Plus the internet speed is somewhere between 5 mbps to 30 mbps depending where the tower is located.

Kullu, Kinnaur, Lahaul & Spiti, Chamba, Shimla, Mandi all these district with most mid to upper hills have good Jio network in almost every village barring a few exceptions. While in Lahaul, Spiti valleys the Jio has been installed recently in the past year and a half.

So carrying a Jio Sim is the safest bet and to your surprise you’ll find that it works at even the remotest of places. So best rest assured and carry a Jio Sim on your trip to Himachal.

By the way here is detailed blog on 31 promising reasons to visit Himachal. Do let me know your thoughts about it.

How Good Is Airtel Network In Himachal

After Jio, the second best network provider in Himachal which has decent internet speed, good voice call quality is Airtel. Again, most of the places I have been to and even the remote ones had Airtel working there.

But again, Airtel’s coverage is a little bit lesser than Jio’s when it comes to remote places. But such villages are very less as far Airtel is concerned.

Like Jio, where the network coverage is good you can seamlessly surf internet, make video calls, stream videos etc. Personally I find the 4g internet of Airtel to be more stable that Jio. So I personally use Airtel more than Jio whenever there is decent internet and network available.

Internet speed is quite decent when you get 4g in most of the parts of Himachal. You can get anywhere between 5 mbps to 30 mbps speed. Of course, depends on the placement of the tower.

Airtel works in fine in Kullu, Mandi, Chamba, Lahaul, Kinnaur. I have traveled extensively in Kullu so I know Airtel works great in Kullu district. Barring a few exceptions of course. Spiti, I am not really sure because earlier except for BSNL nothing used to work. It is only since the past year or so that Jio has started working in Spiti.

By the way, do check out my interesting blog on the current state of offbeat places in Himachal  It has interesting points in it. Do let me known your thoughts about it.

How Good is Vodafone Network In Himachal

So Vodafone is the worst network provider when it comes to Himachal Pradesh. Vodafone does not work in most of the rural and remote villages in Himachal. Apart from popular tourist places and Major Towns, Vodafone is kind of useless.

So In case you have only Vodafone I’ll advise you to take some other sim like Jio or Airtel on your trip to Himachal. And In case you have dual sim option then you should also carry Jio or Airtel when going to Himachal.

But Vodafone does work decently in the major tourist places like Manali, Dalhousie, Mcleodganj, Kasol. But unlike Jio and Airtel it miserably fails if you go slightly remote. For instance in somewhat now famous Banjar and Tirthan valley in Kullu Vodafone does not work at all.

This is was just one example, there are plenty of such places in Kullu, Kinnaur, Lahaul, Spiti, Shimla, Chamba where Jio and Airtel both work decently but Vodafone fails quite spectacularly.

And the internet speed is also quite bad when it comes to upper villages in Himachal like Tosh or Malana where Jio and Airtel work quite well. And you can forget about Vodafone connectivity in high altitude valleys like Lahaul, Spiti, Pangi, etc. There are no Vodafone towers in high altitude areas.

Feel free to check out my blog on 13 reasons why himachal attracts solo travelers wherein I explain while solo travelers just throng Himachal Pradesh in detail.

How Good is The BSNL network in Himachal

So back in day before Jio and Airtel kind of revolutionized internet and mobile connectivity in the remote as well as popular regions of Himachal, BSNL was the savior of folks who lived in remote villages.

But now BSNL has lost its charm as Jio and Airtel have upped their game. With most of the remote areas along with not so remote areas in all almost all districts of Himachal now having high speed internet by either Jio or Airtel people have switched from BSNL.

The reason being, even though you could call and send and receive SMS the poor internet speed of BSNL is one of the main reasons for its downfall. But even now there are a select few villages in Himachal some of which I have personally visited, where only BSNL works.

Of course with time, the number of such villages has drastically come down, but BSNL is the only mode of the connectivity for such villages. Of course, gradually with time Jio and Airtel will definitely make their life easier.

So unless you are looking to spend months in those select remote villages I see no point in taking BSNL on your trips. Earlier Lahaul and Spiti valleys where two such places where only BSNL used to work. But Jio and Airtel have now brought high speed internet even there.

By the way here is detailed blog 31 beautiful places to visit near Spiti. I am sure you guys will love it.

Which Mobile Network You Should Opt For On A Trip To Himachal

So to answer this query in brief. If you have a single sim on your phone then Jio or Airtel is the best. Jio will work at maximum of the places be it remote or not. Same with Airtel as well, but little less when it comes to extremely remote places.

And in case you have a dual sim, then take both Jio and Airtel, so if one does not work at some place then the other will surely work. I personally bought a Jio sim and ported my Vodafone sim to Airtel just because I travel to Himachal so often.

If you have Vodafone and you want to venture in slightly remote places like Tirthan or high altitude valleys like Lahaul or Spiti just bring a back like Jio or Airtel. Even if you are going to touristic places just bring a back up to be sure.

As I said earlier, I personally use both Airtel and Jio as my phone has dual sim option and I have had no problems whatsoever using them in Himachal till. Thanks to Vodafone not working at many places on one of the trips I just switched to Jio and Airtel.

By the way here is blog 16 beautiful alternatives to Kasol. Please do check out and let me know your thoughts on it.

To conclude, I hope now you have an idea about which mobile network is best for Himachal. As I mentioned multiple throughout the blogs Jio and Airtel are decent and your best bet.

In case you have any queries about which mobile network is best for Himachal. Feel, free to reach out to me in the comments below.