Measuring Mobile Network Coverage during Extended Road Trips in the Nordics

Modern smartphones, equipped with advanced mo-bile network technologies, deliver substantial computing ca-pabilities, but they are energy-constrained because of batterycapacity limitations. It is now feasible to offload computationallydemanding tasks to cloud and fog computing infrastructuresto overcome this limitation. A reliable network connection isrequired for stable communication between mobile devices andcloud or fog systems. This experimental campaign examinesthe reliability of mobile network connectivity during prolongedroad trips, spanning approximately 44,000 km across Norway,Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, and Finland. We collected long-termlatency and loss data to evaluate service quality and roamingperformance, including cross-border transitions. Our findingsreveal significant variability in network reliability, with frequentroaming events in certain countries, and occasional long serviceoutages lasting up to 680 s. These results highlight the challengesof maintaining uninterrupted connectivity for critical services,in dynamic environments. This study provides a foundation forfurther large-scale investigations into mobile network resiliencebeyond the Nordic countries.