This API is used to check 3 UK Network 3G data coverage information using postcode.
This API is free for everyone, all you need to have is an account with aql. Please contact us or fill in our free trial form to obtain an account.
The 3 coverage API is available via our HTTP POST interface:
https://gw.aql.com/three/data_coverage.api.php (or http)
Although we do offer the standard HTTP gateway, we do prefer that your application uses the HTTPS gateway as it prevents sensitive details being “sniffed” across the internet.
The gateway expects the following parameters:
Parameter Name | Presence | Values |
---|---|---|
username | mandatory | Your aql username |
password | mandatory | Your aql password |
postcode | mandatory | The postcode to lookup. In a whitespace-less format, eg: LS101JQ |
On success, the gateway will return the following parameters
Parameter Name | Value Description |
---|---|
status | 200 |
desc | OK |
postcode | Formatted postcode from the query parameter by removing all whitespace characters. |
congestion | Congestion band category. Possible values:
|
indoor_type | Indicate if an area has a good indoor/outdoor coverage. Possible values:
|
The default format of the retuned data is:
<status>: <description>. <postcode>: <congestion> - <indoor_type>
where the items in angle brackets will be replaced with their actual values.
If the return-mode or return-format parameters are set in the original request, the returned string will be different depending on the format you choose.
If the call was not successful, the gateway will return the following parameters
Parameter Name | Value description |
---|---|
status | Status code for the type of error (see Below) |
desc | A string with a short description of the error |
The format of the retuned data is:
<status>: <desc>Status Code | Description |
---|---|
200 | OK |
401 | Authentication error |
6200 | Invalid postcode parameter |
6201 | No coverage data available |
Note: *status code 6201 means 3UK 3G Data coverage databases do not contain any information on this particular postcode.
You can view the return-mode and return-format descriptions here.