Total Wireless has updated its plans to include unlimited data at all tiers along with appealing multi-line discounts. I could spend all day writing about how the vast majority of people don’t need that much data and how unlimited data plans are likely an inefficient use of money, but frankly, a lot of people don’t want to think about usage. The latest plans Total Wireless has to offer all come with unlimited data and some hotspot data, so if you’ve got a family and don’t want to think about how much data your kids are using, Total Wireless could be the right pick.
Total Wireless
Total Wireless is a Verizon-owned prepaid carrier with three unlimited plans and solid multi-line discounts. Total even included hotspot data on all of its plans as well as data roaming in Mexico and Canada.
- Multi-line discounts for families
- Totally unlimited data on all plans
- Hotspot data on all plans
- No Ultra Wideband speeds on the Base 5G plan
- Auto-pay required for the best prices
- Expensive for a single line
Price and availability
Three unlimited plans with multi-line discounts
Total Wireless has three main phone plans: Base 5G Unlimited, Total 5G Unlimited, and Total 5G+ Unlimited. The Base 5G Unlimited plan is one of its most competitive, with a $40 starting price for a single line with multi-line pricing, bringing it down to $25 per month with four lines. This plan reminds me a lot of Visible’s base plan since it lacks full Ultra Wideband 5G speeds and adopts its older $40 price point. This plan also comes with a reasonably 5GB of hotspot data.
Base 5G Unlimited |
Total 5G Unlimited |
Total 5G+ Unlimited |
|
---|---|---|---|
Network |
Verizon 5G |
Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband |
Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband |
Data |
Unlimited |
Unlimited |
Unlimited |
Hotspot |
5GB |
15GB |
Unlimited (5Mbps) |
Roaming |
Mexico and Canada |
Mexico and Canada + 15 other destinations |
Mexico and Canada + 15 other destinations |
Perks |
N/A |
Disney+ Premium – 6 months |
Disney+ Premium |
Single-line price |
$40/month |
$50/month |
$60/month |
Four-line price (per line) |
$25/month |
$27.50/month |
$30/month |
Moving up, Total 5G Unlimited raises the starting price to $50 for a single line or $27.50 per line with three lines and a fourth line for free. The biggest upgrade is in 5G speed, with this plan getting full Ultra Wideband 5G speeds on Verizon’s network. The hotspot is upgraded to 15GB, and roaming in 15 additional countries, in addition to Mexico and Canada, is included.
At the top of the range, Total 5G+ Unlimited has all the bells and whistles of the above plans, with a couple of additions. You get an extra $10 long-distance credit for calls abroad, as well as Disney+ Premium included. Hotspot data is now unlimited, though it has a 5Mbps speed cap, much like Visible’s cheapest plan. This feels a bit slow as the more similarly priced Visible+ has its hotspot at twice the speed.
What’s good about Total Wireless
Solid speed and coverage on Verizon 5G
If you like unlimited data plans, any of Total’s three phone plans could be a good fit for you, with totally unlimited data on each plan. That means that you’re not going to be hitting a speed limit for going over a high-speed data amount like some unlimited prepaid plans still have. It’s important to remember, however, that you’re also probably not going to get the same speeds as a postpaid Verizon customer in a head-to-head even though Verizon owns Total Wireless.
For Total 5G Unlimited and Total 5G+ Unlimited, this comes down to prioritization, so a more expensive postpaid plan will get higher speeds on a congested tower. That being said, unless you live in a dense area, like downtown in a city, Verizon’s network likely has plenty of capacity to keep up with more than adequate speeds.
If you choose the Base 5G plan, as I did for this review, your speeds will be quite a bit lower than the other two plans. While this is shown as a lack of Ultra Wideband support on Total’s plan page, a phone on this plan will connect to 5G UW, but speeds are capped. In my testing, I saw top speeds around 25Mbps down and similar upload speeds, depending on which type of connection I had.
I tested Total Wireless both in town with full 5G UW signal and out in the country with only LTE. LTE is a known quantity these days, but for the most part, there was plenty of speed for streaming, downloading apps, and browsing social media. I also had no issue getting emails or messages through. Rural performance, and network performance in general, will come down more to where you live and how strong Verizon’s network is in that area, so your mileage will vary. Take a look at Total’s coverage map to ensure you’ve got some coverage before signing on.
I’ve noticed Verizon’s 5G coverage has improved in my area over the past year. Verizon didn’t dive into low-band 5G coverage as much as T-Mobile and AT&T, instead focusing on mid-band and high-band 5G with its Ultra Wideband coverage, so you’ll be looking at LTE a lot more than with those other carriers. That being said, low-band 5G doesn’t offer a significant performance increase over solid LTE, so Verizon’s plan does make some sense.
You can see the results of this effort in Ookla’s connectivity report, which puts Verizon in second place to T-Mobile, apart from availability. Overall, I was happy with Total’s coverage and never felt held back by the Base 5G plan’s lower speeds.
If you were considering a carrier like Visible or Mint Mobile but wanted better multi-line savings for your family, Total Wireless could be the right pick. The Base 5G plan, for example, costs $40 per month for the first line, but if you have five lines, it comes down to $23 per line. That includes taxes as well.
As mentioned, each Total Wireless plan comes with some hotspot data, so if you need an internet connection on a laptop or tablet and there’s no Wi-Fi, you can still get online. This can be especially helpful if you work from home since you have a backup plan if your internet goes out. While 5GB isn’t a ton for streaming or large downloads, it’s fine for sending messages, editing documents, and even a few short meetings.
Another nice thing was the video streaming quality. I didn’t notice a video quality limit on streaming video with Netflix’s Fast app, which gets speeds on par with any other speed test app. Some users reported issues getting HD video support on their plans when Total launched its new plans, but this was not an issue in my testing. Technically, the plan specifications put Base 5G at 480p with Total 5G and Total 5G+ at 720p, so your experience may differ.
Read our review
Review: Visible’s unlimited plans make it one of the cheapest ways to use Verizon’s network
Cheap and fast unlimited data
While prepaid carriers like Total rarely have direct phone discounts, if you stick with Total Wireless for 12 months, you can get a $200 discount on a new phone. Total mostly sticks with mid-range or low-end phones, but you can also get a handful of flagship models from Samsung or Apple. While the $200 savings on a new device after 12 months is a solid loyalty perk, you need to use it before the 18-month mark, or you’ll lose the discount. If you’ve got a phone that’s still good enough, you can save a decent chunk of money with this promotion when you upgrade in a year.
What’s bad about Total Wireless
The app works but could be a lot better
While Base 5G plan I tested wasn’t terribly fast, the data connection was generally solid, even without the full 5G speeds. For the most part, I prefer lower data speeds with unlimited data, so this plan works well with the way I use my phone.
When it comes to the total Total Wireless experience, I did have an odd issue with the app. Using the Galaxy A35 5G phone provided by Verizon for this review, the Total Wireless app that came installed out of the box was out of date and not working well. What’s worse, it was linked to the Galaxy Store, which does not list the app, so it did not receive an update when setting up the phone. Searching for the app in the Play Store allowed me to update the app, but this is something that could be confusing to a new user. This may be more of an issue with Samsung’s software and Total Wireless, but it could still cause some confusion.
Speaking of the app, it’s barebones and not great. You can see plan information, upgrade options, and hotspot usage, but not a ton more. While not strictly necessary on an unlimited plan, it would have been nice to see a bit more usage information. A lot of the options in the app also just link to Total’s website, which is a bit clunky. Still, it gets the job done with easy payments and access to customer support is available from any page on the top right corner of the app.
While Total Wireless is fairly easy to recommend to families with multiple lines, for a single line, the prices are a bit sharp without a promotion. For example, the base Visible plan at $25 per month would likely be a better fit for most users than Total’s Base 5G plan. The Total plan gets some different perks, like data roaming in Mexico and Canada, but if you’re not leaving the country, Visible’s lower single-line price and unlimited hotspot data may be more appealing.
Another thing to keep in mind about Total Wireless is that auto-renew is needed to get the best prices after the first month. If you want Total’s best prices, you’ll need to keep a card on file, which could be a little tougher if you’re on a tight budget.
Should you sign up?
If you’ve got multi-lines, Total’s plans make sense
If you’re looking for a cheap wireless plan, you’ve got a lot of options these days, even with unlimited data. Verizon’s prepaid brands like Total Wireless and Visible have been working fast to keep their prices competitive, but the consistent promotions bringing the price even lower can help seal the deal. For example, at the time of writing, you can get the base plan for $20 per month for up to five years when you bring your own phone. It’s worth looking for discounts.
Total Wireless could also be your home internet solution if you’ve got good Verizon coverage. On its own, Total’s home internet plan costs $60 per month with unlimited data, but with a wireless plan, it’s just $35 per month. Total estimates 20 – 200Mbps for performance, so it won’t be good for everyone.
For average users with a big appetite for data, or for those that just don’t want to bother counting megabytes, Total Wireless is a solid budget option. For a single line, other carriers like Visible make more sense, but with multi-line discounts, Total Wireless is one of the cheapest unlimited family plans you’ll find.
Total Wireless
Total Wireless is a Verizon-owned prepaid carrier with three unlimited plans and solid multi-line discounts. Total even included hotspot data on all of its plans as well as data roaming in Mexico and Canada.