Total Wireless 5G is Slower than Promised?

Is your Total Wireless 5G slower than promised? Did you pay for high speed but get low speed? We explain what to do now, or you can tell us what happened and claim compensation.

What is 5G?

5G is the fifth generation of mobile networks around the globe, a unified air interface that extends capacities for multiple users and allows for new services. 5G is said to have very few latency problems with superior reliability, preparing the world and its customers for future data reliant activities like virtual reality without compromising speed or quality.

Total Wireless and 5G

Total Wireless is a popular mobile virtual network operator which means they don’t own any 5G towers themselves but instead customers can use any available towers nearest their location which can include T-Mobile, Verizon, or AT&T all three of whom have 5G capabilities.

Total Wireless is currently owned by TracFone. At this time Verizon is attempting to acquire TracFone which would mean, by extension, they would also require Total Wireless. Right now the FCC is still reviewing the application before signing off. Were this acquisition to move forward, it would mean primary access to Verizon Wireless but it would still come with the same caveat of things like data throttling and reduced speeds, with access to multiple towers depending on your location.

Deals and prices

If you don’t have a compatible 5G network phone they do have deals on refurbished phones that are heavily discounted, but you still purchase them either through a monthly plan spanning 24 months, or at a one-time fee. If you choose to purchase a phone on a monthly plan, that does not bind you to a contract to continue the service, simply to buy out the phone. 

1. The unlimited plans that include unlimited talk and text with 5G access assuming it’s available in your area start at about $24 per month, per line if you want 1 GB of data.
2. If you want 5 gigabytes of data at 5G speeds it is $33 per month, per line.
3. The biggest plan is 25 GB of data at $47 per month.

The caveat with all three of these unlimited plans is you have to sign up with auto refill, not just pay as you go in order to access these prices, and assuming you have nationwide 5G available, Total Wireless will throttle your speeds all the way back to 2G once you reach that data cap.

The Promises

Total Wireless offers a map of their coverage for 5G plans but stipulates very clearly that the coverage maps are not a guarantee that you will actually have 5G coverage.

On their website they say it takes only three steps to access 5G Networks:

1. The first is to find a compatible device and you can use a compatible phone you already have but buy a SIM card through total Wireless or buy a phone with no strings attached.
2. The second is to find the plan that you want.
3. The third is to “activate and enjoy” the 5G network. 

The Reality

FairShake customers have had issues with honoring the deals and promotions laid out. As one customer explained, Total Wireless “would not upgrade, refused hotspot feature”. 

Unreliable Coverage

Total Wireless customers can bounce from 1 cell tower to another regardless of carrier but that means the coverage received is contingent upon which cell tower is being used and where that customer is located. If you look at maps for coverage provided by the top three cell phone providers, you will see that they have 5G access in roughly the same metropolitan cities with unreliable coverage everywhere else.

Below is the coverage map for Verizon:

Below is the coverage map for AT&T:

Below is the coverage map for T-Mobile:

Total Wireless has a 1 out of 5 star rating from the BBB. As one customer explained, “I prepaid 3 months of cellphone service with internet in the middle of May. Now my phone has ZERO signal all the time and I am in *******, ** the capitol of ********. Total Wireless support remains unhelpful and refuses to refund the money I paid or provide the service which I paid for. I am not sure what recently changed in the area but I am constantly kicked off of the closer towers and am not able to make or receive calls. I also do not have any access to the internet. My phone is completely useless.”

What you can do if your Total Wireless 5G is slower than promised

It’s possible that you can get compensation from Total Wireless if your 5G service or device is not what was promised to you when you purchased it. Let our expert team help you submit a claim and win. Tell us what happened below.