Total Wireless vs. Boost Mobile – Which mobile carrier offers better services?
Offering affordable and accessible mobile plans for users, Total Wireless and Boost Mobile have made names for themselves where budget mobile carriers are concerned. So, which one makes a better match for you?
For a considerable length of time, budget mobile carriers have offered alternatives to users for their capacity to deliver plans that combine ideal talk, text and data services. Total Wireless and Boost Mobile are among the many budget carriers around, and they continue to grow in terms of users and geographical location. Seeing as they are made to offer similar services, we decided to see which one of the two is better.
Table of Contents
When to use Total Wireless
With an assortment of individual and family plans from which to choose, Total Wireless makes an incredible acquisition for people who are looking for affordable plans that also come with talk, text and data features that are substantive. Seeing as it depends on Verizon’s towers for network transmission, Total Wireless delivers incredible coverage, making it ideal for people in both metropolitan and rural areas.
When to use Boost Mobile
Just like Total Wireless, Boost Mobile also provides affordable plans for both family and individual use, and is ideal for people who have high data needs, but who are on a budget. Seeing as it is an MVNO, Boost Mobile depends on Sprint to transmit network through its towers, and its coverage has been said to be quite spotty, with regions that are removed from urban areas reporting poor coverage. This makes it mostly ideal for people in metropolitan regions.
Total Wireless vs. Boost Mobile Features Comparison
Feature |
Total Wireless |
Boost Mobile |
Network Type |
MVNO |
MVNO |
Number of Plans |
6 |
10+ |
Monthly Subscriptions |
$23 – $95 |
$35 – $60 |
Mobile Hotspot |
Available |
Available |
Action |
Total Wireless vs. Boost Mobile – What criteria did we use to evaluate them?
Since both mobile carriers are MVNOs that depend on larger carriers for network transmission, we sought to establish which one of the two provides more comprehensive data and better speeds. We also sought to determine which one has more plans to choose from, and which one gives customers better value for money.
Total Wireless vs. Boost Mobile – A Detailed Review
Total Wireless Review
As one of the most effective budget mobile carriers in the country, Total Wireless has managed to create a name for itself as a highly reliable source of mobile plans that are inclusive of data, call and text services at affordable rates for families and individual users.
To transmit network to various parts of the country effectively, Total Wireless uses towers of major companies such as Verizon, and this is largely why their coverage is one of the best. Seeing as it is an MVNO, it does not need to maintain any network towers, and this gives them the capacity to remain affordable since this cost is eliminated.
One of the reasons for Total Wireless’s popularity lies in the fact that it has six mobile plans to choose from, three of which are individual plans, and the rest of which comprise family plans. They are distributed as indicated below.
Total Wireless Individual Plans
Number of Lines |
Data Provided |
Monthly Subscription Fee |
1 |
Unlimited text and call only |
$23.70 |
1 |
Unlimited call and text with 5 GB data |
$33.20 |
1 |
Unlimited text and call with 25 GB data |
$47.50 |
Total Wireless Family Plans
Number of lines |
Data Provided |
Monthly Subscription Fee |
2 |
Unlimited full speed data up to 30 GB and unlimited call and text |
$57.00 |
3 |
Unlimited full speed data up to 60 GB and unlimited call and text |
$80.70 |
4 |
Unlimited full speed data up to 100 GB and unlimited call and text |
$95.00 |
You will notice that each plan has a maximum data limit provided, but the plans remain unlimited in a sense. When the provided data for each plan is depleted, you will find that internet speeds drop significantly from 4G to 2G. While you may not exactly be locked out of the internet entirely, your activity will be limited to basic tasks, and you may find it nearly impossible to use such apps as Instagram, or watch high definition videos. In addition, you will have to deal with data deprioritization which causes the speeds to drop when you are in highly populated regions and during peak hours of internet use.
Feature |
|
Number of available plans |
6 |
Network Type |
MVNO |
Mobile Hotspot |
Available |
Pros
- Multiple individual and family plans from which to choose
- Excellent network coverage
- Highly affordable
Cons
- Data deprioritization
- Data capping
Boost Mobile Review
Just like Total Wireless, Boost Mobile works as an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) which has to rely on major mobile carrier towers for network transmission. In this instance, Boost Mobile depends on Sprint which has decent coverage even though it can get pretty spotty.Even then, it is unlikely that you are going to have zero bars on your phone. This reason is largely why this budget mobile carrier remains pretty affordable.
To deliver multiple individual and family plans to users, Boost Mobile comes with more than 10 plans which are all affordable. This makes certain that persons who are in a family setting, or individuals who are looking to run multiple lines at the same time can access affordable plans for regular use.
Seeing as there are many plans, we decided to choose a couple, and they are broken down below.
Boost Mobile Individual Plans
Number of Lines |
Key features |
Subscription fee |
1 |
Unlimited call, text and data. Data throttling beyond 500MBs |
$40 per month |
1 |
Unlimited call, text, data. Data throttling beyond 2.5GB |
$50 per month |
1 |
Unlimited call, text, data. Data throttling beyond 5GB |
$60 per month. |
Boost Mobile Family Plans
Plan / Number of lines |
$50 Plan – 35GB
Unlimited talk, text, data, 12GB hotspot |
$60 Plan – 35GB
Unlimited talk, text, data, 30GB hotspot |
$35 Plan – 3GB
Unlimited call, text, data, mobile hotspot included |
$35 Plan – 6GB
Unlimited call, text, data, mobile hotspot included |
2 lines |
$80 |
$100 |
$60 |
$60 |
3 lines |
$110 |
$140 |
$90 |
$90 |
4 lines |
$140 |
$180 |
$120 |
$120 |
5 lines |
$170 |
$220 |
$150 |
$150 |
As with most other budget mobile carriers, you will find that there are certain data limits for each plan. When the provided data is exceeded, internet speeds drop drastically from 4G to 2G, but you maintain the ability to surf the internet, but for light applications only.
Feature |
|
Number of available plans |
10+ |
Network Type |
MVNO |
Mobile Hotspot |
Available |
Pros
- Very affordable
- Many plans to choose from
- There are family and individual plans as well
Cons
- Data capping
Total Wireless vs. Boost Mobile – How do they compare?
Number of available plans
Total Wireless only comes with 6 plans to choose from, and they are split in half, with three made for individuals and three for families. Boost Mobile, on the other hand, comes with more than 10 plans for both individual and family plans.
Boost Mobile sets itself ahead of Total Mobile, providing more that 10 plans to choose from.
Data Prices
Even though Total Wireless comes with affordable plans, every one of them comes with a cap that sets a limit, and you have to spend $100 to get 100MBs. With Boost Mobile, however, $90 gets you unlimited data, making it much cheaper.
Boost Mobile comes with cheaper plans, making it better than Total Wireless.
Mobile Hotspot
With both mobile carriers, you will gain access to LTE mobile hotspot to use when you desire, setting them on equal footing.
Both Total Wireless and Boost Mobile come with LTE hotspot, making them equal in this regard.
Conclusion
Even though Boost Mobile seems the statistically better mobile carrier in this comparison, Total Wireless offers a lot more reliability, and it is also not limited in the number of options it offers users, and it comes with excellent coverage, as well as reliable speeds. These features manage to set it ahead of Boost Mobile, making it the better mobile carrier of the two.
FAQs
-
How much mobile hotspot data do I get from Total Wireless?
It comes with 10GB of mobile hotspot.
-
Can I get a Boost Mobile individual plan for less than $15?
Yes, you can.