Which Network Did Total Wireless Connect Me To ?

I purchased a new iPhone SE from Total Wireless which is owned by TracFone. Total Wireless is " supposed " to only use Verizon CDMA service. Again, supposed to.


The phone shows TFW (TracFone Wireless) as the NETWORK, the CARRIER as TFW, MODEL AS MQ4X2LL/A, the SERIAL No. ends in MHTVM. And yes it is locked to TFW/Total Wireless.


Apple.com references Model MQ4X2LL/A as sold by Straight Talk only, which of course is owned by TracFone and Straight Talk offers service on both GSM and CDMA networks.


The iPhone SE part number A1662 can operate on either GSM or CDMA.


Simple question: How can I be certain my service with Total Wireless/TracFone is on the Verizon CDMA network, and not AT&T - GSM.


Reason for my question: the signal strength on the new Total Wireless iPhone SE is extremely poor at our house, consistently 1 bar. However my wife's Verizon iPhone 6S gets 4 bars of signal strength. I previously was with Selectel Wireless operating off Verizon, and always had 4 bars of signal strength at the house.


I have spent days researching this question, I have called Apple Tech support, but can not find the answer to my question. Yes of course, Total Wireless tech support tells me I am operating on the Verizon CDMA network. What else would they say ?


iPhone SE

Posted on Jan 16, 2019 10:10 AM

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12 replies

Jan 17, 2019 3:10 PM in response to HuntingtonWV

First, please be aware the signal indicator bars are uncalibrated and can be programmed to any indication for any signal strength. What matters is whether the device works or not.


As for which network you are using, the phone is reporting TFW, and you say TracFone buys its bandwidth from Verizon. You are absolutely certainly using TraccFone on Verizon’s network. It is also highly unlikely you would ever be able to use AT&T network because that would require a roaming agreement. It is almost unthinkable that a network would have a roaming agreement with another competitor network in the same home country, so unless your account is seriously misconfigured you would never be allowed to roam onto AT&T. That would be No Way, H*ll No.

Jan 17, 2019 3:57 PM in response to Branta_uk

Roaming is not the issue.


I purchased my phone from Total Wireless, who is supposed to use only the Verizon CDMA network.


My phone is an Apple A1662 capable of operating on either GSM or CDMA.


Apple.Com part number MQ4X2LL/A references this phone is sold by Straight Talk only. Straight Talk offers service on GSM or CDMA networks.


Which network am I connected to ?

Jan 17, 2019 5:12 PM in response to HuntingtonWV

You are connected to whatever network is showing on your iPhone. As far as I know Total Wireless has no agreements with AT&T so as you have already been informed you would only be on their network if you were roaming. Total Wireless s a Verizon MVNO and has no network of their own that I am aware of. To be on AT&T you would have to get an AT&T SIM.

Jan 17, 2019 5:32 PM in response to HuntingtonWV

Roaming is exactly the issue, because if you were anywhere except your home network’s virtual service (which only exists through Verizon) you would be roaming. I’m 99.9% sure you are not roaming, and if you want to be 100% sure go into Settings/Cell Data and disable Roaming. If your phone still works you are on the VW virtual network resold to TW. Your phone has already told you, you are connected to “TFW” which is a logical contraction for TracFone (=Total). You have told us it is locked to TFW so it will be unable to connect to any other network in USA or use a SIM from any other network. The bottom line logical conclusion is you are on the Total/Tracfone network.


I would also be interested to see the apple.com link which says your phone model is only sold by Straight Talk, because I have never seen any official lookup from Apple. There are plenty of eBay hits in a google search, but nothing from Apple.


Oh, and iPhone SE was discontinued by Apple in September 2018, so your new phone is old stock. I hope you got it at a good discount.

Jan 17, 2019 8:18 PM in response to HuntingtonWV


You obviously have no idea who TracFone is who which MVNO"S the own, or which networks they connect to.

It sounds as if you don't understand what things like roaming mean. Just because you don't get charged extra for roaming, doesn't mean it can't happen. If Total Wireless is an MVNO on Verizon's network, you would be roaming anytime you were on another company's network.


If you're seeing poor signal strength, the phone itself may be defective. Does it get a good signal anywhere else? If it doesn't, arrange for service. If it does, I'd suggest you do some basic troubleshooting. Start with resetting your network settings. Settings>General>Reset>Reset Network Settings. The only data that will be deleted is WiFi passwords. The next step would be to restore from a back up, then restore to factory state. You might also want to request a new SIM from Total Wireless. The SIM could be defective.


By the way, you wouldn't be using Verizon's CDMA network anyway. You'd be using Verizon's current LTE network. Verizon is currently in the process of deprecating the CDMA network.



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Which Network Did Total Wireless Connect Me To ?

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