BajaNomad

best cell phone service?

pacificobob - 5-11-2006 at 08:15 AM

im sure this topic has been beaten to death here, but being a new guy i will ask for you patience in bringing it it up again. is there a domestic us cell service that will work well in b.c.s.? without international roaming charges? or, do i just need to get a mexican cell service for 3 monthes use each winter. here in alaska we can call canada or the lower 48 with our nationwide minutes....anything like that going on for b.c? thanks for the help, bob

bancoduo - 5-11-2006 at 08:18 AM

Verizon North America plan.

anyone using verizon in bcs?

pacificobob - 5-11-2006 at 08:34 AM

i checked out the verizon website, it didnt show coverage in bcs, have any of you been using it there with good luck?

Roberto - 5-11-2006 at 08:49 AM

Verizon does have a good plan cost-wise, but the coverage with verizon is pretty limited in Mexico, when compared to Cingular. You can get an international roaming plan that reduces roaming costs significantly, but it does cost money. On the other hand, a cheap call that you can't make is not that great a deal, right? I switched to Cingular recently and found coverage to be excellent in the North. We'll see what BCS coverage is like later down the road.

jeffg - 5-11-2006 at 09:26 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by pacificobob
im sure this topic has been beaten to death here, but being a new guy i will ask for you patience in bringing it it up again. is there a domestic us cell service that will work well in b.c.s.? without international roaming charges? or, do i just need to get a mexican cell service for 3 monthes use each winter. here in alaska we can call canada or the lower 48 with our nationwide minutes....anything like that going on for b.c? thanks for the help, bob


I think it really depends on where you plan to be. I have Verizon and in the East Cape it doesn't work at all. But in the airport at San Jose it works great. Others in the East Cape use Cingular / ATT with good results, personally I use a Telcel cell phone while I'm there but it isn't exactly cheap.

Jeff

Reeljob - 5-11-2006 at 10:44 AM

Have both. Cingular is by far the best, cheapest and has the best coverage. I have used it all over Baja (Mulege, El Roasario, San Quintin, Guerro Negro, La Paz, Loreto, Cabo etc. no problem and no roaming charges. Also on the Mainland side, Guaymas etc.

Verizon works in some areas, Cabo and La Paz, but you pay a roaming charge on top of everything else.

For what its worth, my wife uses the Verizon in CO & is really peeed I won't let her turn it on for continious phone calls while in MX.

cellphones

Stickers - 5-11-2006 at 10:48 AM

Verizon works great in Todo Santos and La Paz but you should have an older phone that can still use analogue towers to get coverage in smaller towns that have not yet installed new digital equipment.
The Verizon plan that covers Mexico and Canada increased my cost about $30 a month but that is with more overall minutes and free calling from Mexico (if coverage is available).

JZ - 5-11-2006 at 12:07 PM

Cingular is by far the best, coverage wise. Cingular is GSM/UMTS based technology which is more predominate in Mexico (i.e. same technology as Tecel). Verizon uses CDMA, which is 50/50 in the US and some in Asia. I was just down on the Mainland with a friend and his Verizon coverage was super hit or miss.

The Cingular NA plan was the best ($57/month 450 minutes, and really no roaming or long distance charges anywhere in NA). But seems like that specific plan may be gone.

One good thing about Verizon is that caller ID works and doesn't seem to with Cingular. Which is kinda a pain when working remotely.


[Edited on 5-11-2006 by JZ]

Bruce R Leech - 5-11-2006 at 01:34 PM

Cingular is the only one that will work every where telcel is

Bruce R Leech - 5-11-2006 at 06:53 PM

If you buy a phone that works on telcel you will get the phone free with 400 pesos of time you cant beat that . you can toss it when you go north or give it to a kid.

I don't know why people spend so much time and money trying to get things from the U.S. to work here in Mexico.

thanks!

pacificobob - 5-12-2006 at 07:12 AM

well......thanks to all!

JZ - 5-12-2006 at 12:06 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by lencho
Quote:
Originally posted by JZ
Cingular is by far the best, coverage wise. Cingular is GSM/UMTS based technology which is more predominate in Mexico (i.e. same technology as Tecel). Verizon uses CDMA, which is 50/50 in the US and some in Asia.


Baja cell service started out with Telcel running TDMA and Baja Celular running CDMA. A Verizon (CDMA) handset would talk to Baja Celular towers, other companies running TDMA would work with Telcel towers. At that time Telcel had a lot more towers than Baja Celular making Verizon a bad choice down here.

The recent picture: Telcel is TDMA and over the last few years has been supplementing that with GSM; I believe there are still areas where they haven't got GSM running yet, so the best coverage with them is a standard TDMA phone-- GSM works in main city areas but won't cover as many rural areas. Baja Celular got swallowed up by Movistar (an international monster out of Spain, I believe), I don't know if they're running GSM now but I assume they're still behind Telcel in coverage-- everybody I know uses Telcel.

--Larry


The history of Telcel and Baja Celluar regarding TDMA, CDMA, and the movement to GSM mirrors what happened in the US to a degree. Europe went GSM from the start for digital.

Based on my personal experience, Cingular works awesome on the Mainland in cities and rural areas all the way from Nogales to Guaymas. I've also seen it work great in TJ, Mexicali, San Felipe, Loreto, San Rosalia, Mulege, and Guadajara. On the mainland you have full GSM/GPRS capabilities, i.e. your Cingular Blackberry will work.

Yes, Movistar is part of Telefonica Moviles and they are head quartered in Spain. We just sold some products to them. Telefonica is a GSM/UMTS carrier.

Verizon coverage is very spotty. I have personally observed that also.

JZ - 5-12-2006 at 12:10 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Bruce R Leech
I don't know why people spend so much time and money trying to get things from the U.S. to work here in Mexico.


If you lived in the US, but visited Mexico often (say once a month), and sometimes worked remotely, you'd have a different opinion.

Roberto - 5-12-2006 at 12:17 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Bruce R Leech
If you buy a phone that works on telcel you will get the phone free with 400 pesos of time you cant beat that . you can toss it when you go north or give it to a kid.

I don't know why people spend so much time and money trying to get things from the U.S. to work here in Mexico.


If I lived in Mexico, full or even much of the time, I would doubtless have a Mexican phone. I do not, and don't want to carry more than one phone. Makes sense, right?

woody with a view - 5-12-2006 at 12:21 PM

i've noticed that while my cingular phone will pick up the telcel towers and i can recieve calls normally but i can't figure out how to dial them!!!:?: trying to dial a number from the sim card stored as a fone entry doesn't work, direct dialing 011.......... doesn't work either.

Right On, Bruce.

MrBillM - 5-12-2006 at 12:48 PM

I keep giving people here and in person the same advice, but few seem interested. Of course, I can see not wanting to carry more than one phone. They are so BULKY. Pity me, I have three phones to lug around. Actually, though, I put my ATT phone in the center console when I cross into Mexico and never take it out until crossing again Northbound.

All you have to do to keep your Prepaid Telcel service current is to add 100 pesos to it each 60 days and any unused minutes rollover. Even if you forget, you still don't lose the service, simply the unused minutes. Put a new card on and you're good to go.

Roberto - 5-12-2006 at 01:06 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by woody in ob
i've noticed that while my cingular phone will pick up the telcel towers and i can recieve calls normally but i can't figure out how to dial them!!!:?: trying to dial a number from the sim card stored as a fone entry doesn't work, direct dialing 011.......... doesn't work either.


011 should definitely work for calling the U.S. Have you enabled international roaming with Cingular? Give them a call if not.

woody with a view - 5-12-2006 at 01:10 PM

Quote:

Have you enabled international roaming with Cingular?


nope. never remember, or i secretly subconciencly (nice try, huh!) don't want to get a call whist in the bush. but i can make outgoings when we start the drop into tj along the fence. probably getting a us tower even though i do see it on the bill as originating from tj.

Reeljob - 5-13-2006 at 07:23 AM

From MX to US dial 001 then the area code & Number. From US dial 011 52 to get into MX

A-OK - 5-14-2006 at 07:57 PM

Sooooo, some of you seem well educated in cell/telecommunications. Who's in the business? I dabble in the field a bit myself.;D

Bruce R Leech - 5-16-2006 at 07:54 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by A-OK
Sooooo, some of you seem well educated in cell/telecommunications. Who's in the business? I dabble in the field a bit myself.;D


tell us about it A-OK

A-OK - 5-16-2006 at 09:24 PM

We build, maintain, and upgrade sites for Verizon, Cingular, and some T-Mobile in Nevada. Started on the tower crew and worked into a tech/construction position in the past year.

I was just curious who else was in the same field since a few knew the terminology and sounded like they know whats going on.

Diver - 5-16-2006 at 09:39 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by A-OK
I was just curious who else was in the same field since a few knew the terminology and sounded like they know whats going on.



We're mostly illiterate but just stayed at a Holiday Inn Express ! :lol:

Nah, just a few technobrains, a few engineers and some old guys who know a lot.

Telco Techs

MrBillM - 5-16-2006 at 09:49 PM

It seems sometimes that Baja is the primary retirement spot for us old Telecom Folks. The number that I've met over the years is surprising. We fit in well with the lifestyle since we all "know everything there is to know". Or so it seems.

Bruce R Leech - 5-17-2006 at 06:29 AM

I just bought my first cell phone when Mulege put in there new cell towers about a year ago. but I read the whole manual 2 times.

Diver - 5-17-2006 at 06:57 AM

My Telcel manual was in spanish. Can someone tell me what it says ? :?:
And what is that irritating ringing noise it makes all the time ? :biggrin:

bajalou - 5-17-2006 at 07:37 AM

Diver - your manual is ringing????

bajarich - 6-21-2006 at 03:03 PM

We were trying to decide which phone would work best, both in the States and for my annual trip to Baja. After reading this thread, it looked like Cingular was probably the one so my wife went down and signed us up. I didn't get a chance to talk to the rep until today, and he said that they have switched over to GSM/GPRS and the new phones will not work on TDMA at all, so I don't know if I will be able to use it with the Telcel towers in the rural areas. I asked if an older phone would work and he said there would be no way of activating it with the new Cingular system. I have 30 days to reject the whole plan, but I won't be in Baja until next winter when I go fishing on the East Cape. Does anyone know if it will work down there ie. La Rebira or Los Barriles, or along Highway 1 driving down?

bajabound2005 - 6-21-2006 at 07:49 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by MrBillM
It seems sometimes that Baja is the primary retirement spot for us old Telecom Folks. The number that I've met over the years is surprising. We fit in well with the lifestyle since we all "know everything there is to know". Or so it seems.


Scary, I come from TelComm as well!:no: ANd very glad to be out of it!

bajacrawler - 6-23-2006 at 02:57 PM

I have not been able to use my Verizonwireless phone in San Felipe for the last 3 years at least. I think it happened when Telcel went from CDMA to GSM. I buy one of the Telcel card phones which comes with 300 pesos. When that is gone I buy one of the 500 peso cards which get me 400 free pesos for a total 900 pesos for 50 bucks. The calls cost .20 per minute for incoming calls from the states. Calls to the states are 1.50 per minute. I don't make local calls very often, but I think it is around .35 per minute. My neighbor's Cingular phone seems to work every place that my Telcel phone works. My Telcel phone works for a long way down the beach except for a very few dead spots. I think I am going to get a Cingular phone when I go back to San Felipe in October. Don't like paying for Verizon that I can't use for 3 or 4 months at a time when I am in San Felipe.

Jack

JZ - 6-23-2006 at 02:58 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by bajarich
We were trying to decide which phone would work best, both in the States and for my annual trip to Baja. After reading this thread, it looked like Cingular was probably the one so my wife went down and signed us up. I didn't get a chance to talk to the rep until today, and he said that they have switched over to GSM/GPRS and the new phones will not work on TDMA at all, so I don't know if I will be able to use it with the Telcel towers in the rural areas. I asked if an older phone would work and he said there would be no way of activating it with the new Cingular system. I have 30 days to reject the whole plan, but I won't be in Baja until next winter when I go fishing on the East Cape. Does anyone know if it will work down there ie. La Rebira or Los Barriles, or along Highway 1 driving down?


You will be fine, go with Cingular.

Natalie Ann - 6-23-2006 at 03:45 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by JZ
Quote:
Originally posted by bajarich
We were trying to decide which phone would work best, both in the States and for my annual trip to Baja. After reading this thread, it looked like Cingular was probably the one so my wife went down and signed us up. I didn't get a chance to talk to the rep until today, and he said that they have switched over to GSM/GPRS and the new phones will not work on TDMA at all, so I don't know if I will be able to use it with the Telcel towers in the rural areas. I asked if an older phone would work and he said there would be no way of activating it with the new Cingular system. I have 30 days to reject the whole plan, but I won't be in Baja until next winter when I go fishing on the East Cape. Does anyone know if it will work down there ie. La Rebira or Los Barriles, or along Highway 1 driving down?


You will be fine, go with Cingular.



Glad this topic has been resurrected. I was waiting for my Cingular bill to arrive before speaking.

My very new service is Cingular, very new phone is LG. For the time I'm in Baja we pay an additional $5.99 per month to access Telcel towers (I believe this has dropped to $4.99). This was supposed to give us the all-great rate of something like 60 cents a minute to the U.S. so I didn't plan on calling home.

I landed in La Paz in the evening and the next morning my phone connected with Telcel. At first it aligned itself with MovieStar, but soon it righted itself.

In La Paz my connection was good. In Los Barriles it was spotty... first try during late afternoon was a successful connect to home with a strong signal. Two days later in LB on Mother's Day, when perhaps lots of calling took place, I could not get a signal anywhere. Both places I noted that the phone batteries ran down much more quickly than in the U.S.

Now the phone bill has arrived and guess what. Those folks at Cingular charged me only 3.5 cents per minute to phone home and no per minute charge for calls within MX.

I suspect there's any number of places off the beaten path where the Cingular phones do not reach because they're all digital. You can still get an analog phone for free when purchasing a phone card/service through Telcel in Mexico... they reach the outlying areas and turn your brain to jello all at the same time. But if ya wanta call the real outback, this would be your best shot without a satellite phone, I think.

bajasol - 6-23-2006 at 11:09 PM

Another thing to rattle the mind...some of the newer phones give you the ability to switch the service provider while you are roaming. For instance: I have a Nokia 6600 with T-Mobile in Los Angeles. Most mobile telecommun. companies have partnerships worldwide so when you travel, the phone auto switched to whom ever your providers partner is. But sometimes the partner is more expensive depending on what home plan you have. (international/worldwide/or local plan) Sometimes it is less expensive to switch to another carrier.

All phones are different but new Nokias go as such:
Menu
tools
settings
network
operator selection
automatic or manual
when you hit manual, the phone will search for any or all networks you can choose from.

But in BCS you might only have one to choose from if you are that lucky.
Theres always SATphones for you highrollers. That's a whole other discussion.

Adios
BAJA SOL

woody with a view - 6-24-2006 at 07:44 AM

finally called the cingular guy and with my samsung phone all i have to do is hold down the "0" until a "+" appears and then dial 1+ areacode + number and it'll connect at the roaming charge. strictly for checking in once or twice during a trip....

bajarich - 6-24-2006 at 10:47 AM

Thanks for the info. It makes me feel better about the Cingular decision.