BajaNomad

Cheapest, most reliable method to call long-distance from Baja to US

RICHARDH - 12-30-2006 at 05:34 PM

I anticipate that I may need to call long-distance from Baja to the U.S. in three circumstances:

1) A few phone calls (hopefully one short one) to extend the dormant period on my U.S. cellular phone service for another 90-day period

2) A phone call to my US auto insurance company to reinstate my normal U.S. insurance coverage.

3) In the event that I have any vehicle mechanical problems that require parts to be shipped from the U.S.; I suppose this may require lots of phone calls and perhaps waiting while on hold.

4) Perhaps a few personal calls if the rates are cheap enough

I have read in travel guides that buying a Ladatel calling card is the best deal. Is that still true? What about international calling cards available via the Internet? Are those likely to be cheaper and just a reliable? Do Mexican phone companies or phone owners charge a fee over and above the fees that the calling card companies charge? I recall one online advertisement that seems to say that the calling card company sets the phone-owner's fee, not the other way around. How does that work?

jerry - 12-30-2006 at 05:46 PM

hi you getting antsy yet to go??
i have cingular and if you pay them $3.99 a month when your in baja the calls will cost you $.59 a minuite i just talked to them and well be adding it next week
last year it was $.99 a minuite and if you just use your regular account it 1.49 a minuite this is the best i found so far

Bajaboy - 12-30-2006 at 06:05 PM

You'll get a few different answers but I find the Latadel cards an excellent option. You can find them sold in a variety of places including casa de cambios, farmacias, and grocery stores. I would use my cell phone in an emergency.

Zac

Summanus - 12-30-2006 at 06:10 PM

Using your computer you have many different options. We use CrystalVoice ourselves at the rate of about 2 cents a minute for US calls. World-wide calls used to run about 12 cents...but I think you can beat that now. There are many other Internet phone providers, and I am sure some will post on your question.

[Edited on 12-31-2006 by Summanus]

Capt. George - 12-30-2006 at 06:14 PM

I use an MCI card. costs me .35 per minute

have to get the correct code numbers etc before leaving states...


good luck Capt George

baja Steve - 12-30-2006 at 08:07 PM

I use skype with my lap top and carry my phone and use my skype account when at internet cafe's. cost is about 2 cents per min.

phone

tehag - 12-30-2006 at 08:08 PM

On your home computer open a Skype account for $10. Go to an internet cafe in any town in Baja. Take your mini head set ($20 at Radio Shack). Log in to you Skype account and talk for 2.5 cents a minute to anywhere in the US. If you use all your Skype time, no prob, they already have your credit card #, and you can bump your account from anywhere.

bajalou - 12-30-2006 at 08:26 PM

Gizmo's 1 cent a min. to call US from a computer - very similar to Skype but costs less and they give you a free US number for people to call you.

bajadock - 12-31-2006 at 10:17 AM

Yahoo Messenger with voice is $.01/min to states. Those I have called are complimentary of voice quality and very few "drop" interruptions of signal.
I am on Telnor DSL, so not certain what difference dialup speed would make. Using a $25 headset/microphone.

Summanus - 12-31-2006 at 10:32 AM

I made a mistake and eagerly bought $200 worth of time on our sat-computer phone when we first installed it...at 2 cents/minute and using it infrequently, it will take us forever to use that amount. There is no charge for calling another 'user', which are most of our calls. The Yahoo 'phone' is handy, also. Talking long distance these days is almost free.

Al G - 12-31-2006 at 12:23 PM

Can Gizmo or Skype be set up from Baja?

Summanus - 12-31-2006 at 01:18 PM

Sure, Al..we did. Easy directions...just search out 'skype' or 'crystalvoice' or any of many other providers.

RICHARDH - 1-3-2007 at 03:15 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by bajalou
Gizmo's 1 cent a min. to call US from a computer - very similar to Skype but costs less and they give you a free US number for people to call you.



OK, it sounds like Gizmo is a good deal. But it looks like it will require a Wi-Fi access point for anyone who wants to use it on a portable basis from a laptop.

So that raises the question about the availability of Wi-Fi access points. Danny Palmerlee's *Baja & Los Cabos* (Lonely Planet, 2005) lists lots of "Internet cafes" in various towns from San Ignacio to C. Constiticion.

Do these places usually have Wi-Fi accessibility as an option?

Or do they typically require the use of a proprietor-supplied computer (in which case it seems Gizmo or Skype, etc., probably wouldn't work unless the proprietor took care that it would, somehow)?

Minnow - 1-3-2007 at 08:00 AM

Here is what I have done for the last three years for those calls that you don't have computer access for.

1.Nextel direct connect from Northern Baja. Advantage, unlimited free walkie talkie to all of the US. Disadvantage, the person on the other end needs Nextel or boost for this to work. Don't think you can use boost in baja free, they charge you a per minute fee if calling from baja.

2. Sams club att calling cards. These are the best, and I use them all over Mexico. I have tried countless others but these have one feature that smokes them all. An 800 number you can dial from any pay phone without inserting a latatel/nortel/mextel phone card first. Just walk up to the phone dial the access number, and then dial the access number on your card then the PIN on your card and you are in. It works the same with regular phones also. It may sound complicated but it is easy. I have all the numbers, including my pin memorized. You can also recharge over the phone from anywhere with a credit card, believe me this comes in way handy. It only costs 15 cents a minute to call the US from baja, it is a little cheaper to call Baja from the US. here is the dialing proceedure.

018002882872 thats the mexican access code it is not on your phone card you buy at sams club, so write it down. then it says dial the number you are calling now. this is where you dial the 800 number on the back of your phone card. Then you enter your pin, then you can dial any number you want.

It is so cheap and good, I sometimes use it to call long distance in Mexico, just remember that once you are in the ATT system your call is in the us and you have to dial 011-52 to get back into Mexico.

Hope this helps

bajalou - 1-3-2007 at 08:49 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by RICHARDH

Or do they typically require the use of a proprietor-supplied computer (in which case it seems Gizmo or Skype, etc., probably wouldn't work unless the proprietor took care that it would, somehow)?


It might be possible to run them from a portable USB drive. I know I have Firefox loaded on one and can run it on any computer that has USB ports.

Minnow - 1-3-2007 at 09:20 AM

This guy asked a specific question about calling cards and such and you are trying to turn it into a general discussion about VOIP.:lol:

RICHARDH - 1-16-2007 at 02:51 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Minnow
Here is what I have done for the last three years for those calls that you don't have computer access for.

...

2. Sams club att calling cards. These are the best, and I use them all over Mexico. I have tried countless others but these have one feature that smokes them all. An 800 number you can dial from any pay phone without inserting a latatel/nortel/mextel phone card first. Just walk up to the phone dial the access number, and then dial the access number on your card then the PIN on your card and you are in. It works the same with regular phones also. It may sound complicated but it is easy. I have all the numbers, including my pin memorized. You can also recharge over the phone from anywhere with a credit card, believe me this comes in way handy. It only costs 15 cents a minute to call the US from baja, it is a little cheaper to call Baja from the US. here is the dialing proceedure.

018002882872 thats the mexican access code it is not on your phone card you buy at sams club, so write it down. then it says dial the number you are calling now. this is where you dial the 800 number on the back of your phone card. Then you enter your pin, then you can dial any number you want.

It is so cheap and good, I sometimes use it to call long distance in Mexico, just remember that once you are in the ATT system your call is in the us and you have to dial 011-52 to get back into Mexico.

Hope this helps


Minnow, do these ATT cards require that you have a land line billable account with ATT already set up?

Or is it just a simple matter of purchasing the card without any rigmarole? And if so, are they usually available at all Sam's Clubs?

I ask because I remember that I once had some sort of telephone calling card that was based on an existing line-line account -- I think maybe it was Sprint.

Al G - 1-16-2007 at 03:52 PM

ATT cards requires nothing...
1) as was said write down the Mexican #
2) realize the amount of minutes ,say 500, are used at so many ATT minutes for so many Mexican minutes...I would start with 1000 ATT minutes depending on how long you will be here.
ATT says you will pay say .05 a minute, but I think Mexico charges .79 a minute so it will take 158 minutes off your ATT card. Capt. George said .35 MCI I don't know if that what MCI charges per minute when you buy the card (does not matter what you pay to start) or has the Mexican charge went down to .35 a minute?
This is what happened to me as I figured it out.

Calling Card latatel is a better deal....I think
That is why I think Gizmo is the best deal...most all internet cafes have cat5 connections for laptops...this is better then wifi which is more dependant on the quality of the internet café wifi equipment . Trying to locate a microphone still for Gizmo
If you don't have a laptop go latatel, but cannot quote you per minute charge....

Al G - 1-16-2007 at 04:01 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Minnow
This guy asked a specific question about calling cards and such and you are trying to turn it into a general discussion about VOIP.:lol:


Minnow...Please read the first line in bold and especially the first word...


""Cheapest, most reliable method to call long-distance from Baja to US ""

[Edited on 1-16-2007 by Al G]

RICHARDH - 1-16-2007 at 04:54 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Al G
...
Calling Card latatel is a better deal....I think
That is why I think Gizmo is the best deal...most all internet cafes have cat5 connections for laptops...this is better then wifi which is more dependant on the quality of the internet café wifi equipment . Trying to locate a microphone still for Gizmo
If you don't have a laptop go latatel, but cannot quote you per minute charge....


Many thanks, Al.

I now have Gizmo all set up on my laptop, tested, and ready to go. I bought a microphone at Radio Shack for a total price of US$13 something, but I found an old microphone that came with an old, now-defunct Acer Notebook Lite. Both microphones provided nearly the same quality sound. So I took Radio Shack's back for a refund.

I guess by "cat5 connections" you must be referring to use of the laptop's "Fast Ethernet connection", which I used once for Internet connectivity at a coffee shop in the remote town of Ely, eastern Nevada. The general availability of fast Internet connectivity is great news!

Since, according to the travel guides, Internet cafés seem to charge by the hour for Internet connections, I guess I should plan to do my phone calling, e-mailing and other Internet activity in contiguous batches.

Minnow - 1-16-2007 at 05:01 PM

Al, you got me. I was taking the entire sentence into account. :lol:

I know this is an important issue though. If I lived in Baja, it would be VOIP ALL The way, and Free to Air.

Thats a whole new subject though.:lol:

Phone stuff

tehag - 1-16-2007 at 06:19 PM

By mike, I hope you mean headset. Using either your computer's built-in speakers or mike can have some annoying feedback and echoing effects.

JZ - 1-16-2007 at 06:34 PM

Find someone with a Cingular NA plan and it will cost nothing! Man, that is the best deal ever offered.

RICHARDH - 1-16-2007 at 07:11 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by tehag
By mike, I hope you mean headset. Using either your computer's built-in speakers or mike can have some annoying feedback and echoing effects.


The mike and the headphones are separate units with separate jacks on my system. I haven't had any feedback problems. I was thinking of trying the use of the mike without the headphones, just to see if I get feedback on my system -- in case my headphones get lost, misplaced or damaged. I'm guessing that positioning of the mike and adjusting the volume control may substantially remove the feedback problem. But as of yet I haven't tested the idea.

RICHARDH - 1-17-2007 at 02:19 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by JZ
Find someone with a Cingular NA plan and it will cost nothing! Man, that is the best deal ever offered.


JZ, what is a Cingular NA plan?

RICHARDH - 1-17-2007 at 03:32 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by RICHARDH
... The general availability of fast Internet connectivity is great news!

...


I'm talking about fast Internet connectivity in Baja, but I guess I may have jumped to an unwarranted conclusion vis-a-vis "fast".

In the US it seems that there are about four general types of Internet connectivity:

1) DSL, a fast ("high band-width") connection provided by the local telephone company but typically only available to customers located within a limited distance to the closest telephone switching station of some sort -- typically limited to metropolitan areas, I think. I think I've heard that this connection may get slower if the customer has lots of neighbors using DSL.

2) dial-up telephone connection -- generally rather slow ("low band-width")

3) direct satellite link -- fast, but there is said to be a noticeable time delay between transmission and response because of the long distance the radio signal has to travel up to the satellite and then back down to the earth. Obviously, this means that there may be a noticeable time delay between your verbal comment via Internet telephone and the comment in response from the other party. I suppose the "blah blah blah ... OVER ..." style of communication of ham radio operators might be appropriate just to keep the confusion down.

4) direct radio link, typically to/from a nearby mountaintop. But this is typically only part of the link to the Internet. That direct radio link may then be feed through a satellite link, and I suppose alternatively through a DSL line or even a "dial up" line. (But if anyone is investing in the equipment for the direct radio link, it would not seem reasonable that he/she would use a simple "dial-up" type of line for the follow-on connection.)

So, after that general introduction for context, does anyone (Al G or anyone) know the typical connections that Internet cafes use? And are they typically fast, high band-width connections? And in particular, do Internet cafes in Baja typically use direct satellite connectivity to the Internet? Or do they use some sort of telephone connectivity?

I imagine that most of Baja's telephone systems must be connected by microwave, especially for "remote" towns like San Ignacio. And I am guessing that the microwave technology used may possibly allow more flexible high-band-width alternatives than is typical in the U.S. Any comments on that?

By the way, if I'm mistaken in any of my comments, please feel free to correct and clarify.

meme - 1-17-2007 at 03:58 PM

I would assume that the Internet Cafes in town (San Felipe) would be using Telnor DSL. North of town some of the resturants have Satellite Connections, like Hughes. But some of us have DSL also from Telnor, tho our phone systems( Eldorado) have signal antennas from houses toTelnor Tower at EDR main entrance. I used to have Direcway(now Hughes) but have now switched to Telnor DSL as it's cheaper plus you then have a telephone.

Al G - 1-17-2007 at 04:19 PM

RichardH...I am only going to comment on a few DSL café's systems...I did not ask anyone, but base my opinions on performance at a few places I have used. There is no cafés that I know(hope to hear from someone who knows some) that use static IP address...mucho bandwith...seems to be all virtual and those seem to be in the 480/1.5mb range(standard USA home mid range) these are good performance for the topic here. What you have to watch for is trriffic...to many people sharing the bandwidth to make voip work...or anything except email.
If you have to use a café' with satellite up-link do you calling in the morning or weekend Mex5 is way overloaded. Heard of a new one that I am checking out..
Last and best is what I use at home Express Card cell uplink should be in Baja soon....
Alberto

[Edited on 1-17-2007 by Al G]

RICHARDH - 1-17-2007 at 06:16 PM

meme and Al G, many thanks!

Dave - 1-17-2007 at 06:47 PM

cingular and verizon both have a NA (North American) plan. For 47.00/month we can call Canada, US and Mexico. We have the cheapest plan (min.available) and there is no way we can use them all. The last I heard was that Cingular wasn't selling the plan in California....that is unless you are blond, young and pretty and flirt with the salesman. We got the Verizon in Colorado and I also heard of people who recently bought the Cingular plan in Arizona.

FARASHA - 1-17-2007 at 11:17 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Dave
The last I heard was that Cingular wasn't selling the plan in California....that is unless you are blond, young and pretty and flirt with the salesman.


:biggrin: should give it a try then, fullfilling not exactly ALL requirements, but..could give it a try :dudette: >f<

JZ - 1-18-2007 at 12:07 AM

If you can get the Cingular NA plan in AZ run, don't walk, to sign up. It is much better than Verizon's plan.

No long distance, no roaming to call to OR from Mexico. Verizon charges hefty roaming fees depending on the area, plus generally Verizon (Movistar partner) cell coverage is very poor compared to Cingular's (Telcel partner)

RICHARDH - 1-18-2007 at 03:23 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by JZ
If you can get the Cingular NA plan in AZ run, don't walk, to sign up. It is much better than Verizon's plan.

No long distance, no roaming to call to OR from Mexico. Verizon charges hefty roaming fees depending on the area, plus generally Verizon (Movistar partner) cell coverage is very poor compared to Cingular's (Telcel partner)


JZ, is Cingular's coverage also better for "remote" desert regions, such as many miles from the nearest city or town in Nevada? The one thing I've considered pretty good about Verizon is that I can frequently make telephone calls in Nevada far from any cities or towns. The only requirement seems to be that, if calling from a valley, a "regular" paved (U.S.?) highway should run through the valley somewhere; calling from remote mountaintops in Nevada is probably even better.

When I took a look at Cingular's coverage map, the coverage areas seemed skimpier than Verizon's, but I also get the impression that the actual useful coverage for Verizon may be significantly larger than shown on the map. I wonder if the same sort of thing is true for Cingular's coverage vis-a-vis coverage map. So, I'm thinking that the coverage maps just may not be good for comparison purposes way out in remote areas. Any comments on that?

Minnow - 1-18-2007 at 03:37 PM

Richard, In your original post you made it seem like you just wanted to make a few calls on a trip. The many questions now make it seem like you want to set up some sort of Com company in Baja. What gives?

RICHARDH - 1-18-2007 at 05:13 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Minnow
Richard, In your original post you made it seem like you just wanted to make a few calls on a trip. The many questions now make it seem like you want to set up some sort of Com company in Baja. What gives?


JZ posted some interesting information on the Cingular NA plan. It sounds like the Cingular NA plan could be even better than Ladatel, at least as a backup alternative to Gizmo, and maybe even preferable to Gizmo.

As I read JZ's post, it seems he is saying that Cingular's coverage is better than Verizon's. I'm wondering if he is talking only about non-remote coverage, say, in cities and immediately along highways. Or is the coverage also generally better for remote areas as well? If you have some technical knowledge on these things, good answers to these questions are good to have.

One of my main interests in visiting Baja is in visitng Baja's wilderness areas. But if Cingular's coverage in remote areas of the U.S. (e.g., Nevada) is significantly better than Verizon's, I'd consider that a very substantial plus in favor of getting the Cingular NA plan, even if I can't use cellular in Baja's remote areas. I could at least make Cingular cell phone calls from the small towns along Mex 1, if I understand correctly. It depends a lot on the comparison for rather remote areas in the U.S. western states.

RICHARDH - 1-18-2007 at 05:28 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Minnow
Richard, In your original post you made it seem like you just wanted to make a few calls on a trip. The many questions now make it seem like you want to set up some sort of Com company in Baja. What gives?


Minnow, one of the things I've discovered about trying to take care of business on the telephone in the U.S. is that, although one hopes that only one phone call will do the trick, very often all sort of problems occur.

For example: The person you are trying to talk with has extremely limited knowledge about what you're interested in. So you need to talk to someone else. Sometimes, the place you call is extremely busy. So you get placed on hold. Sometimes you get accidentaly disconnected. Then you've got to try to decide whether you should try to talk to the same person or maybe try for someone else who has the technical knowledge to take care of the business at hand.

Technical "hang-ups" abound. So it's very good to know about alternatives.

JZ - 1-18-2007 at 05:50 PM

Cingular's roaming partner in Mexico is Telcel, which will give you the broadest possible coverage. I've had coverage in nearly every place I've been in Baja. On the mainland, you have complete coverage along the 250 mile stretch from Nogales to San Carlos. Verizon's coverage is hit or miss.

RICHARDH - 1-18-2007 at 05:52 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by JZ
Cingular's roaming partner in Mexico is Telcel, which will give you the broadest possible coverage. I've had coverage in nearly every place I've been in Baja. On the mainland, you have complete coverage along the 250 mile stretch from Nogales to San Carlos. Verizon's coverage is hit or miss.


Many thanks, JZ

joel - 2-6-2007 at 03:34 PM

I just called Cingular, asked to set-up an account for my Arizona "address" and was told that the free roaming in Canada and Mexico plan has been discontinued.