BajaNomad

Anyone with ezperience working online from Baja?

sancho - 1-5-2015 at 04:49 PM

May relocate to Baja for a time, anyone with info on working
online from there? Not familiar with internet connections in Mex,
I assume it is fairly straightforward. My question is regarding
receiving calls from the US, What would using a cell phone in Baja, with a so.calif area code require? Would the cost be
prohibitive or a simple monthly extra cost, would be getting
6-8 calls a day
thanks for your time








Internet

cessna821 - 1-5-2015 at 05:22 PM


Magic Jack

bajaguy - 1-5-2015 at 05:31 PM

Depending on where you are and your internet speed and connection, a Magic Jack or similar device works great down here. We have been a Magic Jack user for several years with our Nevada number and have not had problems......YMMV

fandango - 1-5-2015 at 06:22 PM

Sancho:
I have a telnor landline with Internet and have never had problems with the Internet connection. Price is about 362.00mxn per month.

I call the us on Skype via the computer. If I call someone who is not on Skype the price per minute is really really low. If they have Skype it is free and there is no equipment to purchase. Check out their plans. They bill my cc $10.00us when I get below a 2.00us. Several plans to choose from and toll free numbers are toll free.

dwedeking - 1-5-2015 at 07:04 PM

I work online near Ensenada building websites for a California company (and other related services). For the most part there isn't an issue but I notice Magic Jack doesn't like to be used when I'm uploading large files or I'm connecting remotely to our server. Somehow the boss and clients know exactly when I'm in the middle of a huge upload, lol. I'm going to have to get a cell phone and have my US number forward to the cell to deal with phone calls. It's worth it because of savings on living expenses, quality of life etc.

Also be aware that rural locations may have a sketcher connection. I only really notice this with the phone, and it's something I've experienced living rural in the US as well so not isolated to Mexico

chavycha - 1-5-2015 at 07:22 PM

The two of us work online when we're down here. Nice way to spend a few months abroad while not completely breaking the bank. Huge difference in connection quality depending on where you are. Last year I had to download a 3gb file for a project. Took over a week in Bahia Asuncion. I had to do the same in La Ribera and it took about 45 minutes.

I forward my US cell to a Skype number which subsequently forwards to my Mexican TelCel number. Has worked out well. Voice quality is okay. I don't make many outgoing calls but when I have, my cell has been fine for that.

gnukid - 1-5-2015 at 10:34 PM

There are actually 2-3 levels of telcel service up to 10mbs + more and megacable is another option. Others use Satellite though I have no experience in that. Living in remote areas reduces bandwidth, you'll need enough bandwidth for webex conference plus realtime ppt transfer plus voice. If not, you are not able to participate in meetings. Best to try working from a city and rent an house with adequate bandwidth. Then try to venture out and see if you can work from any other areas such as beaches or cabins. It depends on the dedicated bandwidth. Definitely try to use ethernet cable from the modem to your device as opposed to wifi for best results. Check your telephone lines to be sure they are clean and well connected, poor connections causes data errors and slowdown in up/down bitrate. It's also possible to use smartdnsproxy or other proxy dns service to spoof your location or vpn so you can appear to be geographically local though these tend to create some data overhead. Ultimately it's quite simple to work from baja and appear to be working from home just like everyone else, you can also stream local tv and news and close your windows and next thing you know it's like you were never in baja at all %$#@!

BajaNomad - 1-6-2015 at 12:28 AM

Quote: Originally posted by sancho  


What would using a cell phone in Baja, with a so.calif area code require?



- SoCal tel#'s for US$ 1.50/month.
- Call forwarding to a VoIP SIP/PBX address is free (use something like http://sip2sip.info ).
- Or, forward straight to a Mexico cell phone (Telcel #'s in Baja are US .03705/minute) or landline (US .01/minute in Baja).
- Use SIP phone to call back to US for $.01/minute.

It's also relatively easy and inexpensive to maintain local telephone #'s in other countries, including Canada and Mexico, that can be connected to you wherever you are. There's also an auto attendant option with up to 10 extensions that calls can be directed to.

http://www.telecallmart.com

There are other similar services with more complex PBX routing features - at slightly higher prices.


I currently prefer the Zoiper SIP softphone for Android:
http://www.zoiper.com/en/voip-softphone/download/zoiper3



BajaRat - 1-6-2015 at 01:15 PM

Haven't tried it yet but my TelcellAmerica cell phone has my US area code and is set up to roam in Mexico.

CortezBlue - 1-6-2015 at 02:45 PM

Yes
Before I retired I worked from Mi Casa in San Felipe

1. For phone, bag Magic Jack and get a Obi Hai from Amazon
It works with Google voice and is free. I used Google Voice minutes to call into Mexico for $.01 or$4.5 per minute depending on land/cell line.

2. I have Telnor WiMax. I pay for the slowest speed and it works pretty good for VOIP, but an occasional drop. I think I pay about $350.00p per month for a local phone line and Internet

3. I use overplay.net Super DNS for any US based services, (Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Pandora,etc.) $4.95 month

4. Tmobile cell. Free Data in Mexico, slow, but it is good for driving directions and email. WiFi Dialing, so customers can call you on your cell and using WiFi will not cost you anything.

5. Change all of your numbers to dial into Google Voice number. This way you can be in US, Mexico or on your cell and all phones will ring. Also, if your boss or customers call your google voice number they don't get the farting dog ring sound. It is a regular US sounding ring.

Good Luck


willyAirstream - 1-6-2015 at 03:47 PM

Ditto on google voice. Calls are free to the country where you set it up. I set mine up in the usa, live in mex , so i only pay .01 for mex calls, usa calls are free.

Dsl in Mulege is fast for downloads, but uploads are throttled.

DonJuane - 4-14-2015 at 11:30 PM

Text removed at request of author. Thank you.

[Edited on 4-15-2015 by DonJuane]

sancho - 4-15-2015 at 08:07 AM

Quote: Originally posted by DonJuane  


Thus Lucy you may have some "splainin'" to do ...













This would be for the wife, I imagine a pipe dream, another thing
I thought of is the reliabilty of an internet connection, as with most things in Mex not sure I could count on it, and not being
a computer whiz, probably over my head

Wally - 4-15-2015 at 09:23 AM

Google Voice also has a "Hangouts Dialer" app that lets you make free US and Canada VOIP calls on your smart phone via cellular service and wifi.

Alm - 4-15-2015 at 11:23 AM

Quote: Originally posted by sancho  

I thought of is the reliabilty of an internet connection, as with most things in Mex not sure I could count on it, and not being
a computer whiz, probably over my head

If that (pretty detailed) list by CB is over your head already, than - yes, this is something to think about.
Internet not reliable - yes, in some places at times, depends where in "Mexico".
VOIP quality is usually lower than cellphone with strong signal or than landline, no matter what country.
Even internet for leisure use in "Mexico" can be annoying, though - probably - depends on location. Google automatically switches to google.mex, different search results, and slower.

willyAirstream - 4-15-2015 at 01:10 PM

Go to google settings and you can set search result location.
I read somewhere that Telcell now has free forwarding so your usa phone can forward to a telcell phone and there is no charge.

Alm - 4-15-2015 at 01:44 PM

If you change your location in Google to "USA", so that it wouldn't automatically identify your location as Mexico, then you will have to manually change it every time back to "Mexico" when you want to find something local in Mexico. Pain either way.

TedZark - 4-15-2015 at 03:43 PM

Check your U2U.

pauldavidmena - 9-12-2015 at 09:54 AM

One thing we noticed when renting a casita with free WiFi was that their particular setup only allowed for a certain number of connections (a.k.a. "leases"). This meant that at times we had to disconnect smart phones, tablets, etc., in order to access WiFi.

Sweetwater - 9-12-2015 at 03:47 PM

Quote: Originally posted by pauldavidmena  
One thing we noticed when renting a casita with free WiFi was that their particular setup only allowed for a certain number of connections (a.k.a. "leases"). This meant that at times we had to disconnect smart phones, tablets, etc., in order to access WiFi.


This was a surprise to me.....same situation on the road in Idaho last week...."one" device can be logged in at a time......fortunately, unlimited 4G since a tower was less than a mile away. Haven't seen a WiFi restriction like that.