BajaNomad

Suggestions for Cellphone, data?

micah202 - 12-23-2020 at 12:09 PM

I'll be in Baja 2-3 months,
(Re-Covid.... I'll be remote camping, covid tested, and full precautions in towns, so please don't harass me)

What do folks recommend for Cell,data plans,, in regards to price, and reception?

Thanks.

[Edited on 12-23-2020 by micah202]

PaulW - 12-23-2020 at 12:36 PM

telcel amigo plan

JZ - 12-23-2020 at 01:57 PM

AT&T.

Free roaming in North America. Including data. Best coverage in Baja.

BajaBlanca - 12-23-2020 at 02:39 PM

boy, if you can deal with having a telcel Mexican phone number, their PAQUETE lets you call / get calls, unlimited, to Mexico, USA and Canada for 200 pesos a month. Includes internet too.

PaulW - 12-23-2020 at 02:43 PM

Yes and if you have an unlocked att iphone come to Baja and buy a telcel sim card and have all the use including data for 150 pesos per 28 days. Thus you do not have to buy an att mexico plan.
att in mexico uses telcel service.
Not sure but I think other gsm carriers work the same way as above.

BajaBlanca - 12-23-2020 at 02:57 PM

Indeed, mine is prepaid and not a plan, but because I use the internet A LOT, I am pretty sure we put on 200 pesos.

baja Steve - 12-23-2020 at 03:07 PM

AT&T I have sued several and they are the best. Also use WiFi

baja Steve - 12-23-2020 at 03:10 PM




Also good in BC

Bajazly - 12-23-2020 at 03:22 PM

Quote: Originally posted by baja Steve  
AT&T I have sued several and they are the best. Also use WiFi


So some are sued easier than others?

ATT Mexico

AKgringo - 12-23-2020 at 05:36 PM

I use a pre-paid ATT phone, and when in the La Paz area, the service is provided by ATT Mx. The cost per minute, 25 cents, is less than when it is roaming on TelCel for 35 cents.

The same call when traveling through Canada was 65 cents. I couldn't tell you what data costs, I don't use that mode.

Cancamo - 12-23-2020 at 06:10 PM

TelCel Amigo Sin Limites/ 200 p/month, unlimited calls domestic, Us/Canada.
Either buy a sim card or a cheap phone. Carlos Slim, (TelCel), owns the towers here.
Not sure about data.

mtgoat666 - 12-23-2020 at 06:15 PM

Quote: Originally posted by micah202  
I'll be in Baja 2-3 months,
(Re-Covid.... I'll be remote camping, covid tested, and full precautions in towns, so please don't harass me)

What do folks recommend for Cell,data plans,, in regards to price, and reception?

Thanks.

[Edited on 12-23-2020 by micah202]


My USA-based AT&T and Verizon services have roamed fine in baja. Verizon used to be worse coverage than AT&T, but now seems to be on par with AT&T for service in Mexico.

AT&T and Verizon roam on the major mexican networks, so reception while roaming in Mexico is typically same reception as telcel, etc.

micah202 - 12-23-2020 at 07:05 PM

Quote: Originally posted by JZ  
AT&T.

Free roaming in North America. Including data. Best coverage in Baja.


You get that in the US, no?

mtgoat666 - 12-23-2020 at 08:15 PM

Quote: Originally posted by micah202  
Quote: Originally posted by JZ  
AT&T.

Free roaming in North America. Including data. Best coverage in Baja.


You get that in the US, no?


I see you are in Canada. If I were you I would just add intl plan to my existing Canadian telephone plan. You don’t need a new contract and new tele number to travel outside of your homeland....



JZ - 12-24-2020 at 05:22 AM

Quote: Originally posted by PaulW  
Yes and if you have an unlocked att iphone come to Baja and buy a telcel sim card and have all the use including data for 150 pesos per 28 days. Thus you do not have to buy an att mexico plan.
att in mexico uses telcel service.
Not sure but I think other gsm carriers work the same way as above.


You don't have to buy an AT&T Mexico plan. And no need to put a Telcel SIM in your AT&T phone. They have unlimited calling and data in North America at no extra charge.

AT&T use to use Telcel for roaming, but they bought 2 Mexican operators about 5 years ago.

This way people can reach you on your US phone number.

pacificobob - 12-24-2020 at 07:46 AM

i have a us number at&t cell here in south baja full time for 3 years....it sucks.
i belive they use tel cell towers, but somehow manages to suck.
if i was a more active cell user i would get the tell-cell amigo plan. hard to beat.

[Edited on 12-24-2020 by pacificobob]

Cancamo - 12-24-2020 at 08:54 AM

Living in a sketchy cell coverage area and having both Verizon w/Mexico plan, (to maintain a US domestic number for incoming calls w/o intl. charges for the caller), and TelCel Amigo Sin Limites, Often the Verizon has no signal, where the TelCel is fine. Even though they use the same towers....go figure???

RnR - 12-24-2020 at 09:46 AM

Quote: Originally posted by pacificobob  
i have a us number at&t cell here in south baja full time for 3 years....it sucks.
i belive they use tel cell towers, but somehow manages to suck.
if i was a more active cell user i would get the tell-cell amigo plan. hard to beat.


x2

We live one mile (direct line-of sight) from a 300 ft tall Telcel tower.

Our AT&T US phone/number constantly switches between Telcel and AT&T Mex as the service provider. When connected to Telcel, the service works flawlessly. When connected to AT&T Mex calls are dropped constantly.

They are supposed to be one and the same but there is something different about them. Five bars on Telcel. Two to three bars on AT&T Mex. There is only one tower in town so the signal is coming from the same tower. Go figure.

HeyMulegeScott - 12-24-2020 at 11:26 AM

Here's my friend's write up on the Internet in Baja from last January. Their map, I think is pretty accurate.
http://rvoutlawz.com/netflix-and-baja/

You can't go wrong with the cheap Telcel plans. Unlimited talk and text to anywhere in North America. Unlimited social media including whatsapp, Facebook and Instagram and even when you hotspot it. Get a 300 pesos monthly Amigo Sin Limite plan now with 4gb + 4gb bonus data. If you need more data you can add unlimited two hour sessions for a measly 15 pesos

https://www.telcel.com/personas/telefonia/amigo/tarifas-y-op...

surabi - 12-24-2020 at 06:56 PM

Quote: Originally posted by mtgoat666  


I see you are in Canada. If I were you I would just add intl plan to my existing Canadian telephone plan. You don’t need a new contract and new tele number to travel outside of your homeland....




That would be very expensive and therefore stupid.

I have no experience with ATT, but the Telcel Sin Limites paquete (not plan- in Telcel speak, a plan is what you get if you sign a contract- paquete is pay-as-you-go and you can buy the time at any OXO) is great. You can call to anyone in the US or Canada and yak for hours if you want.

pacificobob - 12-25-2020 at 02:12 PM

Quote: Originally posted by RnR  
Quote: Originally posted by pacificobob  
i have a us number at&t cell here in south baja full time for 3 years....it sucks.
i belive they use tel cell towers, but somehow manages to suck.
if i was a more active cell user i would get the tell-cell amigo plan. hard to beat.


x2

We live one mile (direct line-of sight) from a 300 ft tall Telcel tower.

Our AT&T US phone/number constantly switches between Telcel and AT&T Mex as the service provider. When connected to Telcel, the service works flawlessly. When connected to AT&T Mex calls are dropped constantly.

They are supposed to be one and the same but there is something different about them. Five bars on Telcel. Two to three bars on AT&T Mex. There is only one tower in town so the signal is coming from the same tower. Go figure.


the at&t service is so bad, i usually use hangouts or whats app to place a call to the states. at least the data is remarkably slooow. it works ok for receiving calls from the usa. texting works well.