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1Bajalover
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suggestions for internationalmonthly cell phone plan
can anyone recommend a good cell phone plan while i am in mulege for months? I have Verizon and am hoping to find a (reasonably priced) plan to sign
up for while in Mulege - one where people in U S can call/text me on my
u s number and me them for one set monthly rate-something someone is using or has used that actually worked well would be ideal to get info on-
Thank You for any suggestions/experiences with this
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soulpatch
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FWIW we use Telcel and it works fine in all the areas of the USA we travel to with data and phone calls.
What we've told people that really want to text or call is to use WhatsApp.
As long as you have their contact in your phone and they are on WhatsApp you're good to go.
We can call anyone anywhere in the world using it, pretty much.
We just talked to friends in Spain while we were in Buenos Aires and also with people in the USA from BA and Mexico.
Video calls work great, too.
I hope that helps.
Unless, of course, you need to keep that US number.
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surabi
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Several of my friends in Canada who I have told to please use whatsapp to communicate with me in Mexico seem to have the hardest time figuring out how
to use whatsapp. They just seem to be completely confused as to how to send a message or make a phone call, never notice that I've sent them a
message, or don't know how to answer a whatsapp call.
I really don't get it- it seems so simple to me. And it's not like I'm some spring chicken. It takes me a little while to familiarize myself with some
new app, but it's not that hard.
[Edited on 10-22-2024 by surabi]
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pacificobob
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The use of WhatsApp in Mexico is so common that it a real liability to not employ it.
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AKgringo
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ATT pre-paid
My plan costs $30 per month in the US for talk and text plus data, but I am not sure how well the data works since I don't use it.
When I travel to Mexico, I have to cancel the plan and start over with a $40 plan that covers Mexico and Canada. The plan is for 30 days, and any
unused days when I change are lost!
The service has a few blind spots, but usually works well near more populated areas. I renewed my plan online while in Baja lst year, and for some
reason I could only text until I could get to an ATT service center in the US.
I don't like dealing with ATT (long story) but it is a reasonable option for Baja travel. Even the ATT service center admitted that their pre-paid
service quality falls short of the contract plans!
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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surabi
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Not sure why anyone would opt for paying $40/month unless they really wanted to keep their US number while in Mexico. Considering once you purchase
the Telcel SIM card (100-150 pesos, I think) you can go to any OXXO and buy a SIN limites paquete (pay as you go, no "plan") and for the equivalent of
about $10 (200 pesos) you get 30 days of unlimited texting and calling anywhere in Mexico, the US and Canada, plus 3gb of data.
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mtgoat666
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Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo  | My plan costs $30 per month in the US for talk and text plus data, but I am not sure how well the data works since I don't use it.
When I travel to Mexico, I have to cancel the plan and start over with a $40 plan that covers Mexico and Canada. The plan is for 30 days, and any
unused days when I change are lost!
The service has a few blind spots, but usually works well near more populated areas. I renewed my plan online while in Baja lst year, and for some
reason I could only text until I could get to an ATT service center in the US.
I don't like dealing with ATT (long story) but it is a reasonable option for Baja travel. Even the ATT service center admitted that their pre-paid
service quality falls short of the contract plans! |
I have att in usa, a plan that covers mexico. Voice calls work well in mexico. Receiving texts and voice mails from att in mexico is hit or miss,
mostly miss. When traveling in Mexico i mostly use whats app for messaging and many voice calls since it is very reliable when you have internet
connection.
You can port your cell phone number to VOIP service and save $$. For those of you giving up a usa cell plan while abroad, you can port your number to
an internet service, such as google voice which is free for personal use if you have a google account (eg gmail). Of course the VOIP on mobile phone
only works when you are connected to internet, if you dont have a cell/data plan.
Woke!
“...ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” “My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America
will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”
Prefered gender pronoun: the royal we
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PaulW
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No issues with T-Mobile. Works for text or voice to for from USA
I pay $69/m for two phones.
All I need is a Telcel tower or Wi-Fi in range.
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Cancamo
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TelCel sin limite, ($10/month), and for $5/month you could add Mexico to your existing Verizon plan.
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pacificobob
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I have AT&T. Only because I need a US number. Otherwise telcel would be what I would use. Voice cal quality has improved, data is slow in many
areas of Mexico.
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JZ
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Quote: Originally posted by 1Bajalover  | can anyone recommend a good cell phone plan while i am in mulege for months? I have Verizon and am hoping to find a (reasonably priced) plan to sign
up for while in Mulege - one where people in U S can call/text me on my
u s number and me them for one set monthly rate-something someone is using or has used that actually worked well would be ideal to get info on-
Thank You for any suggestions/experiences with this |
AT&T is the best for international travel. I've used it in about 40 countries.
In North America there are no roaming or extra charges for using it in Canada or Mexico.
I use regular US phone and text for communicating with Americans. But mostly use WhatsApp for connecting with people outside the US. WhatsApp is
incredibly popular all over the world.
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roldanojr
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Hi I hope my comment is not too late, I bought an AT&T Mexican plan. I bought a yearly plan only 2700 pesos a year, normally I travel to Mexico 3
times a month, I have my T mobile plan and if I have roaming problems with T-Mobile I use my Mex AT&T as a back up.
Most of the time I connect my T-Mobile to my Mex AT&T host spot. It works great.
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Cancamo
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WhatsApp is a no brainer.
I stay in touch with family in Spain, friends in Cuba, (normally $5/min), SE Asia, US, and Mexico. Superior service in video, voice mail, photos, and
live video calls. If you are in business here in Mexico it is all but mandatory. And it's FREE!
In Asia, Line is popular and similar, but not as good IMO.
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bajaric
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A while back a female friend of mine needed a cell phone, so I went into the T-Mobile store and purchased a cheap android phone and put her on their
$10 per month prepaid plan. Unlimited talk and texts in the US and a few Gigs of data per month. Then I prepaid it for six months. It worked great
and cost less than $200 for all of it.
So, anyway, I need a phone that will work in Mexico, so I decided to buy the same T-Mobile package for myself and add coverage in Mexico and Canada
for an additional $5 per month. However, the guy at the T-Mobile place said that in Mexico and Canada it was unlimited talk and text only, with no
data. I need data!
Now I am looking at Telcel. They offer a similar package, only in pesos, for a phone that works in Mexico and the US with 3Gb of data. However, on
their website when I entered my US zip code for shipping it said "invalid". I guess the only way to do it is to buy the phone in Mexico. However, I
think that with Telcel I will have a Mexican phone number.
edit: Apparently I will have to go with ATT, U.S. Cellular, or Verizon to get a prepaid phone with a US number and a plan with calling and 15Gb data
in the US and Mexico. Looks like these plans run about $45 per month.
[Edited on 11-26-2024 by bajaric]
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PaulW
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Look at my previous T-Mobile post, 2 phones $69 US, Mx, & Canada. Unlimited text and data. Same old US number. Setup while we were in home in the
states. The plan you choose may cost more? We used our existing iphone, and number, so there was no cost for that. Any kind of phone you have can be
used.
Service is as good as any. North or south of the border. Works seamless anywhere there is a signal .
It is surprising that more folks have not discovered T-Mobile.
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bajaric
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Paul, is that on a contract? I was looking at prepaid plans. The T-Mobile guy said that the prepaid Mexico plans do not include data.
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AKgringo
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A bit more about ATT pre-paid phones
Where I am in northern CA, ATT does not sell the phones that the pre-paid plan works on! I had to go to a Target, or Best Buy retail outlet and
purchase the phone, then take it back to the ATT store to transfer my number and pay for service.
I believe that if you already have an unlocked phone, you will not have to buy one locked into ATT.
[Edited on 11-27-2024 by AKgringo]
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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surabi
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Bajaric- if you can get an unlocked phone in the US, you can just switch out the SIM card for a Telcel SIM in Mexico. Some phones now have a place for
2 SIMs at once.
The Telcel 200 peso Sin Limites 30 day "paquete", that you can just top up at any OXXO only has 3GB. But you can also addirionally buy Amigo Internet
if you need more data (it's only for data, not calls or texts).There are many options as far as GBs, price, and number of days it lasts, but for
example, it's 500 pesos for 16GB.
I used to do this before I had Wifi at my house and had to use cellular data.
You just have to make sure the OXXO employee gives you the right thing. Look at their screen to make sure.
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PaulW
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surabi,
Did that for several years. Very inexpensive. Back then I just went to the Telnor store and bought the sim card. When I switched to T-mobile they sent
be 3 sim cards to choose from.
In spit of the cost increase it sure beats teh sim cared switch. With teh Telnor sim the US calls from Baja were bad. With T-Moblie the use in Baja
is just like it is in the US.
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surabi
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Never heard of Telnor. You mean Telcel? I guess it depends on how the reception is from where you are calling- aside from a few exceptions, I have
never found the calls from Mexico to the US or Canada to be bad quality. But I mostly use Whatsapp to call these days.
[Edited on 11-27-2024 by surabi]
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