yukonron
Newbie
Posts: 18
Registered: 12-15-2014
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Area code which one to choose?
I told you I would be back with more questions! I figure to either get a Mexican SIM card for my existing phone or buy a phone once we get there. We
plan to travel all of Baja, probably spending more time in Baja Sur. Just wondering if it makes much difference what area code I set the phone up
for? Any advantage to using my own cell phone or buying one in Mexico?
We are pretty much cell phone illiterate. The tiny Alaskan town we live in doesn't have any cell service. So the only time we use them is when we
are out during the winter. I really don't even understand what a SIM card does, but I know I had to get one when I reactivated our phones this year.
So any help will be much appreciated!
mary
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bajaguy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9247
Registered: 9-16-2003
Location: Carson City, NV/Ensenada - Baja Country Club
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Mood: must be 5 O'clock somewhere in Baja
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I "think" the area code will be determined by where you purchase the sim card/phone
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AKgringo
Elite Nomad
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Registered: 9-20-2014
Location: Anchorage, AK (no mas!)
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I bought a $28 ATT go phone in Anchorage, and added $25 worth of air time. I was able to pick which US area code I wanted to use, and it works in
Canada (39 cents/min) US (10 cents) and Mexico (25).
All I use it for is making and receiving calls, and I am happy with it. I don't use any of the data sharing features, so can't comment on that.
By the way, that deal wasn't available at the ATT store, I bought it at Walmart.
[Edited on 12-19-2014 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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elgatoloco
Ultra Nomad
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Location: Yes
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On another note - I heard on the radio that next year in Mexico there will be no long distance. All calls will be 'local' Part of the new
telecommunications act.
MAGA
Making Attorneys Get Attorneys
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mcnut
Nomad
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Location: Dammeron Valley, UT
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Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo  | I bought a $28 ATT go phone in Anchorage, and added $25 worth of air time. I was able to pick which US area code I wanted to use, and it works in
Canada (39 cents/min) US (10 cents) and Mexico (25).
All I use it for is making and receiving calls, and I am happy with it. I don't use any of the data sharing features, so can't comment on that.
By the way, that deal wasn't available at the ATT store, I bought it at Walmart.
[Edited on 12-19-2014 by AKgringo] |
I did this last winter and it worked well because I didn't want a Mexico number as it was more important for me that: while roaming in Mex, calls
to/from US not be international and less important for calls to Mex numbers.
The 10c minute (25c roaming in Mex) Plan while not offered in AT&T stores is available on their website. I'm not quite sure exactly what the
difference between the 10c Plan & the 250 Minute Plan is as it is 250 minutes for $25.
Bruce
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AKgringo
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6025
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Location: Anchorage, AK (no mas!)
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I just read your post again and see that you bought a new sim card for your phone. If it is a prepaid ATT phone, you may be good to go with it. All
you would have to do in Mexico is enter +, then 1, and enter the US area code and number you are calling. People calling you would just place the
call as usual.
My Tracfone doesn't work at all down here. It used to be able to receive but not place calls in Mexico.
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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yukonron
Newbie
Posts: 18
Registered: 12-15-2014
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AKgringo I haven't bought a SIM card for my phone. I thought I would have to do that in Mexico. I'm not even sure I can get one for my Motorola flip
phone that I currently have from Consumer Cellular. It sounds like it might be easier to get the ATT phone at Walmart. So does that cost .25 a
minute for calls from Mexico to the U.S. and for calls within Mexico? I had heard the roaming charges for our U.S. phone would be outrageously high.
Hadn't really confirmed that with my company. As I said we are cell phone illiterate. We live in "the Bush" and have very little experience with the
things. Thanks.
[Edited on 12-20-2014 by yukonron]
[Edited on 12-20-2014 by yukonron]
[Edited on 12-20-2014 by yukonron]
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AKgringo
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6025
Registered: 9-20-2014
Location: Anchorage, AK (no mas!)
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Mood: Retireded
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Yukon, correct on 25 cents for calls placed while in Mexico, 10 cents on the US side. I also am a technophobe, my Alaska tracfone is a motorola flip
phone I bought in 2007. the Camera doesn't work anymore but it makes and receives calls better than most.
The only downside for you with the Go Phone is that the minutes will expire if not used or more time is not added. $25 dollars is good for 90 days.
Less than 60 dollars for a three month, no contract burner phone is worth the cost, and if you like the service, or want to upgrade, the sim card is
transferable to another ATT phone and you can keep the number.
Which village do you live in? I have worked, hunted and fished all over the state, but haven't spent much time on the Yukon.
[Edited on 12-20-2014 by AKgringo]
[Edited on 12-20-2014 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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yukonron
Newbie
Posts: 18
Registered: 12-15-2014
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Thanks, AKgringo. I think I will get the go phone and use it for the rest of our time outside. We will head home in March. My husband has a
Motorola flip phone from Consumar Cellular, too. So we can keep that one.
We live in Eagle. Not Eagle River. A lot of folks get that mixed up. We are right on the Yukon River. My husband's name is Ron and our business
name is Yukon Ron's. We make jewelry. We have lived there since 1980. This is our third winter "snowbirding". We are driving a motorcycle pulling
a trailer with our camping gear and are really looking forward to our Baja adventure. We might take the ferry over to the mainland for our return
route.
How long have you been in "Los Anchorage"? What brought you there?
Thanks, again for the help?
mary
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AKgringo
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6025
Registered: 9-20-2014
Location: Anchorage, AK (no mas!)
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Mood: Retireded
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You realize you are hijacking your own thread, but I'll play! Construction brought me to Anchorage in 1980, And I thought I would move to the bush
some day but got stuck there. May through September I am there, but my winters since I retired are spent in Northern CA where I grew up, with trips
to Baja in the fall and/or spring. Winter is for skiing in the Donner Summit and Lake Tahoe area. I guess that makes me a snowbird too!
I haven't been to Eagle, but know where it is. You folks had a rough go with the ice jams last year, nature can be brutal!
Have a great adventure, and remember that this kind of chat can be done with the U2U link on this forum.
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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