# USA Cell Phone in Mexico City?



## fifthhouse (Jul 29, 2016)

I'm arriving in Mexico city September 1 for a six month visit. I have an ATandT pre-paid plan and am wondering how it will work in Mexico city. The service is promoted as working in Canada and Mexico (I used it seamlessly while in Canada for two months recently). 

Does anyone know?


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## ElPocho (Aug 25, 2017)

fifthhouse said:


> I'm arriving in Mexico city September 1 for a six month visit. I have an ATandT pre-paid plan and am wondering how it will work in Mexico city. The service is promoted as working in Canada and Mexico (I used it seamlessly while in Canada for two months recently).
> 
> Does anyone know?


Should work fine here 
AT&T has a presence here.

They have a great plan which I'm going to switch to.
Probably about $12usd a month.
Killer deal. 

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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

ElPocho said:


> Should work fine here
> AT&T has a presence here.
> 
> They have a great plan which I'm going to switch to.
> ...


I have an AT&T plan that is good in Mexico, US and Canada. I use it in the US with no problem. The only minor issue is that when people in the US call me, even if I am located in the US, it looks like (and probably is billed as an international call for them). But I have no problem calling any number while in the US. It is probably the same deal that El Pocho mentioned. I pay $2400 pesos/year.


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## fifthhouse (Jul 29, 2016)

TundraGreen, ElPocho, thanks for your replies!


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## ElPocho (Aug 25, 2017)

TundraGreen said:


> I have an AT&T plan that is good in Mexico, US and Canada. I use it in the US with no problem. The only minor issue is that when people in the US call me, even if I am located in the US, it looks like (and probably is billed as an international call for them). But I have no problem calling any number while in the US. It is probably the same deal that El Pocho mentioned. I pay $2400 pesos/year.


Same deal, if you pay for 12 months up front you get 24.
10 months you get 18
7 months to get 12

That's a 50%, 55%, and 58% discount.
Free roaming in the USA, and free calling to USA and Canada.

Add Google voice with a free USA number, and Google Hangout (a phone app) and you circumvent that problem

Not a bad deal.


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## ElPocho (Aug 25, 2017)

fifthhouse said:


> TundraGreen, ElPocho, thanks for your replies!


Glad to be of service!

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## Stevenjb (Dec 10, 2017)

fifthhouse said:


> I'm arriving in Mexico city September 1 for a six month visit. I have an ATandT pre-paid plan and am wondering how it will work in Mexico city. The service is promoted as working in Canada and Mexico (I used it seamlessly while in Canada for two months recently).
> 
> Does anyone know?


I believe that US mobile plans have a limit of usage they can be utilized beyond the home calling area outside of the US - I think it is 50%.


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## fifthhouse (Jul 29, 2016)

Stevenjb said:


> I believe that US mobile plans have a limit of usage they can be utilized beyond the home calling area outside of the US - I think it is 50%.


Actually yes, that's true. ATandT told me that when I spoke with them about using my plan in Canada, and the same would be true for using it in Mexico.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

fifthhouse said:


> Actually yes, that's true. ATandT told me that when I spoke with them about using my plan in Canada, and the same would be true for using it in Mexico.


The plans purchased in Mexico are unlimited for Mexico, US, and Canada.


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## dogtags (Apr 24, 2011)

*AT&T vs AT&T-Mex*

It's important to note that AT&T (US) and AT&T (MX) are two different carriers. If you have the US plan, you can use it in Mexico and Canada--for a limited time/amount. And vice-versa if you have AT&T (Mx) and are using it NOB. 

When researching policies for one company or the other on the internet, be careful if choosing Spanish, since AT&T (US) has full information in BOTH languages, and I got mislead by reading the US-Spanish site, thinking I was reading about the Mexican carrier.


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## ElPocho (Aug 25, 2017)

dogtags said:


> It's important to note that AT&T (US) and AT&T (MX) are two different carriers. If you have the US plan, you can use it in Mexico and Canada--for a limited time/amount. And vice-versa if you have AT&T (Mx) and are using it NOB.
> 
> When researching policies for one company or the other on the internet, be careful if choosing Spanish, since AT&T (US) has full information in BOTH languages, and I got mislead by reading the US-Spanish site, thinking I was reading about the Mexican carrier.


True, while in the States you probably can't sign up for At&t Mexico. 
For one they won't ship a SIM out of the country.

You will also probably need an unlocked phone. My guess is that an ATT US phone won't work.

The US version charges up to $70 USD, the Mexican version you can get away for as low as $10

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## dogtags (Apr 24, 2011)

Yes, they are "unlimited" in Mexico. BUT, just as the NOB carriers have a "fair use policy", the Mexican providers have their "política de uso justo". (See their websites under "politicas de uso".)

Basically, usage outside Mexico is intended as a convenience, and is not meant to be use permanently or semi-permanently. 

From AT&T Mexico:. 

Política de Uso Justo en Roaming y/o Cobertura Ampliada


Los servicios de Roaming y Cobertura Ampliada están destinados para mejorar la experiencia de nuestros Suscriptores fuera del área de cobertura de AT&T. No están destinados para los usuarios itinerantes de forma semipermanente o permanente.

Por lo anterior, en caso de que AT&T observe un uso abusivo o anómalo de los servicios de Roaming y/o la Cobertura Ampliada , de conformidad con el Contrato de Servicios AT&T podrá suspender dichos servicios notificando de ello previamente al Suscriptor. En caso de corroborar el uso abusivo o anómalo de los servicios en las áreas de cobertura ampliada, AT&T podrá dar por terminado el Contrato sin necesidad de previa declaración judicial.


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## dogtags (Apr 24, 2011)

My US phones (AT&T and T-Mobile) work on Telcel and AT&T/MX. My older TMobile phone doesn't get the fastest LTE data speed, but the AT&T phone works great. They have both been unlocked, of course.


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## Stevenjb (Dec 10, 2017)

You need up be watchful when buying an international phone, and plan on using this phone in the USA - these phones carrier bandwidths may not be compatible with U.S. carriers - limiting the speed of data (3g v. 4g/LTE).


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## dogtags (Apr 24, 2011)

Stevenjb said:


> You need up be watchful when buying an international phone, and plan on using this phone in the USA - these phones carrier bandwidths may not be compatible with U.S. carriers - limiting the speed of data (3g v. 4g/LTE).


Yes. Check the list on this link against the frequencies the phone is capable of. Check (connectivity, frequencies).

https://www.gearbest.com/blog/how-t...e-network-frequency-bands-coverage-guide-1144


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## Haskins (May 21, 2017)

dogtags said:


> It's important to note that AT&T (US) and AT&T (MX) are two different carriers. If you have the US plan, you can use it in Mexico and Canada--for a limited time/amount. And vice-versa if you have AT&T (Mx) and are using it NOB.


Another thing I didn't know. Thanks for the head's up!


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## ElPocho (Aug 25, 2017)

dogtags said:


> Yes, they are "unlimited" in Mexico. BUT, just as the NOB carriers have a "fair use policy", the Mexican providers have their "política de uso justo". (See their websites under "politicas de uso".)
> 
> Basically, usage outside Mexico is intended as a convenience, and is not meant to be use permanently or semi-permanently.
> 
> .


Good info.
I assume a week or two in the States once or twice a year would be fine.





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## Haskins (May 21, 2017)

Does anyone have two personal phones and plans, one for Mexico and one for NOB?


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Haskins said:


> Does anyone have two personal phones and plans, one for Mexico and one for NOB?


I used to. I had a Iusacell phone in Mexico and a separate T-Mobile phone that I used in prepaid mode. I would add time to the T-Mobile phone, whenever I visited the US. Since AT&T bought IusaCell and started offering unlimited coverage across North America, I haven't used the T-Mobile phone.
One downside of using a Mexico AT&T phone in the US, is with people texting or calling it from the US. It is an international call for them even when I am in the US and doesn't seem to always work. I never have any problems calling people from my Mexican phone when in the US, but I have had issues with receiving calls. Text messages and WhatsApp seem to work okay.


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## ElPocho (Aug 25, 2017)

Haskins said:


> Does anyone have two personal phones and plans, one for Mexico and one for NOB?


I do.
After my next trip, I'll get rid of the USA phone but not the number. It's already in Google Hangouts.



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## ElPocho (Aug 25, 2017)

TundraGreen said:


> I used to. I had a Iusacell phone in Mexico and a separate T-Mobile phone that I used in prepaid mode. I would add time to the T-Mobile phone, whenever I visited the US. Since AT&T bought IusaCell and started offering unlimited coverage across North America, I haven't used the T-Mobile phone.
> One downside of using a Mexico AT&T phone in the US, is with people texting or calling it from the US. It is an international call for them even when I am in the US and doesn't seem to always work. I never have any problems calling people from my Mexican phone when in the US, but I have had issues with receiving calls. Text messages and WhatsApp seem to work okay.


Tundra try getting a Google Voice number. See if people can call you or text you on that from the USA.
It seems to work fine for me. You need an app called Hangouts

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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

ElPocho said:


> Tundra try getting a Google Voice number. See if people can call you or text you on that from the USA.
> It seems to work fine for me. You need an app called Hangouts
> 
> Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk


 I have a google voice number on which I sometimes get text messages or voice messages. They get emailed to me. I haven't looked at Hangouts. 

Digression: In general I am reluctant to give Google any information about me. I don't use my gmail account much nor do I use the google search engine. DuckDuckGo works for search without selling information about me to advertisers. Google is right up there with FaceBook in turning people (or at least information about them) into products to be sold to the highest bidder,


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## Stevenjb (Dec 10, 2017)

TundraGreen said:


> I have a google voice number on which I sometimes get text messages or voice messages. They get emailed to me. I haven't looked at Hangouts.
> 
> Digression: In general I am reluctant to give Google any information about me. I don't use my gmail account much nor do I use the google search engine. DuckDuckGo works for search without selling information about me to advertisers. Google is right up there with FaceBook in turning people (or at least information about them) into products to be sold to the highest bidder,


I give Google very little info about me when creating an email address. It is the cookies that are stored on your device that trigger pushed ads. You can open a browser session incognito to avoid cookie retention. Whichever email service you use, the info is passing through their servers. Unless you use a super secret peer-to-peer email service.

If I recall correctly, Yahoo email has been hacked twice - I haven't used Yahoo since 2000 when they locked me out of my account with no recourse to regain access.

Most of the issues I have had with email is when I thought I gave an email address to a trusted service then they give or sell it to a service (site) that pesters me with their products/services.

Ah -- technology.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Stevenjb said:


> I give Google very little info about me when creating an email address. It is the cookies that are stored on your device that trigger pushed ads. You can open a browser session incognito to avoid cookie retention. Whichever email service you use, the info is passing through their servers. Unless you use a super secret peer-to-peer email service.
> 
> If I recall correctly, Yahoo email has been hacked twice - I haven't used Yahoo since 2000 when they locked me out of my account with no recourse to regain access.
> 
> ...


 I own a domain name and pay a provider to host it. They include an email server as part of the hosting. So my mail only passes through my email server on my end. However, on the other end it goes through whatever email service my correspondent uses. Google and Facebook are like the Borg, Resistance is Futile.


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## Stevenjb (Dec 10, 2017)

That is cool. I paid for a domain at one time too, and utilized the email function. However, it is not a straight shot to and from the domain server, it passes through a lot of intermediaries along the way. Since the email is most likely not encrypted, it passes as plain text.

One would not want to send any sensitive info (credit card number, social security number) by email.


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## ElPocho (Aug 25, 2017)

TundraGreen said:


> I own a domain name and pay a provider to host it. They include an email server as part of the hosting. So my mail only passes through my email server on my end. However, on the other end it goes through whatever email service my correspondent uses. Google and Facebook are like the Borg, Resistance is Futile.


My friend, get a throwaway Gmail account. 
Use that one.

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