MakeItSo

Tell your friends to activate "wifi calling" feature offerred by rogers and bell Canada. It allows a cell phone to operate through wifi rather than cellular networks, and does not require roaming fees anywhere in the world. You get to use your phone normally, call and texting through wifi. But you must have access to wifi. Alternative: free voip numbers through Fongo.

It happened to us on our first drive to Mexico, waaay back when. Got a green light at the border and kept on driving. Six months later drove out. Noone ever stopped us anywhere. For what it's worth: wouldn't do this today.

I cancelled my Canadian and US cell phone plans and use Telcel exclusively across North America. Works flawlessly at a fraction of the cost. Just activate roaming, no extra charges. I use the amigo sin limites plan at 200 pesos / month, pay as needed. If you want a local Canadian number: sign up on Fongo app for a free canadian phone number (sign up when in Canada, or abroad via a quality vpn service; once setup it works across the world to call and receive calls as though you were in Canada, including 800 numbers; I use it with my 2 Canadian banks too). Search this forum for details, it's been covered before.

Thanks. I will give them a call. BTW I understand Intercam has some "affiliation" with Scotiabank, at least to provide fee-free ATM usage between the two. I don't know if this goes as far as sharing customer data though. Meanwhile if anyone knows any other Mexican bank that does not share data please let me know.

Looking for a Mexican bank that has no ties to and does not share / exchange client data / information with Canadian authorities / financial institutions. Are there any?

Pre-order pesos in mixed denominations (for gas and toll roads in Mexico) through your Canadian bank. We like to have at least 5,000 pesos. Just chose the fastest route to the Mexican border. Avoid driving at night in Mexico: break the Mexican leg of your trip in 2 (we like to stay in Cotulla, then cross at Colombia bridge, stay overnight in Matehuala, and then continue on down. Use only toll roads. I cannot stress this enough: do not drive at night, even if you think you know the way by heart. Mexican toll roads are way better than any of Ontario's 400-series highways; that said you may encounter road surprises you'd never expect north of the border. Do not bother with a dedicated gps unit. Get yourself a phone app with live traffic updates (we like sygic); activate roaming on your phone and find a hotel if it suggests you won't make it to destination before dark (approx. 30% of our annual trips over the last 20 years down were slowed by severe delays at various stages on the Mexican side.) Enjoy.

We had a place in San Miguel de Allende, in Los Balcones, with incredible views of the mountains and the Obraje. We chose it and loved it for the climate: cool (even cold) nights (on January mornings you might find frozen pools of water); hardly any humidity, even during the rainy few weeks. Incredible countryside with plenty of Otomi holy sites, excellent hiking and biking and sightseeing. Close enough to larger urban areas such as Queretaro and Guanajuato, and good inexpensive shopping in Dolores Hidalgo. What we did not like was the huge expat community, too huge, which does not help to integrate. But what really ruined the city to us was the insane development, with thousands of houses in dozens of sprawling subdivisions, which stole precious natural land but remain uninhabited. Also the town itself and labour are very expensive compared to elsewhere in Mexico. Good place to visit, but not sure it is an attractive place to live any more...

Thank you all who took time to reply.

We sent our property manager 4 weeks ago to change the name on the cfe account on a property we bought some years ago. We are still extranjeros (not yet residents), she took passport photocopies and was out in 30 minutes with mission accomplished. Moral of the story: send your Mexican facilitator.

Thank you. Just what I was hoping for.

Question for homeowners who installed and use their solar systems. We are planning to install a whole-house solar system Not quite entirely off-grid setup (will keep CFE meter and account as a fallback option). Wondering what is involved in maintaining the solar system? How often? Can we be away for months at a time, with only the cleaning lady and the gardener visiting the property regularly? What are the most likely things, if anything, that can go wrong during our absence?

Have you used totalplay previously to access your SSA account? Or were you using telmex? It is possible IP address change triggered a security warning. Are you using 2FA? If not: login to SSA using telmex, signup for 2FA, and try totalplay again. Should trigger the warning and 2FA (if that is indeed the issue)...

My next to my neighbour used this carcinogen last year profusely, but stopped after getting weird and freakish looking algae growth. I moved to MX in part because of fewer rules and regulations, but I am saddened to say there ought to be law forcing users to post warning about using this sh*t.

Your sim card has the version number printed on it, though you may need a magnifying glass to see it.

The Amigo sin limite works perfectly for me in the US and Canada. Check your SIM card, you may need to replace it, as warned on telcel website, because 3G networks telcel used to default to in the US are no longer supported. Your sim card must be 6.2 version and support volte: https://www.telcel.com/personas/telefonia/la-red-de-mayor-cobertura/red-tecnologia/4g/volte