US Cell Phone Service

[airchamby]

I plan to return to Mexico to live permanently.  I am trying to decide which US cell phone company to use while I am down there.  I will of course have a Mexican cell phone too but which US carrier should I use for my US line?  I currently use Verizon but they will be very expensive to use in Mexico.

Any advice would be helpful.

[tomgates]

I think AT&T can serve both countries with one plan.

[ibarra]

I use my MX cellphone (Telcel contract) to call the U.S. all the time, it's free. Also free to many countries. 

[RickS]

Most US carriers have an association with someone in Mexico.  AT&T, of course, has a presence in both countries.  T-Mobile works with Telcel the minute you cross the border.  Verizon is bound to have an associate here... I just don't know who.   Of importance while in Mexico might be 'coverage'.  Telcel has by far the best coverage in Mexico. T-Mobile will probably be the cheapest US provider to keep. 

So take your pick. 

[Lou Quillio]

17 hours ago, airchamby said:

I would like to keep my same number for my US line.

For clarity's sake, does "my same number" refer to a case where:

• You have a phone number in the U.S. which, when people call it, rings a phone installed in your home? That is, the number is associated with a place (your home in the U.S.), not a person (a mobile phone)?
• In the future you want callers to be able to dial this number the same as before, but it rings a phone at your home in Mexico?

I believe that for this case you need a third-party provider that can "virtualize" your existing home number, and forward the calls it receives to another number of your choice. Ideally this provider is intended for expats, so that your callers needn't dial anything special. Per-minute charges are common. Others will know better than me if there's an un-metered option these days.

Is that what you're after? Many people don't have a "home phone," so "my same number" means different things to different people.

This phone number "virtualizing" (sometimes "porting") is usually done by smaller outfits, not big phone companies. I'd be wary of all-in-one solutions.

LQ

 

[Lou Quillio]

52 minutes ago, airchamby said:

Lou, I was speaking of keeping my US cell phone number so friends and family in the US can continue to call that number. 

Got it.

Let me describe what we do. It may not be what you want, but might provide some color.

• Joan and I both have dual-SIM phones, and we each have two cell numbers. One SIM is electronic (an eSIM), and the other fits into a standard SIM drawer in each of our phones.
• Previously, we used only our eSIMs, with a U.S. cell carrier (Google Fi, essentially a virtual reseller of T-Mobile and U.S. Cellular service), plus wifi calling.
• In Mexico, we added a scandalously great prepaid plan from AT&T Mexico (~$250 USD each for 6GB/mo, and the data's good in the U.S, Mexico, and Canada).
  
  Here's a description:
   
• So now our California and Jalisco numbers both ring on our cell phones, and we can choose which to use for outbound voice or text on a per-call basis.
• But there's a wrinkle. Our callers can use either number, and that's not ideal. Plus, eventually we won't have our U.S. numbers any more.
• Our solution is to associate our AT&T Mexico numbers with our WhatsApp accounts, and to slowly train our peeps to use WhatsApp (voice, text, and videochat). This way, no matter what phone numbers underlay our WhatsApp accounts in the future, it'll all "just work."
•  WhatsApp also runs on laptop/desktop PCs, so we're pretty well covered. If you can't reach us in the desert, it's because we're in the desert. 🙂

Most of what we do with our phones already happens over wifi, and that'll only grow. It's an open secret that cell providers would rather deploy public wifi than maintain expensive cell towers and plant.

This works for us. Your mileage may vary.

LQ

 

[Zeb]

On 9/28/2022 at 10:11 PM, RickS said:

Most US carriers have an association with someone in Mexico.  AT&T, of course, has a presence in both countries.  T-Mobile works with Telcel the minute you cross the border.  Verizon is bound to have an associate here... I just don't know who.   Of importance while in Mexico might be 'coverage'.  Telcel has by far the best coverage in Mexico. T-Mobile will probably be the cheapest US provider to keep. 

So take your pick. 

When I had trouble with my phone in the US (which is AT&T service), I went to to AT&T stores.  I was told there was no record of my contract and that, although they are AT&T, there is connection between the two, so forget about getting any help.

[Lou Quillio]

9 minutes ago, Zeb said:

there is connection between the two

Yes. The name "AT&T" has been sold and re-sold so many times that it doesn't really mean anything at all.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AT%26T

LQ

 

 

[RickS]

Is this to suggest... or state.... that if one has an AT&T cellphone account in the US, there is no 'benefit' or connection if I were to come into Mexico and expect AT&T cellphone coverage???

If true, does AT&T US have a Mexican 'partner' in Mexico similar to the T-Mobile & Telcel partnership?

Also, 'who' if anyone does Verizon US have as a Mexican partner and is it seamless like the T-Mobile/Telcel one?

Thanks

[Zeb]

On 9/30/2022 at 4:43 PM, RickS said:

Is this to suggest... or state.... that if one has an AT&T cellphone account in the US, there is no 'benefit' or connection if I were to come into Mexico and expect AT&T cellphone coverage???

If true, does AT&T US have a Mexican 'partner' in Mexico similar to the T-Mobile & Telcel partnership?

Also, 'who' if anyone does Verizon US have as a Mexican partner and is it seamless like the T-Mobile/Telcel one?

Thanks

In answer to your question, you should not have any problem with your AT&T cell phone service if your plan includes being able to call in North America. 

What happened to me was that I purchased my plan from AT&T in Mexico and when I arrived in the US, I was unable to call anyone.  I was able to use WhatsApp.  My thinking at the time was that since my contract is with AT&T, that I could simply go into a branch and get help.  They had no record of my plan as the company is not associated, so they would or could not help me.

Interestingly, I just purchased a new cell phone in the US, and with the same Sims and number from the old phone, everything works.  It is a mystery.