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AT&T Mexico Cell Service? Muy Bueno o Muy Mal?


Jubilacion

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Recently an acquaintance mentioned having a very good experience with AT&T Mexico for their cell service and paying only about $25 month for service. He said coverage is very good throughout Mexico and when he returns home to the States!

I've been complacent in the 4 months since we moved to Mexico and stayed with Verizon simply because it works Lakeside... very well actually...  using TELCEL towers BUT at $85 USD for or 2 phones with unlimited phone, text and internet service it's kind of pricey.

What's you experience with AT&T Mexico? Cost? Reliability? Coverage in MX and NOB? I'd like to have coverage when I visit in the States.

How about TELCEL? Cost? Relability? Coverage in MX and NOB?

Gracias amigos!!

 

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I can't say as to coverage NOB but Telcel or AT&T HERE depends (just like Telmex or iLox or whatever) on where you live. Telcel only works in the courtyard of my house in lower Riberas and my cell phone piggybacks on Telmex inside my house. AT&T is a dead zone on my entire property. A cheap way to find out is to buy a 100 peso card from AT&T and test it.

I would like to have the option of my cell phone inside the house to be able to use it as a hotspot if the electricity goes out. To achieve that, I would need to put a short a$$ antenna on my garden wall which would put it in line of sight with the tower and run the cable into my house. Maybe. Still sitting on the fence about it (pun intended).

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Have had AT&T for the past four years using their plan where one pays for a year in advance and get two years service. It is funny that I just don't experience the dead zones often warned about here. Calls to the US are flawless with data reliable on both sides.

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I hear from many that telcel  the bet if you travel a lot in Mexico .. Also there are area where another company works better than an other ,like MOvie stars  so I think that what work best for you depends on what you do and where you are. I travel a lot by road in southern Mexico and for me telcel works beat, however in my house in San Cristobal Movie star works and tel cel does not work, here in Ajijic telcel works great.. so it all depends , there is no best accross the board. So get whatever you feel best with and change if it does not work do do not get a long term  plan to start and change if that does not work.

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Not to change this from AT&T, but if you are looking for wifi when the power goes out: I bought a UPS from the electronics store on the plaza. I have my router plugged into it. When the power goes out it stays powered up and I continue to get wifi via Ilox. It was 1200p and has never gone dead before the power comes back on. 

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10 hours ago, Ferret said:

I can't say as to coverage NOB but Telcel or AT&T HERE depends (just like Telmex or iLox or whatever) on where you live. Telcel only works in the courtyard of my house in lower Riberas and my cell phone piggybacks on Telmex inside my house. AT&T is a dead zone on my entire property. A cheap way to find out is to buy a 100 peso card from AT&T and test it.

I would like to have the option of my cell phone inside the house to be able to use it as a hotspot if the electricity goes out. To achieve that, I would need to put a short a$$ antenna on my garden wall which would put it in line of sight with the tower and run the cable into my house. Maybe. Still sitting on the fence about it (pun intended).

That is weird. I have no dead zones on my cell anywhere with Telcel.

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1 minute ago, happyjillin said:

That is weird. I have no dead zones on my cell anywhere with Telcel.

Calling is done on a different channel than data and if you go to the restaurant at the Vista del Lago you might not get data. It is the exact location where a friend's uncle was raving about Telcel superiority and downing ATT coverage. An unrelated question caused me to check something on Wiki. The uncle couldn't get his alternative facts, his Telcel was out of range. 

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39 minutes ago, AngusMactavish said:

Calling is done on a different channel than data and if you go to the restaurant at the Vista del Lago you might not get data. It is the exact location where a friend's uncle was raving about Telcel superiority and downing ATT coverage. An unrelated question caused me to check something on Wiki. The uncle couldn't get his alternative facts, his Telcel was out of range. 

I actually just use my cell flip PHONE to make and receive calls so that voices are heard. I didn't get smart nor will I ever do so.

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5 minutes ago, happyjillin said:

I actually just use my cell flip PHONE to make and receive calls so that voices are heard. I didn't get smart nor will I ever do so.

You are paying for data anyway, why not use it? Seems like a smart thing to do.

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2 hours ago, Ferret said:

I'm curious. What is the orientation of your homes? I have no windows on the north or west side. The tower, from which I get direct reception in one corner of my courtyard, is to the north.

As I stated previously, our fraccionamiento uses AT&T.  The administrator drives all over the place within the development.  Our fracc. is surrounded on 2 sides by mountains with a highway and lake on the other side.  So, many different directions for placement of homes, many different styles of windows etc.  We are North of Soriana on the way to Ixt. 

I have a cell phone purchased at Telcel and have a contract for 245 pesos paid monthly,  for 18 months.  I have never had a problem with lack of service due to location.  I have been using Telcel for many, many years and I can't complain about anything.  Have used it in the U.S. several times and have not had any problems.

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12 hours ago, Jubilacion said:

BUT at $85 USD for or 2 phones with unlimited phone, text and internet service it's kind of pricey.

It depends on how much internet data you need- I don't use much, don't need unlimited. What I do is a combination of the Telcel Sin Limites package, which gives me unlimited calling and texting anywhere in Mex, US and Canada, and the Telcel Internet Amigo. It's pay as you go, no contracts. I put 150 pesos on the Sin Limites, which lasts for about 3 weeks and gives me 2 GBs and 300 pesos on the Internet, which gives me 5 GB. So for about 500 pesos a month I get unlimited texting and calling and 7GBs.

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1 hour ago, happyjillin said:

To me a phone is a device where i have a conversation with an actual breathing person when we are not face to face. That's all,nothing else of interest to me.

I don't use the data on my phone, either. But I use the phone to tether to my computer as a hotspot so I can make use of those GBs that come with the Sin Limites package.

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Panda Networks cellular signal booster.   Telcel in San Nicolas went from 3G 3-4 down to 4G 80 down. Put it on the roof pointed to cell tower and boom. Done. Haven't gone down once.   No need for 2 services like some people have because they loose Ilox or Telmex. 

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3 hours ago, happyjillin said:

To me a phone is a device where i have a conversation with an actual breathing person when we are not face to face. That's all,nothing else of interest to me.

That's what I thot too until I dropped my cellphone and got a good deal on a used smart phone  What a great toy. I have so much fun with it. YRMV

From what I have heard, most of Riberas is a dead zone for AT&T. I have had no issues with Telcel.

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Whoever you decide to use for service,  be careful and keep all of your contract documents and receipts.  The ATT store manager in Chapala a few years ago managed to stuff a lot of money in his pocket before angry customers started calling ATT when their "annual" contracts went dead in just one month.  Some got their service back and some did not.   

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Just now, Kiko said:

Whoever you decide to use for service,  be careful and keep all of your contract documents and receipts.  The ATT store manager in Chapala a few years ago managed to stuff a lot of money in his pocket before angry customers started calling ATT when their "annual" contracts went dead in just one month.  Some got their service back and some did not.   

I don't sign any contracts for phone service in Mexico. I much prefer the pay-as-you-need-it options.

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I live in Riberas and AT&T does not work in my home. I had to switch ti Telcel. It works fine here in Mexico. My plan covers the United States and Canada also. I previously had AT&T in Bucerias before I moved to Riberas. I loved it. Within Mexico I would say they are about equal although when you get to really out of the way places Telcel's coverage is more expansive. Where AT&T was far superior in my mind was calling the States and Canada. It was much easier and I had a better signal calling friends and one daughter in the States and my other daughter in Vancouver. They also had no problems calling me either. When I went to the States it was far easier to make and receive calls also in AT%T since you are on their network and Telcel has to use a second party network. Now with my Telcel when I call the states the connection time is slower. The connection is often very poor and calls drop alot more often. My friends and daughters do not even bother calling me. They will either call me on Wattsapp or send me a text message to ask me to call them. It is too much of a hassle for them.

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31 minutes ago, LT56NY said:

I live in Riberas and AT&T does not work in my home. I had to switch ti Telcel. It works fine here in Mexico. My plan covers the United States and Canada also. I previously had AT&T in Bucerias before I moved to Riberas. I loved it. Within Mexico I would say they are about equal although when you get to really out of the way places Telcel's coverage is more expansive. Where AT&T was far superior in my mind was calling the States and Canada. It was much easier and I had a better signal calling friends and one daughter in the States and my other daughter in Vancouver. They also had no problems calling me either. When I went to the States it was far easier to make and receive calls also in AT%T since you are on their network and Telcel has to use a second party network. Now with my Telcel when I call the states the connection time is slower. The connection is often very poor and calls drop alot more often. My friends and daughters do not even bother calling me. They will either call me on Wattsapp or send me a text message to ask me to call them. It is too much of a hassle for them.

I researched Vonage Canada long before we moved here and can call and take calls all over the world without the problems that you're having. Cost:$33.73cdn/month. As I said before I only use telcel on my cell or making and taking calls in Mexico only.Unlimited for $200pesos/month.We also have Telmex land line which includes Infinitum.

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