Cell question?
- Thread starter flyboy08
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
- Messages
- 54,246
- Reaction score
- 8,373
- # of dives
- 500 - 999
I carry my phone in a heavy duty ziplock on boats. Sometimes it's handy.
I finally found a site that quoted six phone plans. With Vet discount wed save $3/phone a month. Hardly worth changing.
I finally found a site that quoted six phone plans. With Vet discount wed save $3/phone a month. Hardly worth changing.
T-Mobile works great in Cozumel. It is not, though, "unlimited" nor is it a viable option for anyone living on the island.
I make very few voice calls and most of what looks like texting on my phone takes data - WhatsApp, Apple Messages, etc. Messaging won't eat up too much data, but lots of things will. One of those is uploading photos to the cloud. You get unlimited voice and SMS until they decide you've been outside the US for too long. You get a limited amount of free overseas data roaming (I think 5 Gb) per whatever vague time period they choose.
During the hurricanes in October, internet sucked at my house. Telmex DSL went down and Telcel En Su Casa rapidly got throttled (I use dual-WAN). I eventually tethered my house to my phone. I rapidly started getting messages from T-Mobile about how it's not intended for long-term use outside the USA.
Any time I use my T-Mobile service in Cozumel for longer than about 2 weeks I start getting warnings that my account might get shut off if I keep roaming. I know people whose accounts did get shut off when they tried to used them for an extended stay.
For a week's visit, and probably for two, T-Mobile should be fine and it is a very economical choice for most people.
I make very few voice calls and most of what looks like texting on my phone takes data - WhatsApp, Apple Messages, etc. Messaging won't eat up too much data, but lots of things will. One of those is uploading photos to the cloud. You get unlimited voice and SMS until they decide you've been outside the US for too long. You get a limited amount of free overseas data roaming (I think 5 Gb) per whatever vague time period they choose.
During the hurricanes in October, internet sucked at my house. Telmex DSL went down and Telcel En Su Casa rapidly got throttled (I use dual-WAN). I eventually tethered my house to my phone. I rapidly started getting messages from T-Mobile about how it's not intended for long-term use outside the USA.
Any time I use my T-Mobile service in Cozumel for longer than about 2 weeks I start getting warnings that my account might get shut off if I keep roaming. I know people whose accounts did get shut off when they tried to used them for an extended stay.
For a week's visit, and probably for two, T-Mobile should be fine and it is a very economical choice for most people.
I'm not surprised and they may be contractually required by Telmex to do that. The cell carriers may allow international partners to provide access to each other's customers (i.e. TMO customers visiting Mexico) but probably prohibit competing for each other's subscribers. Why should Telmex provide all the infrastructure while TMO collects all the money?
I don't disagree. I also have a Telcel SIM in my phone. I'm just trying to ensure that people know the limitations.
mediumone
Contributor
I just called support, and spoke with an especially pleasant and articulate rep stationed about 50 miles from us in Salem, Oregon.
The criterion is where you spend the majority of your time.
T-Mobile would have no issues if you were in Mexico for 2 continuous months. At the 2 month mark you would begin to receive text messages advising that you were approaching their limit. At the 3 month mark, you would be advised that your service would be suspended. The time period is neither arbitrary nor vague.
The data limit is 15Gb high speed data, after which time it is throttled down. The limit is also neither arbitrary or vague. Hurricanes thankfully are a relatively rare event. Extreme data usage under normal circumstances could be mostly avoided by utilizing wi-fi.
If one were to spend 2 months in Mexico, return to the US for 2 months of longer, you would re-set the clock and remain in t-Mobile's good graces.
The time limit after which it's reset is both arbitrary (they set it, and can change it, at their whim, but I had not said it was arbitrary) and vague (not stated anywhere). Once the data limit is reached, does it ever reset while out of the US? Nobody knows. How long must one remain in the US before it resets? You say 2 months. That's not really stated anywhere
I've hit the limit every time I'm in Mexico, even for a week. In order to use WiFi, one must have access to good WiFi. I should have optical fiber to my house now (haven't been back to confirm), but Telmex DSL is slow and spotty and cable was unusable. Every time I'm there I have to do a bunch of firmware updates. There are also lots of photos to upload
I start getting messages saying my account will be suspended after about 2 weeks of use outside the US. They typically start arriving a couple of days after I've returned to the US. I've never spent 2 months straight in Mexico.
My primary reason for commenting above was to address the possibility that some might very reasonably think, based on advertising, that a T-Mobile would serve them for spending a winter in Cozumel or for working as a digital nomad for a year.
wnissen
Contributor
Has anyone used the Telcel eSIM? I would really like to get a Telcel plan, they seem to be much more reliable. But it looks like you can't use it with the prepaid Amigo plans, and in any case you have to go to a Telcel center? Maybe I'm misreading. I don't mind ordering a sim, but it would sure be nice to just set it up as an eSIM. I did that with Google Voice before a recent trip and it took like 15 minutes. Much better than going to an Oxxo to get a SIM.
Last I checked Mexico didn't do eSIM's, but that was a while back. I now have my dual-SIM phone set up with T-Mobile in the e-SIM and a physical Telcel SIM in the slot, so I haven't checked since then. Going to the service center would be worth it if you planned to keep a Telcel number but certainly not if you planned to let it expire between trips.
Similar threads
