AT&T Mexico Cell Service.... Muy Bueno o Muy Mal? Experience por favor!

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 has been very good throughout Mexico and when he returned home to the States!

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

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

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

Gracias amigos!!

We have used AT&T since they came to Mexico. There has not been a problem with coverage in Mexico, NOB, or as we traveled in Central or South America. We pay for 2 years of service and receive 6 months free. We are into our third, two-year contract.

I did the plan where you pay up front like $4,200 pesos and get 2 years of service, works out to be $175 pesos a month and 2gb data and unlimited calls / text and service in and from and between Mexico / Canada and USA

I have the same AT&T plan Spencer has due to renew in January. I have an ongoing email battle with the company that insists I have coverage here in Riberas. I don’t but rattle his cage and argue with him just for grins. I will renew and I’m debating laying out the money for an antenna on my roof. Oddly, a block away on the carretera I can get a signal.

That said, I much prefer AT&T to Telmex. Works better in the States for sure and love not having to remember to top up minutes. I’m not a huge cell phone user but they’re almost a necessity nowadays.

Intercasa wrote:I did the plan where you pay up front like $4,200 pesos and get 2 years of service, works out to be $175 pesos a month and 2gb data and unlimited calls / text and service in and from and between Mexico / Canada and USA

Thanks Spencer, I would definitely rate that as a great deal for service!

Now, my concern is will it work well where we are moving, north of the Carretera near Tlachichilco (past Vista del Lago CC).

Any suggestions to see if it works out that way? Can I buy a AT&T sim card for a small amount to try it out?

If you get a weak signal out there, then this inmate who lives near that area has found a solution:

https://www.insidelakeside.com/t22472-what-i-found-with-a-cellular-signal-booster

Yes you can buy a 100 peso sim card to put in your phone to check it out. That's what I did and, of course, AT&T does not work well in Riberas.
I think a cellular signal booster antenna will work IF you can actually SEE the tower. That's what my neighbour did for better reception.

ferret wrote:Yes you can buy a 100 peso sim card to put in your phone to check it out. That's what I did and, of course, AT&T does not work well in Riberas.
I think a cellular signal booster antenna will work IF you can actually SEE the tower. That's what my neighbour did for better reception.

Good idea with the inexpensive card....that's probably the solution to check for service.

"I think a cellular signal booster antenna will work IF you can actually SEE the tower."

Ferret, cellphone signals do not need an actual line of sight. Signals can be attenuated by thick building walls, hills, or other structures but.... Putting a booster up high generally 'removes' some of these potential obstacles.

Okay Rick. I'm just going by what is working in my own situation. I don't get a decent signal until I am in the southeast corner of my courtyard and can see the tower (and over the concrete wall in between).
Each situation is going to be unique.

ferret wrote:
Each situation is going to be unique.

Yes you said a mouthful there!    Signals are naturally best when they are 'unobstructed', but they are (sometimes) OK when they seemingly are not 'in site' such as in a/some houses, barns or parking garages. They can even 'bounce off' one structure and be OK even if otherwise hidden from sight.

Pretty safe to say if you can "see" a cell tower you are going to get topnotch signals, even behind concrete. It's a different technology completely than WiFi, which is easily obstructed. Cellular wavelengths travel up to a thousand meters, while WiFi is a Local Area Network travelling only a very few meters. And it is not line-of-sight, while WiFi is. And it's blanket coverage. So we really can't "compare" the two. And of course, every mathematical rule has its exceptions, resulting in odd "pockets" where the signal is better or blocked.

Surely cell signals travel further than 1km.

I think the old analog cell signals for voice could go many....  25-35-45... miles depending on terrain. Today's digital cellphone signals and surely data signals maybe only 5-7 miles. Generally and depending on circumstances.
The new 5G will be very fast but the signal will/does not go but about 1500 feet I think.

I would take issue with CGs contention that wifi is line-of-sight. Fixed Wireless certainly is but what most of us know as wifi.... the signal that comes from our modem/router.... is definitely not line-of-sight. In Mexican stone walled houses it 'might as well be line-of-sight' but in wooded walled houses like mine NOB wifi 'penetrates' walls. My wifi router is downstairs and I get great wifi signals even on the 3rd floor above.

You're right, I should have said simply BEST when line of sight. Everything blocks it, even a breeze, or a person passing through the line, and certainly distance. But that wasn't my point. My point was that cellular is a completely different wavelength technology and is most definitely not line-of-sight. You don't have to see a tower to get a signal from over 20 miles away, so if you can "see" a tower, you are pretty much going to get a signal you can use.

The new 5G will be very fast but the signal will/does not go but about 1500 feet I think.[/quote]


5G is different from 4G. It uses lots of small transmitters placed all over the place kinda like a mesh WIFI network in your house. Thus the short distance doesn't matter. It also uses different frequencies of which some people say are not healthy to be near. 5G is the bad boy of the conspiracy crowd. Time will tell but at this point in time not so sure I would want to be live near these transmitters and there will be lots of them all over the place when fully installed. 4G will be around for a while here I am guessing.

Of course, they said the same about 3 and 4G. And they started saying it about cell phones themselves right from the beginning. It's a conspiracy brought to you by the same world that has worked their whole lives to con us into thinking Covid-19 is a thing. But mostly the mask companies.

I'm not crazy...
https://www.signalbooster.com/blogs/news/how-much-which-building-materials-block-cellular-wifi-signals

Did someone suggest that you were? Where?

Felt like it in a few posts. Whatever. The point being that it's very easy to block signals from a cell tower. I'm hoping Santa will bring the antenna that I want... but my list is kinda long this year and his sleigh is only so big.

Always exceptions to the rule, especially with radio waves.

ferret wrote:I'm not crazy...

Why are you trying to diminish my admiration for you???    

I have a Billy Joel song running through my head now.

You two take it off-line por favor