
Tutor
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Traveling with iPhone to Mexico
Hi all,
This is my first post on the AT&T forums. I switched about two weeks ago so we get could iPhones. I have been reading a lot of articles about this topic and I still have a few questions. Sorry if these questions are repeats.
We go to Mexico about once a year. With our previous carrier, we couldn't receive texts or anything while in Mexico but we could make phone calls.
In order to keep extra charges to a minimum, I plan to keep data roaming turned off. Here are my questions:
1. While my phone is on in Mexico, will I receive calls normally as if I were in the states? I'm assuming that the caller need not add any country codes or anything to reach me... What about for me making calls to the U.S.?
2. Will I receive texts normally as well? Do I need to add a country code when texting from Mexico to the US when sending a new text? Or will simply replying to a text message get the job done?
3. If I turn Airplane Mode on, will any functions of my phone actually work?
4. If I have International Data Roaming off and Airplane Mode off, will my phone use any data at all? I read that people turn off data roaming and also turn off features like push e-mail. Is this overkill or something that I would need to do as well?
Any other advice would be appreciated. I'm terrified of getting slapped by a huge bill because my phone was "secretly" using minimal data even with International Data Roaming turned off. My understanding of the charges (without any additional calling plans) are:
Receiving text messages in Mexico from the US: No charge, just deducted from my text allowance
Sending texts from Mexico: $.50 per text
Receiving calls in Mexico from US: $.99 per minute
Making calls from Mexico: $.99 per minute
International Data Roaming OFF: No charge for data
Please correct me if any of these are incorrect.
Thanks!
Accepted Solution
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ATTMobilityCare
Community Support
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15.2K Messages
7 years ago
Hello Community,
Big thanks to @DWC1 for providing some great information and answering most of the questions @BD6879 had.
I wanted to add to what was provided as the initial post and response is several years old, and some of the content has been updated. Please see the below links that will answer all of your questions if you are traveling to Mexico!
Thanks so much!
Tim, Community Specialist
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DWC1
Master
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2.4K Messages
12 years ago
This link will answer many of your questions:
http://www.att.com/Common/merger/files/pdf/international_calling/International_Travel_Tips_08232010.pdf
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Official Solution
DWC1
Master
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2.4K Messages
12 years ago
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BD6879
Tutor
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8 Messages
12 years ago
Thanks. I had not seen that article yet. If anyone can answer my other questions that weren't addressed in that article, that'd be great!
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stufried
Guru
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1.1K Messages
11 years ago
If you are not a constant border crosser, but various members of your family does cross on occasion, there is an interesting inconsistency in ATT's plans. It is cheaper for most people to take an ATT prepaid to Mexico than contract. See:
http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/international/roaming/gophone-international-roaming.jsp
If say you are a San Diego family and sometimes go back for a couple of days or one member of the family does, forwarding your ATT phone to a GoPhone and throwing it into Airplane mode before you cross the border could be the cheapest way to go.
If you want data, check out ATT's international data packages:
http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/international/dataconnect-global.jsp
Another option for data is to rental a MiFi device and have everyone use it for their data needs. XcomGlobal rents Mexican hotspots. You can also buy an unlocked MiFi device and use a local prepaid SIM.
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vbilodeau
Contributor
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1 Message
10 years ago
I just came back from Mexico and I used a SIM card for my iPhone 5 that I bought online from Mexico Sim Card. I used almost 3GB of data and talk for hours and it came up to 70$. How much do you think 150 minutes of talk and 3GB of Data would have costed me with At&t?
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wingrider01
Expert
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12.2K Messages
10 years ago
this will only work if your phone is unlocked, you either own a version that you paid full retail price for and bought unlocked, or you paid your etf and canceld your service with att. the iphone is locked to att so foreign sims will not work normally
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