Travelling to Mexico this week.

[Mayfirst]

Is there a roaming feature for Mexico? I just need texting and currently have unlimited international texting.

[koimr1]

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@curlyt wrote:

Hi-I am just wondering if there is plan in the works to provide data in Mexico.   Using apps over wifi is fantastic but there are many places in Mexico that do not have wifi.  For example, I completely unable to contact a friend I was meeting at the Cancun airport.  They do not offer wifi.  I had to borrow a vendors wifi so I could call her on whatts up in order to locate what terminal she had landed in.   I had a similar problem in another airport.  Since it is the airports that I would typically need to contact someone (flight delayed or where to meet family) This was a huge inconvenience.  Also, since I typically travel alone and meet up with people when I am there, it is a bit of a safety issue for me not being in contact with people unless I am in a wifi zone. I travel almost yearly to Mexico and am contemplating switching providers to avoid this issue again.  Thank you,  

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I have not seen any official response about adding more than the current roaming options so as it stands right now the only options are finding wifi and obtaining a local SIM card. Unfortunately as a prepaid provider PM is not really a viable traveling carrier unless you are heading to the US.

I know that doesn't answer your specific question so I'm tagging the mods in the hopes that they can add some input to this.

Getting back to the local SIM thing, you can actually purchase them via Amazon. I know Telcel has several with varying options (and prices!) - I'll let you search those as I probably am not allowed to post links to those. 🙂 If you travel to Mexico often it might be worth looking at this and seeing if they can be re-used, etc.

There's also universal roaming providers ("universal" is probably the wrong word here, doubt they work off-planet!) but the prices are almost always higher than local SIMs.

[stonechucker]

A local sim card is your best option.

[curlyt]

Hi-I am just wondering if there is plan in the works to provide data in Mexico.   Using apps over wifi is fantastic but there are many places in Mexico that do not have wifi.  For example, I completely unable to contact a friend I was meeting at the Cancun airport.  They do not offer wifi.  I had to borrow a vendors wifi so I could call her on whatts up in order to locate what terminal she had landed in.   I had a similar problem in another airport.  Since it is the airports that I would typically need to contact someone (flight delayed or where to meet family) This was a huge inconvenience.  Also, since I typically travel alone and meet up with people when I am there, it is a bit of a safety issue for me not being in contact with people unless I am in a wifi zone. I travel almost yearly to Mexico and am contemplating switching providers to avoid this issue again.  Thank you,  

[Anonymous]

Hi @martina;  It is unlikely that the original poster will see your question.  You might want to send that person a private message.  If they are logged into the community, they might see it and respond to you.  Or you could ask them to reply here, so that others in the same situation might benefit from the response also.

[martina]

Hi there!

Like you did, I will also be travelling to Mexico.  I was wondering if you were able to text while there, and what app did you end up using?  Did you use an iphone?

[srlawren]

@Mayfirst unfortunately, the one service you need (texting) is the most difficult to work around when roaming outside of Canada or the USA.  As noted above, you will not get any service in Mexico with your PM SIM card.  What I would suggest is that right away you may want to contact the people you want to stay in contact with while in Mexico, and find a data-based instant messaging app you can use to chat with them instead of sms texting.  Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp are extremely popular and will probably get you in touch with many of your contacts.  If you're on an iPhone, iMessage should work on a data connection as long as you configure it correctly.  Other apps you could consider if WhatsApp, FB Messenger, or iMessage won't work for some of your contacts, include Google Hangouts, Google Allo, BBM, Line, WeChat, Signal, HipChat, Slack, Skype, Skype for Business, uhm maybe others as well.

The reason I suggest moving your conversations to one or more of these services is that they will continue to work for you while in Mexico, if you either get a local SIM with data service and/or have access to WiFi networks.  Texting, unfortunately, will not work that way.  

[imm1304]

Hey @Mayfirst,

PM won't work in Mexico.  You will have to pick up a local sim card once you get there.  Just make sure your phone is unlocked.

You should get a voip app such as Fongo or Google Hangout Dialer to make free calls to Canada/US using data/wifi.  

You can also forward your public mobile number to your Fongo number and remain reachable.  SMS will not work at all though.  Have a great trip!

[Taekgun]

@Mayfirst

There is no roaming add-on you can get for Mexico at all.  Your options are:

- use an app like Fongo to use free call with a Canadian number over Wi-Fi

- pickup a local SIM in Mexico

- for texting only, use a third-party message app like BBM, Google Hangouts, etc...

Your unlimited international texting is good when you are physically in Canada texting abroad, not while you and your phone are in another country!