Best verizon plan for living part-year in Mexico?

[Lake Michigan]

Wondering about living half the year in mexico, and being able to receive calls on my current USA number.

Is there a best verizon plan if you plan to be in the USA ~190 days a year and Mexico 175 days a year?

It looks like the current unlimited plan says you can use talk and text in mexico -- is there a limit to the number days in a row you can be there?

Data says it is limited to 2g speed after 512 MB (is that 512MB total before you return to the USA or per day/cycle?)

How is verizon's service/roaming on Mexico cell infrastructure?

[PaulCrawhorne]

As a general rule, all such plans, with all USA carriers are either designed for shorter vacation / business trips, that is T&C and actual practice forbid what you want

or are crazy expensive for DATA usage.

Is cost a major concern for you?

Do you require 2FA with financial institutions?

Usual practice is buying the data services using local SIMs. A hotspot gives lots of flexibility, but Dual SIM phones are also very common overseas.

Or just carry two phones.

T&T can be done over WiFi or using your local data service, usually unlimited at no extra cost these days.

It does get less reliable, or a bit tricky keeping EVERYTHING on the one USA number

usually I keep the 2FA services all on one, but let most of my human contacts have more than one number to try reaching me on.

[PaulCrawhorne]

Note the above is relevant for any foreign country.

I realise that being within North America there may very well be cheaper / more generous plans suitable for your use case, greatly simplifying the T&T side.

But I would be very surprised if using lots of GB daily would ever be reasonably priced for such long stays compared to using a Mexican provider for that part directly.

[Lake Michigan]

Thanks!

Yes my main concern is for 2FA and light usage of my phone number so I don't have to update all my contacts/services/alerts to a different number.

I can use a second phone with a telcel or other Mexican sim card for the majority of my in-Mexico data usage in quantity, but it would be nice if my American phone number service worked for the duration of my time there so I could get 2FA/alerts/calls without having to update all those contacts every spring and fall.

[Orlimar1]

Thanks!

Yes my main concern is for 2FA and light usage of my phone number so I don't have to update all my contacts/services/alerts to a different number.

I can use a second phone with a telcel or other Mexican sim card for the majority of my in-Mexico data usage in quantity, but it would be nice if my American phone number service worked for the duration of my time there so I could get 2FA/alerts/calls without having to update all those contacts every spring and fall.

You might try out a phone with dual physical sim card capabilities.

Sent from my SM-F936U1 using HoFo mobile app

[PaulCrawhorne]

For that use case I reco just port your 2FA number to a TMO-based MVNO and make sure WiFi calling is set up and working.

UltraMobile is $3/mo

Do not try to use googleFi for this.

Then you just need a local-SIM data provider for when you are away from WiFi, and for VoIP services like googleVoice, TextNow, skype, whatsapp telegram signal facetime etc.

Of course regular T&T can be run from a local SIM as well if you give out the number, but let them know it only works while you are in Mexico.

Standard VoIP services can also work well, just not for some FIs' 2FA.

[Lake Michigan]

TMO-based MVNO

TMO-based as in T-mobile? Sorry to be dense, but there hasn't been t-mobile coverage at my house in the USA to date (hatched "partner" on the coverage map), so I haven't looked at t-mobile to date. I could use it as a wifi-only phone in the USA for now though.

Is t-mobile itself less restrictive in terms of using a phone for an extended period in Mexico, or would an MVNO be the ticket (is the MVNO for price or for flexibility in terms of usage in Mexico?)

[Lake Michigan]

You might try out a phone with dual physical sim card capabilities.

Sent from my SM-F936U1 using HoFo mobile app

I can offload data usage and all local calling, etc. in Mexico to telcel, etc.

I wonder if verizon would crack down on it if voice / text to my main USA verizon number while in Mexico for a long stay if the iphone could be set to use wifi calling in Mexico? Would that work or no?

[PaulCrawhorne]

In the hundreds of threads across dozens of websites and discussion forums over the years wherever this topic was credibly solved, it has been by using a TMO MVNO, and most often Ultra Mobile specifically.

I am sure the $3/mo cost is part of it.

Perhaps now the same can be done with ATT or VZW based providers, and TMO was just allowing it earlier

and maybe it does work dealing with the mothership directly. I just have yet to come across such reports.

Give it a try and let us know!

A trusted friend can handle physical SIM swaps and activations for you stateside then use DHL to send them back and forth.

Porting in and out a couple times a year is NBD either but does increase the (slight) risk of losing the number.

[Lake Michigan]

Thanks again for the info!

I'm preparing for a future year but still in USA now; thinking about adjusting plans this year so want to choose what will work best for me with this being a main point of concern going forward. I have some time to work out the details though.

I'm still hoping I can use either a verizon or att main number in mexico, and that would determine which one would be better for my main plan long-term, but with the cost so low, adding a TMO ultra mobile number that I use for this might be a great backup plan. Much easier to pay $3/month x 12 months for something that sits on the desk unused (hopefully) than have to drive 28 hours to get a text message if needed that one time when you really need it! Thanks for the suggestion!

[zapjb]

...Much easier to pay $3/month x 12 months for something that sits on the desk unused...

Can someone summarize, I'm lost? Thank you.

[Lake Michigan]

Can someone summarize, I'm lost? Thank you.

Adding an Ultra Mobile number might be a good idea for services where I can start adding more than one cell number.

Unfortunately, not everything allows entering more than one number.

Because there is no t-mobile coverage where I live in the USA, I fear using an Ultra Mobile number might be a step backward while in the USA making things more complicated/prone to glitches. The idea of porting in and out every 6 months scares me. But at that pricepoint, seems like a good idea for an additional backup option for those things which allow a backup number.

[Lake Michigan]

I guess for a quick summary:

* I'm considering living 190 days in USA, then 170 days in Mexico, and repeating this "snowbirding" every year.

* More services are requiring cell phone number for access or alerts; VOIP or international non-USA numbers not accepted.

* I would like to have one main cell phone number that works in the USA and isn't suspended if I spend 175 days in Mexico so I can receive texts or calls if needed to login or to get alerts.

* I don't want to have to update all my services and contacts twice a year as I'm afraid I'd miss some.

[PaulCrawhorne]

Another approach

Use VoIP gVoice or TextNow for your "main T&T" number

That now works on WiFi and with whatever provider you use for data at that time/location

no need to ever port it again, complete flexibility.

Out of 43 service providers that I have that use SMS 2FA - and that number has been shrinking over the years not growing

maybe four will not work with my "main T&T" number serviced for over a decade now by TextNow, and do not give alternative 2FA methods.

So change those few over to a Ultra Mobile PAYGO number.

This will work using WiFi calling (as opposed to VoIP) while you are stateside just as well as while you are in Mexico.