Verizon near Mexico

[DonTom]

Here around two miles (3 km) from Mexico, I have five bars of 4G, sometimes switching to 3 bars of 5G, on my portable hotspot.

While signals are strong, it is very slow here. The switching back and forth could be the reason, but I see no way to lock it on 4G under "network settings". It just says there "Auto (5G Prefer)".

But that isn't my main question.

Is there a way to tell if I am using a Mexican tower or USA and if I am using a Mexico tower, does it make any difference in any way at all? Such as in the way it is billed?

-Don- Mission, TX

 

[Tulecreeper]

Here around two miles (3 km) from Mexico, I have five bars of 4G, sometimes switching to 3 bars of 5G, on my portable hotspot.

While signals are strong, it is very slow here. The switching back and forth could be the reason, but I see no way to lock it on 4G under "network settings". It just says there "Auto (5G Prefer)".

But that isn't my main question.

Is there a way to tell if I am using a Mexican tower or USA and if I am using a Mexico tower, does it make any difference in any way at all? Such as in the way it is billed?

-Don- Mission, TX

It used to. There were times in San Diego, when I was on the sub base and you could look south and see Mexico, sometimes people's phones would connect through a Mexican tower and they wouldn't know it until they got the bill for international roaming charges. I don't know if they still do that, or not. The last time I was out of the country was when I went to Belize in 2012, and I bought a local pre-paid phone there.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Your phone should have a setting for "no roaming", but I'll be darned if I can find it on my Android phone. I can turn off roaming data, but can't find a setting for voice. Maybe call your phone network provider and ask how to prevent roaming charges.

 

[DonTom]

I just made one big improvement by turning off 5G. I connected up my Hotspot to this computer via cable and went to "Mymobilehotspot" and turned off 5G so it will stay on the 5 bars of 4G. Now it is much faster. That was under "Advance Settings" which is NOT accessible from the unit directly, but is from a computer when connected via cable.

But I didn't see anything about turn roaming off, but there is a lot of other stuff there, so I will look again in a few minutes, after I post this.

-Don- Mission, TX

 

[Tulecreeper]

One thing I learned just a couple years ago. My uncle and cousins came down from British Columbia to visit for a week. While they were here, there were a number of times I texted back and forth to one of my cousins making plans for a BBQ, dinner, etc. After they left, when I got my bill at the end of that month I saw that I had been charged about $0.70 each time I had texted her. It was because my texts were going to a Canadian number through their Telus system, even though she was here just a few miles away, so it was considered an international text.

 

[Lou Schneider]

I'm liking Visible more and more. $25 a month gets you unlimited voice, text and data in the US on Verizon's towers and you can call and text to Canada and Mexico at no extra charge. Their $35 a month plan expands the calling to 30+ countries and lets you text to 200+. Plus you can use your phone with unlimited talk, text and data in Canada and Mexico so there's no reason to be anxious if you're near the border and your phone gets captured by a foreign cell tower.

The only caveat is if you exceed 0.5 GB per day in Canada or Mexico there's no financial penalty but your data speed will slow to a crawl until the 24 hour clock resets. A fair tradeoff for the price IMO.

 

[SMR]

We upgraded our Visible plan when we went to the Bay of Fundy. I never noticed any loss of data speed and we exceeded 0.5 GBs, used at least 5 a day for work.
We only upgraded my plan, DW got an introductory plan for 15.00 a month so we just forwarded her phone to mine. She also used my phone as a hot spot.

 

[DonTom]

I can turn off roaming data,

That is what I would like to do, but I could not find it even when connected up to this computer. My unit is the Orbic R500LS.

-Don- 78572

 

[DonTom]

I'm liking Visible more and more. $25 a month gets you unlimited voice, text and data in the US on Verizon's towers and you can call and text to Canada and Mexico at no extra charge. Their $35 a month plan expands the calling to 30+ countries and lets you text to 200+. Plus you can use your phone with unlimited talk, text and data in Canada and Mexico so there's no reason to be anxious if you're near the border and your phone gets captured by a foreign cell tower.

The only caveat is if you exceed 0.5 GB per day in Canada or Mexico there's no financial penalty but your data speed will slow to a crawl until the 24 hour clock resets. A fair tradeoff for the price IMO.

When they say "Verizon's towers" does that include the ones they rent from other services to extend their coverage? I have a very difficult time finding a place where mine will not work. For an example, every stop on this trip, often far from any towns or anything, it worked perfectly, includes many places where I didn't think it had much chance of working but it not only worked, but worked well and with a strong signal.

I have five bars of 4G or one or two bars of 5G here which I just turned off 5G today. That is about the only issue I've had since the time I was in Death Valley, and it would NO LONGER work at Furnace Creek (but it used to). Because the hotel there wants to charge 11 bucks per day for their lousy wireless service for data. But Verzion voice still works there.

But I am fairly sure I am overpaying for my needs, as I have the unlimited Verizon service. I think it's around $110.00 per month. But I am very happy with the coverage, I can use it as much as I want and not even think about going over. So I do not want to change anything.

But I am still curious how Verizon handles it if I am using a tower in Mexico right now. And the 5G and 4G are probably at different locations because of the big difference in signal strength, so I wonder if one of them is in Mexico and the other is here in the USA.

-Don- 78572

 

[JudyJB]

Your Verizon or other provider plan may or may not offer free cell and data in Mexico and Canada, but you need to call and find out. I had problems with my hotspots in Canada a couple of months ago, getting different answers from different customer service people, on whether I was being charged for data. I was given this number to call for International Plan information: 800-711-8300.

 

[DonTom]

different answers from different customer service people,

As expected. I usually find any type of technical assistance to be a big waste of time.

-Don-

 

[DonTom]

I just now noticed this message on my Verizon Portable Hotspot:

"899000 11/11/2023 11:16 PM

Verizon Msg: Welcome to Mexico. As talk, text and data is included in your domestic plan you'll have no additional charges while roaming. You will get 2GB of high speed data. Then enjoy unlimited 3G data until 12:00am EST. For help, visit www.vzwcom/intltrvl or call +1.908.559.4899. Enjoy your trip."

So now there is not much doubt that I am getting into Mexico's system.

-Don- 78572

 

[UTTransplant]

My Verizon plan allows unlimited calls and text to and from Mexico and Canada. Data is limited though. Every time we have been way south we would get a notice “Welcome to Mexico” when we hit Mexican towers. it really does depend on your plan.

 

[DonTom]

. it really does depend on your plan.

I have Verizon's most expensive data plan and their cheapest voice plan (I make about three cellphone calls per year average, if even that).

So I can use Mexico's system all I want, but some of it will probably be on 3G. I noticed here I get 3G, 4G and 5G, but the SSI varies greatly on all three. And what I mean by "greatly" is five bars to one bar, sometimes even "no service" for a few seconds. I assume I am switching between the Mexican and USA networks.

-Don- 78572