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Prepaid 4G SIM card in Mexico: How much does it cost? Where to buy it? What speed? Speedtest (2020)

Arrived in Mexico, we are looking as usual to buy a local SIM card.

If you have a Free Mobile subscription, you can use 25GB of data for free. However, calls and SMS to France will be charged extra.

Exchange rate in December 2019: 100MXN = 4,73€

Buy a SIM card at Mexico City or Cancun airport

Having only made one stopover at the airport in Mexico City, we did not have the time to inquire about available tourist offers. If you have any information, do not hesitate to share it as a comment

Buy a SIM card at Merida airport

At the time of our arrival, we did not find any stands or stores offering the purchase of SIM cards. We arrived late and tired and did not search the whole airport. As it is a small airport, it isn’t certain that this is possible.

Buy a SIM card in a Movistar store

In a Movistar store, we bought a SIM card for 100 MXN (4,73€).

This SIM card comes with a 30-day offer with :

  • 3Gb of internet
  • Additional credit (how much?) for WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapshat
  • Unlimited calls and SMS to Mexico, Canada and the United States

The operation takes 5 minutes, no need to show ID . The SIM card is immediately functional without the need to activate it.

At the end of the 30 days, you can buy credit to buy packets. The offers are multiple, here are the prices (sorry, the framing of the photo is completely missed, I will try to take another one).

The maximum of data is 4.5GB valid for 30 days for 200 MXN.

To know your balance (in credit), dial #100# and follow the menu.

It is preferable to buy the SIM card in an official store since the SIM card is free, so the 100 MXN is credit. In a phone store, the Movistar card costs 100 MXN without any credit.

You can then buy a recarga with the credit you want, either in store or online by paying by credit card.

Buy a SIM card in a Telcel store

In a Telcel store, we bought a SIM card for 229 MXN (10.8€).

This SIM card comes with a 30-day offer with :

  • 4.5GB of internet
  • Unlimited social networks
  • Unlimited calls and SMS

Purchasing the SIM card is easy and does not require any identification.

However, you have to buy a “package”, let the seller do it for you.

At the end of the 30 days, it is possible to buy credit to purchase a package. Here too, there are many offers. As an example, the maximum amount of internet data is 3.5Gb valid for 30 days for 200 MXN.

To check your credit balance or to purchase a package, call *133#.

Buy a SIM card in an Oxxo store

Oxxo stores are convenience stores. A kind of grocery store open 24 hours a day that doesn’t have much equivalent in France but is comparable to the 7 elevens in Asia.

You can buy an Amigo Express SIM card for 79 MXN and benefit for 7 days from :

  • WhatsCall, Unlimited Phone Calls and SMS
  • 500 MB of usage of Facebook, Twitter, Messenger, Instagram and Snapshat
  • 300 MB of internet usage

The volume of data for the internet is quite low but depending on your usage, it can be enough and it is a very economical offer.

More exactly, the SIM card costs 29 pesos and you have to add 50 pesos of credit to activate the offer. Note that this is a Telcel SIM card

You can then purchase credit to take advantage of the following offers.

To check your balance and purchase packages, you must enter the same code as Telcel : *133#

It is also possible to buy packages online by paying by credit card(link to the portal).

A package that was particularly useful to us: the Internet por tiempo 30 allowing unlimited use of the internet for 2 hours. Ideal for uploading photos en masse or watching a video. It costs only 15 pesos (link to this package)

Buy extra credit for your SIM card

Once your credit runs out, you can purchase a recarga to subscribe to a new offer.

You can buy them :

  • In phone stores
  • In some supermarkets
  • In Oxxo (which allows to buy credit for all operators)
  • On the internet by paying by credit card

SpeedTest of 4G in Mexico

During this test carried out in Mérida on December 14, 2019, Movistar and Telcel had identical flow rates. Namely 37Mb/s for download and 17Mb/s for upload, which is very correct.

Note that outside of the cities, we find ourselves very quickly without any telephone network (not even possible to call). If you rent a car and plan to use your phone as a GPS, plan to have an application that can be used without internet (like Maps.me or using the offline areas of Google Map).

Did you like this article? Consult our guide : 15 days roadtrip in Yucatan by bus

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