How to Configure Your Telcel Phone

A common cruiser option for communicating and connecting to the internet is a cell phone. There are loads of cell towers along most of coastal Mexico and inland. Up in the Sea of Cortez north of La Paz is an exception.

You can buy reasonably priced phones with short-term prepaid phone and data plans in Mexico through Telcel, Movistar and AT&T. Telcel being the most common. Purchase a Mexican cell phone or (if you have an unlocked iPhone or other smartphone) buy a SIM card from the provider and a phone/data plan along with it. The phone will have a Mexican phone number for texting and voice communication and you will have internet access with the data plan.

Here is some great info contributed by a Club member on setting up your Telcel phone:

Setup Voice mail

1. Think up a 4 digit PIN
2. Dial *86 - The voice mail system will give you a lot of information about the voice mail service, then pause
3. Press # to signal that you are going to set up your PIN
4. Press the keys of the PIN you invented in step 1
5. Press # again to signal you have entered your PIN
6. It will prompt you to make a choice, press 1
7. After the beep, record your personal greeting
8. At the prompt, press 1 again.  (if you press 2, you can do the personal greeting again)
9. After that, the system will prompt you to say your name
10. After the beep, press any button and say your name
11. Press 1 to confirm or 2 to do it again

Access Voice Mail

1. Dial *86
2. Press  PIN, followed by #
3. Press 1 to hear your messages.

Get Your Account Balance

1. Dial *133# - Your account balance will come back to the screen of your phone.

Add Minutes to Your Account

1. Dial *333
2. Select option 1
3. Enter the secret number revealed after scratching your Telcel recarga card

Change the Menu to English or Spanish

1. Dial *333
2. Select option #
3. For Spanish, press 1, for English, press 2
4. Press # again to confirm selection

Contributed by David Bereznai
s/v Ansa
8/23/14