loading . . . Back to Mint Mobile ā Iām losing track of the number of times Iāve done this, but Iāve switched from Google Fi to Mint Mobile. Again.
To be clear, I really like Google Fi. Iām a fan, and I didnāt leave the service lightly. Instead, this was basic pragmatism: We finally got our acts together and got Mexico phone numbers with data plans, and so it no longer made sense to keep paying for all the international extras that Google Fi provides. And while I did some basic research just to make sure there wasnāt some newer or less expensive mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that made more sense, I was happy to go back to Mint given my previous experiences.
Also of note, switching carriers couldnāt have been more seamless. Google Fi and Mint both handled their respective ends of this transfer quickly and without drama. As important, it was always clear what was happening and where I was in the process, and when it was done, everything just worked, with no additional manual configuration required.
š¤ Why switch?
Back in November, I wrote about how we finally got Mexico phone numbers, via AT&T Mexico. This was perhaps overdue, though weāve mostly done OK using our U.S.-based phone numbers here. But in a country in which everybody literally does everything via WhatsApp and certain services wonāt let us use an international number, having local (to Mexico) numbers makes sense.
Our AT&T Mexico accounts cost about $20 per month and each provides 20 GB of 5G data and unlimited calls and texts, and it all works in the U.S. too. So thatās a pretty good deal, and it meant I could spend a lot less on whatever U.S.-based carrier I went with.
I had been using Google Fi since January 2024. At that time, I had switched from T-Mobile, in part to save some money. I was originally on the Simply Unlimited plan at a cost of $50 per month before taxes and fees, but when Google upgraded its Fi plans this past April, I opted to upgrade to the rebranded Unlimited Premium plan, which offered 100 GB of 5G/high speed data, 50 GB of high-speed hotspot, data-only eSIMs for five more devices, and unlimited international data basically everywhere. This is $65 per month before taxes, or just over $71 really.
But thatās not the only monthly cost tied to my cellular accounts.
Google Fi is excellent for all kinds of reasons, but thereās a random issue thatās very specific to where we are in Mexico that became a problem this past year. Google Fi uses the Movistar wireless carrier there, and thatās the worst choice for connectivity. My phone was offline so much in our neighborhood that I started buying eSIMs for each trip. This wasnāt super expensive, per se, maybe $20 to $50 per trip depending on the duration. But it was an additional cost on top of my Google Fi bill.
I put up with that at first, but sometime in 2025, Airalo, the eSIM provider I had settled on, switched from using the Telcel network in our area, which is the best choice, t...
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