VOIP Phones -- Mexico and the United States
VOIP phone service is your best deal for long distance to and from Mexico.
VOIP -- Mexico and the USA
Vonage offers reliable VOIP long-distance service, from the States or Mexico. There are othe VOIP companies as well, but Vonage seems to be the best. They now offer numbers in Mexico, which is a big plus to my way of thinking.
Until you get set up with VOIP, the phone cards from cloncom on the next banner are your best bet. These folks have hundreds of calling cards, so you can compare and choose the best for you.
This VOIP long distance phone service will save you money in Mexico, the USA or Canada. If you live in the United States or Canada, you can call Mexico on your VOIP phone with low Mexican long-distance rates average of 8 cents a minute, although calls to major cities are as low as 1 cent and calls to cell phones can cost 23 cents. You can the States or Canada with no long-distance charges. If you live in Mexico, you can make long-distance calls to the States or Canada on your VOIP phone for free. Your Mexican long-distance phone charges will be much less than a Telmex Mexican phone charge. You can make long-distance calls within Mexico for the same low long-distance rates above.
Most businesses in Mexico have VOIP phones with a U.S. and a Canadian phone number for their clients to call. Vonage VOIP business package has a dedicated fax line! Unlike some other VOIP phone companies, there are no contracts or annual fees.
You can get a VOIP phone number with any area code you want in the United States, Canada or some European counties. You can also get a Mexican phone number with a Mexico City area code. Imagine, though, having a US phone number while living in Mexico so you can call home or conduct business without paying long-distance charges!
There is a CNet News story about Telmex is blocking VOIP phones, but it was done in 2005. This is old news, but this comes up first in the search engines for "voip mexico." There is a thread on the Vonage bulletin board, but no entries since 2005.
September, 2007, a reader (HH) who lives in Mexico reiterated that the Telmex blocking is a thing of the past, but there is a new wrinkle. Telecable (for those who have cable internet) *is* blocking the service - but they will unlock the port for your use if you request their EP+ service and pay the extra 50 pesos per month. The other cable companies and phone companies seem to be leaving it alone.
In general VOIP calls (in Mexico or the U.S. or Canada) are as good as land line calls, However, occasionally you will have a slight lag, but in most cases it is hardly noticeable anymore. That used to be the bane of VOIP phone calls. I also found that getting a good-quality phone helped tremendously. A 5.8 megahertz phone is recommended to avoid conflicting with your wireless broadband connection. I use a high-end ($89) Vtech cordless phone. Corded phones are generally better, but I hate being tied to the phone. I have not tried out the 6.0 megahertz phones so don't know if they are any better.
Some people swear by Skype, a nearly free service. I have not found it works as well. There is a lag and although they now offer computer-less connections (for a fee), they are still bad. You get what you pay for.