Data usage
How to get around Mexico City with limited data
The Metro, maps, and transport apps use data in very different ways. Here’s how to prepare your phone before heading down to the platform.
Mexico City is easy to explore with a phone and much harder without one. The problem is usually not coverage on the street, which tends to be good, but the minutes you spend underground in the Metro and apps that assume a connection will always be available.
Key points
- Offline maps solve most of the problem and take minutes to download.
- The Metro is where signal disappears predictably, rather than randomly.
- Transport apps need data when you request a ride, rather than throughout the journey.
- Saving your accommodation’s address as text avoids relying on a map that won’t load.
Download the map before heading underground
The most useful step is also the simplest. Download the map of the whole city before leaving your accommodation, rather than only the area where you are staying. An offline map keeps streets, names, and GPS location, which works without mobile data because the receiver only listens to satellites. With that ready, walking and finding your way no longer use data. Live traffic and route recalculation still need a connection; those are separate, much less frequent tasks.
The Metro is the blind spot
Signal in Mexico City is reasonable above ground and disappears on deep platforms and in many tunnels. This is predictable, and predictable things can be planned for.
- Check the route and transfers before entering the station.
- Take a screenshot of your route; viewing a screenshot needs no connection.
- Remember the destination station’s name and line, rather than only its color.
- If you plan to request a ride on leaving, wait until you’re above ground.
Transport apps and actual usage
A ride-hailing app uses data at specific moments: when you open it, request a ride, and track the driver. The rest of the journey uses very little. You need a connection available when requesting, rather than a continuous connection. Request the ride somewhere with signal, rather than at the bottom of a station. If a driver is already assigned, losing data for a few minutes does not cancel the ride.
Save what you won’t be able to look up
Before leaving, save your accommodation’s exact address in notes, including its neighborhood and postal code. In Mexico City, the neighborhood distinguishes streets with the same name, and a driver will understand it immediately. Also save a couple of nearby landmarks. A familiar intersection is more useful than coordinates nobody can open.
Mexico City needs preparation more than a large data allowance. A downloaded map, a screenshot of your route, and an address saved as text cover almost everything a platform without signal can take away.
Compare Mexico plansSources and further reading
- Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT)
- Ministry of Tourism (Gobierno de México)