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scottmacinak wrote:

My wife and I have ATT smartphones in the US. We are going to live in Cuenca for a year. We want to keep our numbers and our phones. ATT said it was easy to port a US cell number over to an Ecuadorian cell provider. I am skeptical. Is this true?

Has anyone else been in the same situation and found a solution?

I have AT&T.

For technological reasons, I think it is impossible to port your number to  the Ecuadorian system. The primary reason is that USA uses a 10 digit phone number, Ecuador uses 9.

But you can use AT&T in Ecuador, if you wish. But be careful, doing so can rack up $1000s per month if you just wing it and use roaming.

AT&T's roaming data is $2 per MB, and it is easy to use 200+ MB per week (so $800 or more per month!)

So follow AT&T's international instructions exactly!

I have two experiences using AT&T in Ecuador. In March 2017, I set up the AT&T Global Passport option on my lines before leaving Ohio. For 30 days, you get a 1GB limited plan for $60 per month.

  The problem was that AT&T didn't work very well in  Ecuador in 2017. My AT&T data service was very spotty,  most received calls went straight to voice mail, 2G data, etc. Quite frustrating. Not worth the $60. But it could be improved since then.

In April 2018, I tried the AT&T international day pass. For 24 hours and $10, on AT&T you get a free  pass, unlimited texts and calls. The catch is: you have to put your phone in airplane mode and only use wifi when you Don't want to be charged by AT&T. If you Forget to do this, your plan will cost over $300 per month!

My experience with the AT&T international day pass in 2018 was quite good with service in Ecuador. I never had problems connecting. I decided only to use it so I could contact my elderly family in the USA who can't figure out WhatsApp and Skype. I used it in 5 days in 30. But I also bought  a Ecuadorian Movistar prepago SIM  on my second day in Ecuador. Now I have an Ecuadorian cell number. This is to your financial advantage, and not a big hassle.

My  9 step-by-step money saving advice for phones
-
1 Get the AT&T international day pass on your lines before you travel.
2 Get an *Unlocked* Dual SIM smartphone in the USA before leaving.
3. Make sure your AT&T SIM works in your unlocked phone before you leave the USA
4. Your first morning in Ecuador, go to a Claro or Movistar store (who use the same GSM technology as AT&T) and get a SIM chip prepago. CNET will not work with AT&T phones.
5. Load the SIM chip with $10-$15 (that should last about a month)
6. Movistar has a cheap $3 weekly prepay subscription plan "Ahora  300 MB  para navegar. 20 Min. Chat whatsapp gratis. 20 SMS". Claro has a   competitive paquete plan, also for $3: 200 Megas
Minutos  Ilimitados, SMS  Ilimitados Multidestino, Redes Sociales  Whatsapp Gratis, 70 megas Facebook" ...Or choose whatever fits your budget.
7. After you test out your Ecuadorian SIM and everything is ok, turn off your AT&T SIM until you need it.
8. Tell all your contacts your new number.
9. By using WhatsApp and Wifi to chat with  your US contacts, you probably won't use more that 300 MB per week. I run an online business and need to stay in touch with clients, and 300 MB was just fine.

In the end, i used $15 on MoviStar in April 2018. I used $50 on AT&T day pass, plus my regular AT&T plan.

When I relocate to Ecuador in October, I will drop AT&T after my first 30 days, and rely on Skype, WhatsApp, Google Voice, and MoviStar prepago. It will be easy and painless

AT&T are lying to you trying to bait and hook you for all your money.

Another, cheaper alternative would be to

1 Port your numbers to Google voice and "park" your numbers for a year. Costs one time fee of $20. Download Google voice app.
2 unlock your at&t phones  in the usa. Cancel at&t.
3 in Ecuador, get the Claro  or Movistar SIM. Use Google voice to SMS and voice mail home.
4 when you return to USA, Port your Google voice number back to at&t

You can port to magicjack.  I have no idea how to do two numbers.  But if you two computers no problem.  You can talk over your computer and not lose the phone number.

Sign up with Magic Jack and get two adapters - you can work it out with them.  You need to bring a or two) land line phones to plug into your adapter.  I think it is just a vanilla land phone.  Magic Jack has a fee but it is for the year.  Otherwise calls are free

Also put whatsapp on your phones.  Have people you want to talk to put it on their phones.  Free calls.

It took me a jillion hours to figure this out.  Once I "got it" then it was all straight forward.

Then when you get here get a local cell.

In the ever-evolving world of telecom, Google Fi seems to solve the roaming problems for frequent international travelers and expats.  170 countries covered, including Ecuador. $20/month unlimited talk and text $10/mo per G in data; no added roaming. The only hitch seems to be you would need to use a Google Fi compatible phone.

I plan on using my current phone for about 12-18 months more, at that time I'll check out the systems again

@lebowski888

Hii, I have a question ! So I would like to know if I buy a locked AT&T iPhone in America and I bring it to Ecuador, will I still be able to connect to wifi routers and wifi etc.

I know I won’t be able to call but that’s not a problem for me because I already have a phone with an Ecuadorian number … I just need an American number living in Ecuador due to business and things like that.

and would I be able to receive confirmation codes from websites, banks, etc. or I wouldn’t received them due to the fact that I’m in Ecuador ?

@lebowski888
Hii, I have a question ! So I would like to know if I buy a locked AT&T iPhone in America and I bring it to Ecuador, will I still be able to connect to wifi routers and wifi etc.

Not if your phone has push buttons.

@Bianca Warren The "locked" part of it is that the phone would not enable a SIM card from a different telco.  If you have paid off your phone, you have the right to request that your device be unlocked, from your provider. 

However, you will be able to use WiFi apps, including WhatsApp, which is the de-facto communication method for much of the developing world.

When I was traveling through South America in 2013, my US phone was Verizon locked and incompatible with the GSM networks.  I just used my iPod Touch on Wifi, making calls with Google Voice and Truecaller.  Additionally, You could get a very cheap unlocked phone in the US and use it, or buy a cheap $25 LG basic phone at a local phone store in the country you are spending time in.  Advantage is, if it gets stolen or lost, you don't lose what we may presume is a better phone (from your current life), or one that you use for things like banking and PII.