Prepaid Mobile Internet Service for Travelers

wp3gi

New member
Oct 30, 2010
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Hi, I'm from Puerto Rico and looking to use my factory unlocked iPhone 4 with Claro Prepago Internet Movil on my 13 day trip to Santo Domingo for maps, e-mail, web, VoIP/SIP, etc.

I know Claro has prepaid internet plans for RD$64 per day or 200 MB, whatever comes first and they have 3, 7, 15, 30 and 60 day options with more MBs. I already have a prepaid SIM card that is active and under my name from the last time I visited. I just add minutes every 3 months in order to keep the number. I would imagine that the APN is internet.ideasclaro.com.do at least that is what my iPhone forces me to use.

The question is... would I have the same access and speed if I subscribe to the unlimited BlackBerry Full plan instead? Then, how would I go about getting Claro to recognize that I have a BlackBerry so I can purchase this plan? Would I get access to the internet.ideasclaro.com.do APN with this plan? I appreciate any other details that you can give me in regard to the procedure involved, I don't care if it's difficult or easy I'm willing to do whatever it takes.

Thanks.
 
Feb 7, 2007
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Once your BB plan is active you can use it in ANY phone. Also it's better to use BB Social (RD$25 per day with taxes and unlimited BW) with APN. I am not a "always-on-BB" person but I use BB when I travel outside of Higuey in order to check my mail and navigate Internet. I find the BB Social plan with APN an unbeatable deal. I can browse web (Opera Mini), check any Mail even Google (LogicMail), FB etc. The only thing that does not work on BB Social is Google Aps for GPS, etc.

You can activate BB Social by *111# BUT it MAY* need to be activated from within the BB. However, you can then use it in any phone**. (* unsure, you would need to check).(** I tried myself and it works).
 

wp3gi

New member
Oct 30, 2010
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OK, I could try that, I would need to purchase a BlackBerry on eBay and power it up with my SIM card using a micro-SIM to SIM adapter, purchase a one day plan (for testing purposes) and the power up the iPhone. I was told that using the BB Social plan for iPhone trick was not working as of 7/29/11. That's why I'm asking about using the BB Full plan instead. I just want unlimited access and the same 3G speed as the other plan.
 
Feb 7, 2007
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APN works on BB, so it should work on Iphone. It's the same APN. I will try this on my Nokia and see what happens.
 
Feb 7, 2007
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I did the testing. I cannot vouch that it will work on iPhone, but it worked on my old Nokia E61i phone.

1) I was able to activate BB Social plan via the menu (*111#) from a non-BB phone (Nokia E61i) -- even through I received initial message Cannot Complete the Request, but then got SMS message saying my BB Social for 1 day was active.
2) I was charged RD$25, and checked balance afterwards (*122#)
3) In my Nokia settings, I set up "access point" with regular APN (internet.ideasclaro.com.do, no password authentication)
4) I open built-in browser and browsed through yahoo, google, local papers, doing almost 1 MB in data transfer
5) My available balance still shows the same amount, meaning I was not charged any additional $ for browsing on BB Social Plan's open-APN via my Nokia E61i (besides the RD$25 BBsocial per-day fee).
 

krwilson

Member
Apr 18, 2008
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This is really good info, Rubio, and I say thank you for you going out of your way to test this on your Nokia for myself, wp3gi and any other interested persons. NOW, if some one could be kind enough to try this from an Android based phone, such as an HTC Legend, Desire, etc. it would be appreciated to see if it would connect too. Thanks!
 

wp3gi

New member
Oct 30, 2010
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Now all I need is to get someone to lend me a BB before I go or once I get there for an hour or so, I called CS and I need to go to the store personally with the device so they can set my account as a BB account. That part sucks.