Which Sim Card / Plan to get?

aname4me

Active member
Jun 18, 2011
365
66
28
We will be arriving in October to the north coast, and, If immigration laws allow.... staying for 5 months.
We are bringing 2 unlocked cell phones (GSM 850/900/1800/1900).
We are looking to purchase Sim Cards in the DR. We would like a basic plan to allow us to communicate with each other. No 4G, no email, no internet, just phone calls and texting.

Any suggestions?

(this can't be a new topic by I can't find the thread)
 

Mack

Active member
Jan 10, 2009
362
34
28
Claro pay as you go. Purchase the sim cards with passport proof of id and you're good to go.
Mack.
 

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
42,211
5,966
113
We have found that ORANGE works a bit better in our location on the north coast.
 

Ken

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
13,884
495
83
I use Orange.

The most basic plan is pay as you go. There are machines now like ATMs in many places where you can put in money, enter your phone number and add time to the phone. Works slick.

First thing when you get here is to go to the Orange office and get your numbers. After that you can add time using the machines.
 

lisagauss

Bronze
Feb 16, 2011
721
0
0
Dont mean to hijack the thread; but while we are on the subject, does anyone use a postpaid plan? If so, which provider would you recommend? I want to get 2 lines on postpaid soon.
 

Patron

Member
Mar 17, 2010
90
12
8
Dont mean to hijack the thread; but while we are on the subject, does anyone use a postpaid plan? If so, which provider would you recommend? I want to get 2 lines on postpaid soon.
First you need to figure out which company works best in your location. Orange, Claro, Viva or Tricom and they visit their store. They will have a list of different plans to choose from.
 

Ken

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
13,884
495
83
Dont mean to hijack the thread; but while we are on the subject, does anyone use a postpaid plan? If so, which provider would you recommend? I want to get 2 lines on postpaid soon.

Sure you meant to hijack the thread. If not, you would have started your own thread like you are supposed to.
 

sayanora

Silver
Feb 22, 2012
1,621
36
48
I use Orange.

The most basic plan is pay as you go. There are machines now like ATMs in many places where you can put in money, enter your phone number and add time to the phone. Works slick.

First thing when you get here is to go to the Orange office and get your numbers. After that you can add time using the machines.

Not sure if this is allowed.. but i use ezetop.com to recharge my claro cards with like a 10% fee.. I pay using paypal and never have to buy tarjetas ever again :) .. I also freak out some of my less internet savvy friends (facebook warriors) when they tell me they need minutes and I buy them on the spot.
 

SKY

Gold
Apr 11, 2004
13,470
3,604
113
Not sure if this is allowed.. but i use ezetop.com to recharge my claro cards with like a 10% fee.. I pay using paypal and never have to buy tarjetas ever again :) .. I also freak out some of my less internet savvy friends (facebook warriors) when they tell me they need minutes and I buy them on the spot.

I have used that from out of the DR, and yes it works like a charm.

http://www.ezetop.com/
 
Apr 13, 2011
680
0
0
My suggestion is to have two phones each, if reception is crucial for you (they do not need to be expensive or fancy phones if you are only calling and texting) - get one phone with Claro and one phone with Orange - because for some reason, when Orange does not seem to have reception, Claro does and in other areas it is the opposite.
And, if you do the prepay, then it seems it is more minutes if you use the Claro phone to call Claro numbers and the Orange phone to call Orange numbers.
The postpay plans are good if you are going to be here the 12-18 months of the contract.
 

Koreano

Bronze
Jan 18, 2012
1,546
0
36
My suggestion is to have two phones each, if reception is crucial for you (they do not need to be expensive or fancy phones if you are only calling and texting) - get one phone with Claro and one phone with Orange - because for some reason, when Orange does not seem to have reception, Claro does and in other areas it is the opposite.
And, if you do the prepay, then it seems it is more minutes if you use the Claro phone to call Claro numbers and the Orange phone to call Orange numbers.
The postpay plans are good if you are going to be here the 12-18 months of the contract.
I like the ideas of two cell phone companies if you are planing to travel a lot. There were times I got very low signals with Claro but Orange had full 4 bars.
 

SKY

Gold
Apr 11, 2004
13,470
3,604
113
A friend of mine in Santiago has a dual sim telephone. He has both Orange and Claro sims on the same phone. Anyone calls on either one he gets it. You can buy a phone like this on Ebay or Amazon.
 

lisagauss

Bronze
Feb 16, 2011
721
0
0
Not sure if this is allowed.. but i use ezetop.com to recharge my claro cards with like a 10% fee.. I pay using paypal and never have to buy tarjetas ever again :) .. I also freak out some of my less internet savvy friends (facebook warriors) when they tell me they need minutes and I buy them on the spot.

But if you are paying via paypal is it in dollars? If so, wouldn't you actually lose money because you will get there conversion from US to RD?
 

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
42,211
5,966
113
But if you are paying via paypal is it in dollars? If so, wouldn't you actually lose money because you will get there conversion from US to RD?

It is likely you will lose some in the transaction from dollars or euros if using PayPal with ezetop.com but the issue is also one of convenience.
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
363
0
i have a normal plan with claro. we have a big flota of mobiles, several numbers in total. i get a 100 free minutes a month for 130 pesos a month (plus taxes). if i need more minutes i can have them transferred from another number. i usually do not even get close because i hate using a telephone and i avoid it as much as possible.

for pay as you go claro and orange and probably the best because they have the best coverage and cards or e-topups are easiest to find.
 

bigbird

Gold
May 1, 2005
7,375
163
0
It is likely you will lose some in the transaction from dollars or euros if using PayPal with ezetop.com but the issue is also one of convenience.

Exactly, I use etopuponline and they don't charge a fee but they beat you on the exchange rate.
 

aname4me

Active member
Jun 18, 2011
365
66
28
Thanks for all your input. We will now check out the various webpages for the details (fine print)