Internet Access in the DR

Identity_check

New member
Jan 21, 2007
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Hello Folks,

I will be visiting the Dominican Republic in a few months time with a view to moving there permanently, once set-up there i will need internet access, so this leads me to my questions -

1. How widespread is internet access on the island ?
2. What sort of speeds are available, is it all 56k ?, or is Broadband available and if so what kind of speeds are possible ?
3. How reliable are the internet connections ?
4. How much does it cost, is internet access very expensive ?, does Broadband cost a fortune ?

And last but not least -

5. Are good performance PC's and Laptops available on the island ?, or should i bring my own PC's and Laptops with me :ermm:
5.1. (any good PC shops on the island ?)

Any help on this subject would be greatly appreciated,

Regards,

Matt
 

Kemo

New member
Nov 2, 2006
181
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Hello Folks,

I will be visiting the Dominican Republic in a few months time with a view to moving there permanently, once set-up there i will need internet access, so this leads me to my questions -

1. How widespread is internet access on the island ?
2. What sort of speeds are available, is it all 56k ?, or is Broadband available and if so what kind of speeds are possible ?
3. How reliable are the internet connections ?
4. How much does it cost, is internet access very expensive ?, does Broadband cost a fortune ?

And last but not least -

5. Are good performance PC's and Laptops available on the island ?, or should i bring my own PC's and Laptops with me :ermm:
5.1. (any good PC shops on the island ?)

Any help on this subject would be greatly appreciated,

Regards,

Matt


My freind let me tell you that if you come from the U.S or Europe and even some latin american countries you will be dissapointed. Let me tell you first the biggest provider of internet DSL is Verizon if you think you are going to go above 1mb downloading you are Dreaming!!!! it is not going to happen in the Capital were the have the best service and less it will happen in the rest of the country. Casa de Campo were i have my villa is the most exclusive enclave in the D.r and the Caribbean we have the best electricity, water, security and best real state in the D.R. When i got my villa i was told by the developer there was no broadband in the area like what i currently have in Puerto rico which is cable modem provided by cable company. ( My Current speed in Puerto rico is Downloading between 5-8mb Up loading 755 kphs and i only pay 39.99 togther with my digital cable something very common anywere in the U.S ' Great service".In the D.R i signed up with verizon Internet Flash their fastest as advertised 1.5 mb and uploads 789KPHS average as advertised!!! fastest dsl available!!! The truth is that for almost 3 weeks my service did not reach 298KPHS download adn Uploads 128KPHS and i had no service for extended periods of time and for the magical price of 79.99 U.S per month Rip Off!. They gave allot of excuses that my line had problems that there were problems in the area but the truth is that everybody that has lived there for years said it is always like that. You are paying for DSL flash and you are gettin Dial Up!!!!! Now in la Capital its a little better i was able to visit a Freind that lives in a very wealthy Piatini Condos and he has a average of 635 KPHS Download and Upload 315 KPHS so he is getting it better but never he is getting 1.5 MB it does not exist. I cancelled the contract and they still try to make charges to my visa card which a blocked it and Purposely told me that i signed a contract and that i must pay them or the will send it to there lawyers!!!! to prosecute me. This is all because i did not allowed them to make the charge on the first monthly install because first i was getting not what i was paying and the second of all they cancelled the service after the argument and the harassed me about paying. The lawyer that i contracted for real state stuff help me and send them a letter and everything was resolve. I now have Hughes internet or Direcway very expensive it uses a small to medium dish depends how the signal is in your area and i am getting 1.5-2.5mb Download and uploads of almost 949 KPHS now for the incredible price of 129.99 a month now you must invest in the equipment and dish it is an average of $2,500 U.S dollars and i shop around!. Dont be fool about wieless Orange or Verizon, or even Centennial wireless internet cards there are expensive and the service and the signal Sucks and the are very slooooooowwww!
 

Rocky

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Apr 4, 2002
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1. How widespread is internet access on the island ?
Very.
2. What sort of speeds are available, is it all 56k ?, or is Broadband available and if so what kind of speeds are possible ?
Dial up, 256 kbps, 768 kbps, 1,536 kbps.
3. How reliable are the internet connections ?
Works fine, 99.9% of the time.
4. How much does it cost, is internet access very expensive ?, does Broadband cost a fortune ?
I don't think broadband is available. See below for test results on a 768 kbps line in Sosua. Home cost including telephone, tax included, approx. $70 US/month.
SpeakEasyTest.jpg

PecuniaTest.jpg

SpeedTest.jpg

5. Are good performance PC's and Laptops available on the island ?, or should i bring my own PC's and Laptops with me :ermm:
You can get better deals on laptops & PC's in the US, but you can still get decent deals on refurbished PC's here.
5.1. (any good PC shops on the island ?)
Lots. Prices are getting reasonable.
Just bought a 17 inch flat screen LCD HP monitor (L1706) for $255 US, tax included.
 

Kemo

New member
Nov 2, 2006
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Very.
Dial up, 256 kbps, 768 kbps, 1,536 kbps.
Works fine, 99.9% of the time.
I don't think broadband is available. See below for test results on a 768 kbps line in Sosua. Home cost including telephone, tax included, approx. $70 US/month.
SpeakEasyTest.jpg

PecuniaTest.jpg

SpeedTest.jpg

You can get better deals on laptops & PC's in the US, but you can still get decent deals on refurbished PC's here.
Lots. Prices are getting reasonable.
Just bought a 17 inch flat screen LCD HP monitor (L1706) for $255 US, tax included.


But you see it is not 1.5 mb download!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! never gets there!!!!!!
Is barely dsl!!! In the U.S Dsl approx 2.8 MB Download on average!!!!!!!!
 

Kemo

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Nov 2, 2006
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There allot of people on this forum that are dominican!!!!! and that is fine but they tend sometimes to be a little unrealistic on thier appreciation on the serious infrastructure problems that occur in the D.R. I am an engineer and i see allot of situations in the D.R that need to be resolved in order to become an emerging market!!!! and to continue in growth in the tourism. Neverthless is a beutifull country beutifull people and for my experience is relatively save!!!!!
 

Rocky

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Apr 4, 2002
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But you see it is not 1.5 mb download!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! never gets there!!!!!!
Is barely dsl!!! In the U.S Dsl approx 2.8 MB Download on average!!!!!!!!
It's not a 1.5 mb line.
It's a 768 kbps line.
Up here in Sosua, we get much better service than you guys do in Casa de Chumpo.
PS: DSL starts at 256 kbps.
 

carib

New member
Jul 16, 2002
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modems

Verizon Dominicana flash is difficult to configure...

Anyone know how to configure a zoom x3 dsl modem ?????????/
Thanks

My 768 actually runs at 600 Plan b:bored:

Carib
 

Squat

Tropical geek in Las Terrenas
Jan 1, 2002
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But you see it is not 1.5 mb download!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! never gets there!!!!!!
Is barely dsl!!! In the U.S Dsl approx 2.8 MB Download on average!!!!!!!!

You're not in Kansas anymore !
 

Kemo

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Nov 2, 2006
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It's not a 1.5 mb line.
It's a 768 kbps line.
Up here in Sosua, we get much better service than you guys do in Casa de Chumpo.
PS: DSL starts at 256 kbps.

I am sorry! but the new package that they have is 1.5 mb downloading called internet Flash is on the verizon website!!!!! If you are paying for Oranges dont give me bananas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

Rocky

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I am sorry! but the new package that they have is 1.5 mb downloading called internet Flash is on the verizon website!!!!! If you are paying for Oranges dont give me bananas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As you can see, from a 768 kbps line, we are getting 641 kbps download & 412 kbps upload which is more than double what you are getting
my service did not reach 298KPHS download and Uploads 128KPHS
from your 1,536 kbps line.
One would expect that you would get double the speed from your plan, not half, which is why I pointed out to you, that we do better here in Sosua, than you do there.
Yes, it is called Internet Flash, from the 256 kbps line, up to the 1,536 kbps.
It's not oranges and bananas.
It's all Verizon Flash service, of which, you unfortunately, are getting very little.
That is why we call it Casa De Chumpo.
 

Identity_check

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Jan 21, 2007
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Thanks for the reply's everyone,

I do have to agree with Kemo, from my understanding of the situation with regards to ISP's, if your ISP does not provide the speed that they state they will in your contract, then you are free to terminate that contract, and withhold any further payments that are owed for the duration of that contract, most ISP's require that you sign up for a period of 1 year or more.
The bottom line is this - if your internet speed is significantly below the speed that is stated in your contract then you are free to cancel simply because they are not providing the level of service that they (the ISP) agreed to provide.
So if you are fed up with slow speeds and can find better service elsewhere, then think about swapping.

Please bear in mind im not a lawyer, so dont quote me on this, lol

Regards
 

Rocky

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if your internet speed is significantly below the speed that is stated in your contract then you are free to cancel simply because they are not providing the level of service that they (the ISP) agreed to provide.
In a perfect world, that's how it should be, but you're dealing with Lilly Tomlins omnipotent Dominican phone company.
The real point here is that if you are close to the main trunk and get close to the advertised speed, Verizon's the way to go, as much as we might hate them for their monopoly and abusive behaviour.
If you are not in a good area, then you have to consider other costly alternatives.
 

dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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as soon as i started reading this thread the verizon died under me.
just show you what level of service they provide.

funny i never have problems with internet at home...
is this my boss doing then, to make me work instead of surf the net?
 

Chris

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Oct 21, 2002
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www.caribbetech.com
Anywhere on the island - up to T3
see dunhill.ws

TP666, this is internet over satellite - be fair! and tell it like it is!. We are joint advertisers, so I'll leave your recommendation here. But I will also say to search the board. Both Dunhill and I have on numerous occasions written on the board what the differences are and when satellite communications are a better bet than terrestrial communications. It is not a one size fits all solution.
 

Robert

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Jan 2, 1999
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By the way that is 1,536kbps at the switch, all companies quote speeds this way. When you add in infrastructure loss, then you get less. A million things can cause loss between you and the switch in the Verizon data center. Plus a million things are between your computer and the server you are speed testing on.

Go to this link, they are a long way from the DR, lots of hops, take a look at these download speed results.

Oz Broadband Speed Test - Bandwidth Test

Generally I find Verizon pretty good.
 

Chris

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Oct 21, 2002
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www.caribbetech.com
Generally I find Verizon pretty good.

Yes, our experience with Verizon business service was interesting. We ended up with about 6 technicians around us, with them taking the opportunity for a little education and training. Needless to say, we had good experience with Verizon. It is all in how you handle it.

But then again, we have a customer with a complicated terrestrial/combination satellite infrastructure. Last tests showed that we are experiencing 50% packet loss at one of the Verizon critical routers - premium business service. There is only one Verizon tech in the country that can handle this problem and he quit for a US opportunity.

Technology in the DR will make you grow hair on your teeth!
 

Kemo

New member
Nov 2, 2006
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By the way that is 1,536kbps at the switch, all companies quote speeds this way. When you add in infrastructure loss, then you get less. A million things can cause loss between you and the switch in the Verizon data center. Plus a million things are between your computer and the server you are speed testing on.

Go to this link, they are a long way from the DR, lots of hops, take a look at these download speed results.

Oz Broadband Speed Test - Bandwidth Test

Generally I find Verizon pretty good.


But it is not right in Puerto rico we have also a Monopoly PRT is owned by verizon too but they have to perform to FTC standards ( Fedral Trade Commision) And also the FCC and foremost the Puerto rico Daco! Which buy law they will put fines and they have to payyyyyyyy!!!! For Example here i have Onelink Broadband speeds up to 5MB Downloading and it is like that everywere because penetration is pretty good. Now D-Max which is verizon service in P.R they offer a package of 79.99 per month but you get no less than 2.8 download an uploads near 900 to 1 mb my experience and is an a98% guaranteed is that is pretty equal all over the islands they might be some fluctiations but not the ones that i see in Dominican. Before i had Broadband i had D-max Dsl and there were a couple of time i reported that it was too slow and they credit my account all the time. In the D.R is a "Chantaje"indotel does not give a damn about the consumer at all. Please believed that Veriazon Dominicana does not treat there customers like that in Puerto rico or in the U.S.A they are just taking adavantage that the D.R beacuese is more corrupted and does not have the mechanism to put fines like they due here and the USA there is no accountability.

In regards to the Driecway no call Hughes internet is a pretty good service all the time i always have more than 1.5 mb downloading all the time!!!!!
 

PlantaFULL

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Oct 21, 2004
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magical price of 79.99 U.S per month Rip Off!

High speed internet is something you can consider a luxury item in the DR. Just like Ipods, big HDTVs, Central AC, SUVs, McDonnalds, these are not cheap commodities for the masses here but sold at a premium price, usually double. And beware if you do any business and they see your Casa de Campo address, then make that 4x instead of double.

Overall you can be sure however that it is the small-man (poor, less educated) in the DR that get ripped the most, with things like that Verizon Hogar500 + "free" Dialup Ripoff they had a while ago.
 
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