VIVA Interjet - Review

VIVA - TU VOZ!

But you can live up your data as well!

Viva, formerly Centennial Dominicana, started offering new high-speed wireless service called Interjet back in January 2008. The service allows up to 2.4 mbps download, and up to 144 kbps upload.



Review:

I contracted the service on March 29, 2008. The service, supposedly offering 2.4 mbps download, was at best offering 200 kbps, when it worked and where EVDO connection was available. There were moments, even the whole days, when the connection would not function at all, or was at 2-3 kbps, resulting in impossibility to browse at all. This was in Santo Domingo - Gazcue, or Bavaro city center. I did have many, many phone calls to their support line, where I was told to revise the settings over and over (which I did not change at all). Needless to say, I was getting frustrated, and was considering canceling the service.

Then things changed. Since about the last week of April, the service started to improve. Wherever there is EVDO coverage, I can get at least 500 kbps. It is a far cry from 2.4 mbps, but also a far cry from previous 2-5 kbps when it did not work. I connected to the service in Santo Domingo - Gazcue, Zona Colonial, Naco, in Santiago - Estrella Sadhalla, in Puerto Plata - Caribe Tours terminal, and now the service is even working in Higuey (previously it only offered 1xRTT coverage at very reduced speed).

I do not use the service continuously, so I cannot say it works 100% well all the time. But now, anytime I connect, I get a reasonably fast connection. It is so much different from my first days with Interjet, when connection would be so slow it was impossible to open even a simple webpage.

For RD$1400 + taxes, this is a reasonable Internet service allowing mobility. For people like me, who travel weekly throughout the DR, it allows possibility to check email, browse websites, do work and much more, on the go.

I have also tried the service with VOIP using my Lingo adapter. Once it worked bad, other time it worked fine. The download (hearing the other party) was not a problem. The problematic part was upload (other party hearing me) because the upload speed was inconsistent. My Lingo VOIP service uses g729 codec, which does not take a lot of bandwidth, but because of EVDO packet overhead and general VOIP packet overhead, needs at least 50-60 kbps steady upload connection (or download) to function well.

Now, some graphic story:

When you sign a VIVA Interjet contract, you get a small box of a size of DVD.
It contains a CD, with an easy, straight-forward installation. It contacts also a plastic pouch for the Interjet USB card, a USB extension cable, and the proper EVDO USB card.



This is the EVDO USB card.




I checked my upload and download speed on two most popular and reliable speed test sites, visualware, and speakeasy. I have done two test in a period of 5 minutes. The testing was done at 9 pm.






Second test





I did the testing in Higuey, where I only had a connection with "2 points" so the signal was not completely strong. In spite of that, I got quite good and fast connection (download), even though the upload gave me mixed results, ranging from 15 kbps to 100 kbps. I was able to download over 3 megabytes of data without any problems, just browsing pages and checking my google mail.




I did a VOIP test, and generally VOIP settings came back good, except of the upload speed.






Conclusion:

VIVA's Interjet service offers mobility at convenient price. For people that need to be on the go and have Internet access when they travel, this is a good option. They get broadband connection in most major cities and pueblos in the DR, and the speed is only a little bit slower than my 768 kbps Codetel ADSL. Because the service is new, there still may be some slight issues, but as the time goes it will get much better. I have seen major improvements in service quality over the past 1 month. Interjet can be also used for VOIP, but network congestion may limit the upload speeds. Download speeds have "more space" for adjustments, so that part is usually not affected at all.

While Interjet service is great for mobility, it is not yet in a position to replace ADSL service as a stand-alone Internet connectivity service.




Scoring on a point scale 1 to 10 (worst to best):

Price: 7/10
Easyness of Installation: 9/10
Connection Speed (perceived): 8/10
Connection Speed (real): 7/10
Customer Support: 4/10
VOIP support: 7/10
Overal performance (perceived): 7/10




VOIP Connection (using VOIP Adapter):
It is easy to connect Interjet with a VOIP adapter. My VOIP adapter is from Lingo and connects to the Internet source via standard Ethernet cable. With VIVA, I connect Lingo service to Ethernet port on my laptop computer. I have purchased a cross-connect Ethernet cable at 50 pesos in my local computer store to connect it with my laptop, but even regular Ethernet cable works (I have checked) - but may not work for all adapters. You are better advised to get a cross-connect cable to be on the safe side.


In Network Connections, you need to bridge the connections.

1) Click on Control Panel
2) Then on Network Connections
3) Right click "Mobile Broadband Connection" (a connection created by Interjet)
4) Select Properties
5) Click on Advanced
6) In the "Internet Connection Sharing" box, select the check-box "Allow other network users to connect ... " and in "Home networking connection" pull-down menu select "Local Area Connection".
7) Click on OK, and you are done.





Connect your phone device into the phone jack of your VOIP adapter, and you can make calls. I was able to get clear VOIP connection when both Interjet's download and upload speeds were reasonable.

They go via centennial - puerto rico

That was about a month ago, I don't know if it changed.

They have traceroute and pings blocked (same as Codetel on my ADSL).

I used visualware visualroute (http://visualroute.visualware.com/)the last time (which does a reverse route lookup), but today it does not seem to be functioning today.

The last time I checked it on Interjet it went via Centennial PR.

Well, that depends. I am not getting the advertised speed, but I am getting better product for the same money that either Orange or Claro offer. On nationwide level, both Orange and Claro products reach a max of 150 kbps, which in reality means you get about 30-50 kbps. And I get at least 10x higher speed unlimited usage, nationwide coverage (most important areas/cities/regions) for the same price Orange or Claro charge. So for me, if they do not get worse, I am getting what I pay for. I guess it's an individual viewpoint.

P.S. Whne Orange or Claro introduce UMTS on their GSM networks or Claro expands its EVDO service to nationwide level from 4-5 cities they have now AND makes plans unlimited usage (compared to measured plans), then I will certainly compare.

AZB it also depends on the tower. Within STI there are various towers and they may have various level of service. In La Vega during the past 2 weeks I never had a problem any time I tried to connect day or night, sometimes it might have been slower but certainly not dialup. Always the best thing is to do a speed test, e.g. at myspeed.visualware.com via IAD server. Sometimes slow is not really slow, it is our perception of being slow compared to accustomed speed. Like when my sister came last year and she has 10 mbps in my parents house in Europe via cabl, and in my house here in DR its 768 kbps. For her, it was slow.

I do not use VIVA as a main ISP, I use it when travelling and as a backup when Jodetel has averia with DSL. I have had my headaches with the service but for the most part have been satisfied with it.