- Thread starter ljmesg
- Start date
Cell Phone From US
I'm not sure...
I'm on the north coast...
I do my banking outside the bank - online - then go to the ATM.
Claro or Orange get picked up as roaming networks.
WhatsApp, Facetime... all work well
The 20 cents/mimute is about what Calro charges.
Overall, I'm a happy T-Mobile customer...in DR, USA & CAnada
I'm on the north coast...
I do my banking outside the bank - online - then go to the ATM.
Claro or Orange get picked up as roaming networks.
WhatsApp, Facetime... all work well
The 20 cents/mimute is about what Calro charges.
Overall, I'm a happy T-Mobile customer...in DR, USA & CAnada
I found a link updated, and as I told you LTE for VIVA is using 1700/2100 bands.
http://www.hd.com.do/2017/10/bandas-y-frecuencias-2g-3g-4g-lte-de-claro-orange-y-viva-en-dominicana/
What exact mobile phone are you using?
My wife was using an iphone 7 on US TMobile. It didnt work. Maps wouldnt pull up and internet was sparse even with wifi. Without wifi, internet was non existent.
Is it a 6??
May of 2016 I bought it...
I use Facetime , WhatsApp.... all on my house Wifi but WhatsApp o/s too
Not fast but works
May of 2016 I bought it...
I use Facetime , WhatsApp.... all on my house Wifi but WhatsApp o/s too
Not fast but works
After reading this thread, and speaking via WhatsApp with WW in DR, we’re pretty sure we’re going to switch from ATT to TMobile. They have an over-55 senior phone plan for $60, taxes included, for two phone, unlimited talk and text, which includes free data in DR. Calls in DR are $.20 a minute, WhatsApp calls free. Even adding a brand new iPhone 8-plus, $30 a month, makes it cheaper than what we’re currently paying ATT.
Coincidentally, when I called the local store with my questions, a guy named Jose answered, and when I asked about DR coverage I found out he was born in Santo Domingo. Very Americanized, only goes to Punta Cana.
Coincidentally, when I called the local store with my questions, a guy named Jose answered, and when I asked about DR coverage I found out he was born in Santo Domingo. Very Americanized, only goes to Punta Cana.
Bill, I hear ya. I am so bummed. My wife's iphone7 thru Tmobile just sucked eggs.
We are going to go to a Tmobile office here to see if they can help. If not, we will take it back down to the DR amd pray its better.
Worst case, we pop her into a Viva phone in the DR.
Thanks for all your help!
After I read your post -- I started Google Maps...
Less than a minute - they had my exact location....in Cabrera
Hope you can figure it out...
Less than a minute - they had my exact location....in Cabrera
Hope you can figure it out...
ljmseg...I had the most dreadful trouble with Orange in many different parts of the DR, and Claro was slightly better..many problems until I purchased a Motorola..it has picked up so much more than the Samsung or the Sony did ..I now have two and love them..but you can not buy them new here except by Amazon or Ebay
Is the internet speed/quality the same with prepago then with postpago, using claro ?
I find that claro prepago internet suks really bad, now that its unlimited. ( as opposed to the old system where it went per day and per kb/gb ).
I will probably switch to orange on one of my phones to see if its any better.
Another thought : dr aquired phones seem to get better signal ( read network bars ) than european counterparts.
I even use a claro phone ( a free one, a samsumg PO.S ) as a hotspot, and then connect my S7 through wifi to get a stronger signal
I find that claro prepago internet suks really bad, now that its unlimited. ( as opposed to the old system where it went per day and per kb/gb ).
I will probably switch to orange on one of my phones to see if its any better.
Another thought : dr aquired phones seem to get better signal ( read network bars ) than european counterparts.
I even use a claro phone ( a free one, a samsumg PO.S ) as a hotspot, and then connect my S7 through wifi to get a stronger signal
Is the internet speed/quality the same with prepago then with postpago, using claro ?
I find that claro prepago internet suks really bad, now that its unlimited. ( as opposed to the old system where it went per day and per kb/gb ).
I will probably switch to orange on one of my phones to see if its any better.
Another thought : dr aquired phones seem to get better signal ( read network bars ) than european counterparts.
I even use a claro phone ( a free one, a samsumg PO.S ) as a hotspot, and then connect my S7 through wifi to get a stronger signal
I sugest you also to try with VIVA.
Mmmh according to their "signal map" viva is only in towns and cities and not in the campo.
Or did I get it wrong ?
Depending what area you live, i have a friend that live in one campo in Moca and Orange do not have service and ViVA has service voice and data where he lives.
Another thought : dr aquired phones seem to get better signal ( read network bars ) than european counterparts.
I even use a claro phone ( a free one, a samsumg PO.S ) as a hotspot, and then connect my S7 through wifi to get a stronger signal
Answer - none are made in DR, so a person needs to research the phone they bring to see which frequencies it supports. Often a phone which was made to be compatible for Networks elsewhere won't work well in DR.
If in doubt buy a recent iPhone at the Apple Store or recent unlocked flagship phone like One Plus 5, or Samsung S8, or LG G6, HTC U11, or Huawei Honor 9 and they should work with both major carriers, Orange and Claro.
Avoid CDMA phones like those compatible with Sprint or Verizon in the US, because GSM phones tend to work better. A recent Orange phone in Europe should support the same frequencies on Orange in DR.
But check your phone's frequencies on this website: https://willmyphonework.net/
If you can't use the website then buy it and pay more in the store here, or just buy an iPhone in a Apple Store stateside or Europe.
And the new Qualcomm chips like the Snapdragon 835 with X16 modem support higher data rates. If you can hold off till mid 2018 to get the new Qualcomm X50 modem chip in a phone which supports 5G and that is a game changer and 5G networks should fully be deployed in Western Europe, US, Japan, Korea, Dubai and Canada by 2020 and it will be faster than your best cable modem or best WiFi.
Expect yourself to be underground with worms if you are over 60 before 5G hits the DR, as 4G LTE is 'still' not rolled out fully in the DR
Read this article from Ericsson, they installed the new LTE Network for VIVA and the router 6000 will provide conectivity for 5G, they will make 5G test at the end of 2017.
https://www.ericsson.com/ag/en/press-releases/latin-america/2017/4/viva-and-ericsson-to-bring-first-4x4-mimo-lte-to-dominican-republic-in-network-expansion
I didn't see that they will test 5G in DR by the end of 2017 in the linked article, (perhaps in a different article ?) only that their switch router will be 5G capable. Maybe they will roll out 4G LTE or 4G+ (LTE-Advanced), but as of now they have not deployed fully deployed 4G LTE in DR, although I am hearing some people liking VIVA more each day. It takes a lot of time to lease tower space, import new equipment and build sites.
I hope VIVA expands aggressively, if the local owner is well funded and serious about island wide coverage, I'd love to see a 4G Network everywhere not just some in SD, Santiago and Punta Cana as Orange has done.
My bet is on Claro to be the 1st to get a 4G complete network, because of what they are doing in the rest of Latin America - but whoever gets real island wide coverage at 4G should get a lot of us to switch to the more expensive post-paid accounts.
Since 5G won't begin to be available in some areas of N. America and Europe until mid-2019, for sure it won't be here for many many years later. We are talking millions (at least $100-$200 million US) to fully deploy an upgraded Network in a mountainous geographic area the size of DR.
A lot of people are clambering for faster networks - I'd be happy to hear from some of the RF Engineers from the carriers here in DR. Any on this forum ?
Yes I read it in another Link, i used Claro until 6 month ago
When I switched VIVA, and I can tell the equipment that is using VIVA has better quality than Claro, better voice Quality too, and inside my house with Claro I never got a Call or could use data even having 2 bars of signal. Now with VIVA with one and 2 bars of signal i can make and receive calls, also text on whatsapp. And yes every month they are improving their Coverage and LTE is avilable in almost all locations.