Living the Partial Dream

[DRdiving]

A lot of people, including myself, have asked about rental places that have internet access. Unfortunately, I can't up and leave to move to the DR but I do have the option of working remotely for weeks at a time via the internet, which will allow me to spend more time there. I figure if I had a reliable internet connection and a reliable and cost effective way to call Canada/US I'd be set.

With that in mind, I have set out to identify as many places as I can that can accomodate a "working" traveler as well as their laptop. I thought it would be a good idea to put as many of the places in one thread as possible, as I know after searching that the information is pretty sparse and spread out. It also seems that many other people have asked about this sort of arrangement as well so if you have something to add please do so we can make this a "one-stop" thread. Anyway, here are some of the places I have identified so far in Cabarete that offer internet access in your room/apt:

Hotel Kaoba
http://www.hotelkaoba.com/

Cabarete Surf Camp - Offers Hotel and Apartments
http://www.cabaretesurfcamp.com/en/cabarete.html
Only $1 a day for high speed.

Hotel Villa Taina
http://www.villataina.com/en/index.html

I haven't found anything in Sosua yet but I am looking.

I will continue my search and I have sent some e-mails to some other places and when I hear back from them I will let you know if they offer this as well.

I guess the next question is reliable and cost effective calling to the US and Canada. Cell phones make me nervous b/c the connection can be fragile and the quality shyte. By far the most economic way is via a internet phone setup however, I have been told the quality suffers and if the internet connection went down you'd be web-less and phone-less. I am not familiar with the rates or reliability when using a land line. Maybe you can buy a phone card to make the land line more economically viable? I dunno, still working on figuring that out. I will be heading down early in the new year to "test" what I eventually decide on, so I will be sure to post what I learn so that some of you can hopefully make working in paradise a reality too!

Chris.

 

[Criss Colon]

Condominios Dominicanos is really "Wired"!For The Internet!

And a beautiful pool and patio steps from your door!(Can You SPELL "Discount" Eddy?)
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Where the DR1 "Illiterati" meet and greet!

 

[Ken]

I recall that Eddy, manager of Condos Dominicanos in Sosua said that an internet connection was easily arranged there and the website confirms that DSL is available in the apartments http://www.condosdominicano.com/

Phone cards are available. Phone service is reliable.

 

[DRdiving]

That link doesn't seem to work for me??? Anyone know if it is high speed? I won't ask about price because I will assume it is on the website.

Chris.

 

[Ken]

Link works fine for me. DSL is high speed, not dialup

 

[DRdiving]

Works for me now too, thanks! Good lead.

 

[Robert]

Eddys. Nice guy, nice condos, good price and has DSL.

 

[marina]

I have had long term clients (3months or more) arrange for phone and dsl connections at Nanny's and at the villas at bahia de arena as well. these properties are both located in Cabarete.

 

[DRdiving]

Using a phone card with a land line...

So if one was to buy a phone card to use with a land line how much would it cost a minute (approx) to call Canada or the US? Anyone know?

 

[andy a]

DRdiving,

There are Tricom long distance call centers all over. If your telephone conversation can be separated from your computer use, you can make trips there to telephone to Canada or even elsewhere in the DR.

There are also a few surviving Turitel centers - even cheaper than Tricom.

There are even a few internet parlors with both DSL and telephones on which you can call long distance for cheap prices.

 

[DRdiving]

That's good to know Andy, thanks. In my line of work however, I have to have real time stock quotes in one hand and a telephone in the other.

Chris.

 

[andy a]

DRdiving,

I think I remember you from a similar post a few months ago.

I understand, it'd get old going to an internet parlor every day, all day.

Aren't you exaggerating slightly, though. You make it sound like you're trading futures, such that stops have to be placed as soon as the trades are made. I doubt that you're placing such close stops (if at all) in stocks.

If all your trading is day trading, such that you don't keep any overnights anyway, maybe you could shorten your trading day a little by going to the internet parlor for only 2 or 3 hours (or whatever you could stand there).

Finally, I think you'd be surprised at how convenient and good the quality of a pc based telephone conversation would be over a DSL connection (from your apartment, for example). You could still be online real time in your original window. You could use your cell phone for a backup.

Where there's a will, there's a way.

 

[DRdiving]

I agree, where there is a will there is a way and I am flexing my will by learning as much as I can about the various options now. This board has been so helpful in speeding the learning curve, all you DR1er are so generous with your knowledge and experience. I suppose I should explore the internet phone connection in greater depth since you mention it. I didn't post anything about this a few months ago, I have only been posting on here for a couple of weeks. Regarding exaggerating the importance, I am a stockbroker and without being able to watch the market I can't exactly work very efficiently. Thanks for the suggestions andy.

 

[andy a]

DRdiving,

I understand that you want real time quotes. I was only questioning whether you needed such rapid telephone communication, but if you need it you need it.

There are 3 primary packages of which I'm aware that enable calls to a telephone from a pc - Dialpad, Iconnecthere (Deltathree), and PC2Phone (I think).

I use Dialpad because it can be accessed from any pc with a web connection, whereas the other 2 require setting up an account on the pc being used (at least I think so).

Several months ago, Dialpad's quality (on my pc, at least) deteriorated for awhile and I almost gave it up. Recently, though, the quality has been good.

Maybe you should search the archives to see who the other guy was that wanted to do something similar, and contact him.

Happy trading.

 

[Jayford]

Try switching to trading. Then ya don't need the phone. That's what I did 16 years ago. No clients either!

I'm actually looking for an apt in Cab with net also. Just started looking and moving in May. BTW, net cafes don't work for me at all. iIwould never get anything done in one. I really have to concentrate for about 3 hours each am.

cheers,

Jay

I agree, where there is a will there is a way and I am flexing my will by learning as much as I can about the various options now. This board has been so helpful in speeding the learning curve, all you DR1er are so generous with your knowledge and experience. I suppose I should explore the internet phone connection in greater depth since you mention it. I didn't post anything about this a few months ago, I have only been posting on here for a couple of weeks. Regarding exaggerating the importance, I am a stockbroker and without being able to watch the market I can't exactly work very efficiently. Thanks for the suggestions andy.