Using your Home Iphone in the DR

An update to something I discovered my last trip to happy land relative to telephone issues in the DR.

I have two iphones that I use while in the DR

One has a claro sim and I buy prepaid minutes to make calls and texts etc while in the DR. I use callingmart.com to add time to the account. If you do it every sixty days you will not loose your accumulated time or your number.


The other is an AT and T IPhone.

I have an international calling plan that let's me make calls for a stick it up your ass 1.69 per minute.
My texts coming in are free but cost me .50 per text for each one sent.
I don't buy a international data plan and keep data turned off. (You get a real nasty surprise if you leave your data turned on)


Problem

Every call coming in even if I don't answer it cost me 1.69 per minute.
I normally wouldn't answer than would check my voicemail a couple of times daily at 1.69 per minute cost.

if I needed to make a call to US I would use Vonage mobile on wifi for no cost.

So over 7-10 days it will still add up with calls coming in and a few texts sent

With data turned off the visual voicemail does not work.


My Solution

I figured out that if I put my phone into airplane mode it will stop the calls coming in.
Any calls to my phone go directly to voicemail.

One advantage of this is that the caller does not get the message in spanish before having a chance to leave a message.
I find the Spanish message sometimes tends to confuse some callers who don't know you are out of the country plus it solves the problem for those who don't want the caller to know you are out of the country.

Now granted I don't know if I have received a call.

Than I use Vonage mobile app on wifi and call my own cell number.
This takes me directly to my voicemail where I can enter my security code and listen to my messages.

This method brings my cost of telephone calls to and from the US from 1.69 per minute to zero :D
and no questions about where you are.


Also, with wifi the imessage system still works on wifi so you can still text back and forth to anyone using imessage with no cost.

You can use whatsapp or textplus to send sms messages to others not on the imessage system through wifi.

Check this thread. Maybe some apps overlap on iOS to aid you.

http://news.insearchofchicas.org/for...44#post1236944

Quote:

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Originally Posted by j_d66

An update to something I discovered my last trip to happy land relative to telephone issues in the DR.

I have two iphones that I use while in the DR

One has a claro sim and I buy prepaid minutes to make calls and texts etc while in the DR. I use callingmart.com to add time to the account. If you do it every sixty days you will not loose your accumulated time or your number.

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fyi, with claro you get 90 days from the last time you added mins (30 days on the mins + an add'l 60 on the sim). you don't have to recharge it every 60 days.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by deezl

fyi, with claro you get 90 days from the last time you added mins (30 days on the mins + an add'l 60 on the sim). you don't have to recharge it every 60 days.

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Ok

Before I leave I always do a *122# which will send me back a message with a RD balance on my account and when they expire and it is always 60 days after when I last added time to my account. That's why I thought it was 60 not 90 days. I know you get more time before you lose your number but I thought it was 120 days for that.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by j_d66

Ok

Before I leave I always do a *122# which will send me back a message with a RD balance on my account and when they expire and it is always 60 days after when I last added time to my account. That's why I thought it was 60 not 90 days. I know you get more time before you lose your number but I thought it was 120 days for that.

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I am with claro also and do the same. Check my account, before leaving. And it is 120 days before losing your number.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by j_d66

Ok

Before I leave I always do a *122# which will send me back a message with a RD balance on my account and when they expire and it is always 60 days after when I last added time to my account. That's why I thought it was 60 not 90 days. I know you get more time before you lose your number but I thought it was 120 days for that.

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that's right, my bad, they added another 30 days on mins, so 120 total.

In preparation for my trip to DR this next time, I setup google voice on my "sprint" iphone. I also called "sprint" to have them unlock my cell phone for use with any card, which they did, I was able to confirm online my phone is now unlocked.

The way I think this will work out, either I use a Claro/orange sim card in the iphone with my "DR" number with a data plan. I have google voice app running on my phone as well. So when someone dials my USA number it will ring my google voice number and I can answer using my local "data plan" only.

We will see.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by avewhtboy

In preparation for my trip to DR this next time, I setup google voice on my "sprint" iphone. I also called "sprint" to have them unlock my cell phone for use with any card, which they did, I was able to confirm online my phone is now unlocked.

The way I think this will work out, either I use a Claro/orange sim card in the iphone with my "DR" number with a data plan. I have google voice app running on my phone as well. So when someone dials my USA number it will ring my google voice number and I can answer using my local "data plan" only.

We will see.

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I think you're missing a step.

GV is really just a forwarder. The GV app on your phone is a front end to the website. Calls that come through GV aren't answered via the app..they are just forwarded to your number.

When you put in the DR sim, I think your phone will stop accepting calls to your US number. Otherwise it would be dual homed/dual numbered which I'm not sure is possible. Even if it is possible, you would be accepting the call at US/Sprint roaming rates.

If you plan to forward your sprint number to your GV number, you need a way to answer the call...because what GV is really doing is forwarding the call someplace as well...but the GV app doesn't help you with that.

Talkatone does. It basically tells GV that its a computer which allows you to answer the call using the GV chat feature.
Read the link posted by Pac Man for setup help and more discussion.

I use GV paired with the OBI-100. When I am outside of the USA I can make and answer calls on the OBI app when using WiFi at no charge. The app actually has the OBI box that is plugged into my home network, make and receive the calls.

With Sprint and google voice, my numbers are the same. My google voice number is my sprint phone number. Regardless of the status of my iphone, google voice will ring as long as I am logged on, either on laptop with or the google voice app on my iphone. So once I activate my phone with the claro sim all communications through that phone will be billed through claro at local rates.

This is theory so far. I can say it works here at home, I hate it, google has taken over my telephone, incoming calls, text messages and voice mail are now all going through google voice.

I can select where to answer my phone right now, on my laptop, desktop or on the phone itself.

I am skeptical it will work, its kind of like the holy grail to get cheaper calls while outside USA but seems like it may actually work.

TBD, I think I will be on the island in November or December.


ave

I brought my old Blackberry to the DR last week. The guy in Claro broke it, put in a new sym card and I got 500 minutes for 1600 pesos. They let me choose the last 4 digits of my new phone number. I was using a $25.00 phone fron the dr before. I'll keep that and use it as a bat phone.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by avewhtboy

With Sprint and google voice, my numbers are the same. My google voice number is my sprint phone number. Regardless of the status of my iphone, google voice will ring as long as I am logged on, either on laptop with or the google voice app on my iphone. So once I activate my phone with the claro sim all communications through that phone will be billed through claro at local rates.

This is theory so far. I can say it works here at home, I hate it, google has taken over my telephone, incoming calls, text messages and voice mail are now all going through google voice.

I can select where to answer my phone right now, on my laptop, desktop or on the phone itself.

I am skeptical it will work, its kind of like the holy grail to get cheaper calls while outside USA but seems like it may actually work.

TBD, I think I will be on the island in November or December.


ave

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So you ported over..

Try testing it here in the states.
Put your phone in airplane mode, and then turn on wifi. This should simulate the same experience you will have in the DR. (trying to receive a GV phone call over data only).

Call your iphone from another phone...see what happens. I bet it will ring just fine on your laptop and your computer...

I'm very skeptical that it will ring on your phone....but I've been wrong before. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mrblackluv

So you ported over..

Try testing it here in the states.
Put your phone in airplane mode, and then turn on wifi. This should simulate the same experience you will have in the DR. (trying to receive a GV phone call over data only).

Call your iphone from another phone...see what happens. I bet it will ring just fine on your laptop and your computer...

I'm very skeptical that it will ring on your phone....but I've been wrong before. :)

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If I put it in airplane mode then unless I had a wifi signal of course it would not ring through, however, I am thinking if I had some other providers card and activated it will ring through
google voice as long as I have a signal, wifi or cellular.

I read your posts so I know you have done a lot of testing on this, but I am cheap and diligent so I am not giving up yet. I was hit with $1000 phone bill from AT&T after my two month visit so
I am extra motivated to correct this situation.

I have a blackberry that I used in DR as well really my plan is to use that but possibly the iphone thing will work out.

ave

Quote:

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Originally Posted by avewhtboy

If I put it in airplane mode then unless I had a wifi signal of course it would not ring through, however, I am thinking if I had some other providers card and activated it will ring through
google voice as long as I have a signal, wifi or cellular.

I read your posts so I know you have done a lot of testing on this, but I am cheap and diligent so I am not giving up yet. I was hit with $1000 phone bill from AT&T after my two month visit so
I am extra motivated to correct this situation.

I have a blackberry that I used in DR as well really my plan is to use that but possibly the iphone thing will work out.

ave

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How much of that $1,000 bill was from phone calls and sending texts?
or did you leave your data turned on?
Without an international data plan you will get reamed by at and t big time.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by j_d66

How much of that $1,000 bill was from phone calls and sending texts?
or did you leave your data turned on?
Without an international data plan you will get reamed by at and t big time.

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I signed up for the international calling plan before I went, but misunderstood what the per minute charge was. I was thinking it was closer .25 minute than $1.50.

I was able to negotiate it down to $500 but that took 6 months to a year. I didn't look at the bills to be honest to know what all the charges were, suffice it to say
95% was either text message or phone call. I was prepared for a large phone bill after being gone for two months, but not like that!

I turned my data off rather quickly after getting there, however, if I remember correctly, text messages were billed as using data as well as a test message, like they hit me up
for a message fee and data to send and receive the message too. Bottom line, international calling plans all cell phone companies offer are ridiculous thus the need for some other
method to keep in contact.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by avewhtboy

I signed up for the international calling plan before I went, but misunderstood what the per minute charge was. I was thinking it was closer .25 minute than $1.50.

I was able to negotiate it down to $500 but that took 6 months to a year. I didn't look at the bills to be honest to know what all the charges were, suffice it to say
95% was either text message or phone call. I was prepared for a large phone bill after being gone for two months, but not like that!

I turned my data off rather quickly after getting there, however, if I remember correctly, text messages were billed as using data as well as a test message, like they hit me up
for a message fee and data to send and receive the message too. Bottom line, international calling plans all cell phone companies offer are ridiculous thus the need for some other
method to keep in contact.

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Yep the international calling plan let's me call usa for the ripe old price of 1.69 per minute.
I have unlimited texting so all texts in are free but each one out costs you .50

It adds up in a hurry.

Once in airplane mode the imessage portion of iphone still works for free but turn off the send as sms there to make sure it doesn't send any sms messages.

I hope the google voice works for you but I suspect you might have some problems when not using wifi and trying to use a dr sim but I dont know for sure.

My suggestion to test assumed that you would be connected to a working wifi connection while in airplane mode. (Disabling data from Sprint).

Airplane mode and no wifi (whether it's enabled or not) would be a futile test.

Does anyone have the 411 on the new T-Mobile free international data roaming? Would make things so much easier, for t mobile customers.

Great information Thanks

I want to add on bit of information.

I have vonage at home, now you can have a vonage extension what that means is you can use your "extension" line like your home vonage line. I used it last time in the DR and it was great to make calls back to the US. It has the caller ID of my "real" cell because it is.

So here is how I am going to set my system up.

Forward my cell phone to my Google Voice/Talkatone (Google voice will not support Talkatone after I think March 15th.) Now If I get a call I can answer it with my Talkatone but if I miss a call...I will call back with my vonage app and no charge. So no need to have Skype (for me).

Anyway just wanted to share.

Thanks as always guys,