Telephones in Sosua/Cabarete

[trEPP33]

Well next week I'm off on my second trip to Cabarete/Sosua. I'm taking my telephone but am wondering if there's a cheaper alternative as calling to or receiving calls from the states can be quite expensive. A calling card will not suffice as there may be people who need to reach me.

I need a phone that can make and receive calls from DR and US phones. Is there a cheap phone I can purchase that has a paid for number of available minutes? If so what should I expect to pay and where can I find a dealer?

[eldorob]

I bought a Samsung Verizon ph on ebay for about $25, course you don't really have time for that. Then you just have the Verizon place in Sosua set it up and buy a 100 or 200 peso phone card with minutes. To tell you the truth, I never tried calling home on it. I always go the Phone Center across from BAnco Popular. Calls out to the states are really cheap.

Using your regular phone can be really expensive. ONly done it a couple times.

[Hoseman]

You can by them in Sosua for between 300 and 600 pesos.I bought one from a guy walking around for 300 in Feb. but last month they did not want to go that low.They come withh 100 Minutes.I mainly use the Internet places.I have t mobile and connection charges are about $30 and they will charge me weather I answer the phone or not If I do'nt answer the call it's about $3.

[mikelodge]

I was going to ask about this as well. Does anyone know of cell phone rentals by the day or week? I agree phone centers are great to call home and cheap. I have found most Western Unions have them and are very cheap. I would however also like to be able to be reached 24/7 by cell phone. OK I admit they would get voicemail many many many times a day and God willing for as long as possible each time.

[Hoseman]

I was going to ask about this as well. Does anyone know of cell phone rentals by the day or week? I agree phone centers are great to call home and cheap. I have found most Western Unions have them and are very cheap. I would however also like to be able to be reached 24/7 by cell phone. OK I admit they would get voicemail many many many times a day and God willing for as long as possible each time.
They are cheap to buy.About $15.

[balcoach]

no need to rent, go by the place next to shark bar, and buy a phone and some minutes for $10-20, and then you have it for the rest of your visits
its that simple

[trEPP33]

You can by them in Sosua for between 300 and 600 pesos.I bought one from a guy walking around for 300 in Feb. but last month they did not want to go that low.They come withh 100 Minutes...

This sounds exactly like what I need. A very inexpensive phone (between $10 & $15) with 100 minutes.

Do you know the location of a store that sells these? I wouldn't want to purchase one from someone off the street.

Also, are they able to call to the US?

Now that I read is the the same thing balcoach is talking about and can be found in the store he mentioned?


...I always go the Phone Center across from BAnco Popular. Calls out to the states are really cheap...

Phone center won't work as I need access to a phone at all times.


no need to rent, go by the place next to shark bar, and buy a phone and some minutes for $10-20, and then you have it for the rest of your visits
its that simple

Is this the same type that Hoseman suggested?


Thanks everyone for the help and responses.

[Hoseman]

I think they are the same from what I have read and heard.Yes you can call anywhere.When I bought the one I bought I had the guy use another phone to call the one I bought.

[trEPP33]

Great. I'll go to the place next to the Shark Bar and look for one. I appreciate your help guys.

[Hoseman]

What was great.This guy I met down there.He used his computer to make calls.He was outside his room at Seabreeze's he plugged something into a usb port and made a call home.

[jstarebel]

What was great.This guy I met down there.He used his computer to make calls.He was outside his room at Seabreeze's he plugged something into a usb port and made a call home.
The Magic Jack device costs about $40, but that includes one year of service.

After that, it's $19.95 a year -- but there is one thing to keep in mind. "It's a slave to your broadband... the reliability of your Internet access dictates the reliability of Magic Jack."

All calls in the US and Canada are free calling out or recieving. It comes with it's own phone number.

You can't make overseas calls with Magic Jack, but you can take it with you when you're traveling to call back to the United States for free. It works calling to the US no matter what country I am in. I even used it to call the US when I was in Okinawa last November.

Magic Jack includes other features like call waiting, call forwarding or enhanced 911 at no additional cost.

However, like any other device that works through your computer, if your internet service goes down... so does your phone.

[BigDave]

you can go to any orange or claro store (completly legit) ask for there cheapest phone probrably no more than 20-30 us, and its new (or refurbished?) in the box with charger & accessories, connected with minutes, then buy a couple of hundred peso's worth of minutes extra. or buy more later. I beleive it cost the same to call locally or the US, it's not much, I always used it to call my business from there. From the us, you can have your people buy the $2 phone cards from thier local bodega, they give a LOT of minutes. That solves that problem. Now you have a DR phone for whenever you travel, if you travel often, you can just keep adding minutes, if its more that the period alloted you buy a new sim card. Best thing is, this is your ongoing phone book for all your DR buddies #'s as well as Chica's, taxi's etc. When you touch ground in Dr you call your taxi & chica, and your set!

[Beads]

If you need direct contact I suggest buying the cheap phone as stated above and changing the voice mail on your stateside phone to give the DR number for emergencies but let people know you will check your voicemail every day or few days also so they dont get hit for the expensive phone call to your DR number also.

Much cheaper than forwarding all the calls and in an emergency for people who feel like paying the long distance charge they can still call you.

[DCIronman]

What was great.This guy I met down there.He used his computer to make calls.He was outside his room at Seabreeze's he plugged something into a usb port and made a call home.

Magic Jack, Vonage (my personal choice), and Skype devices are all good as long as you have a good broadband connection. But receiving calls requires you to be near your computer at that time or just relying on messages.

I use Vonage to call clients and conduct business, but have an unlocked GSM phone with a local SIM card that I use for personal calls. It's just much cheaper than using my Sprint phone. Last time I did that, I came home to a $400 phone bill.

[Hoseman]

Magic Jack, Vonage (my personal choice), and Skype devices are all good as long as you have a good broadband connection. But receiving calls requires you to be near your computer at that time or just relying on messages.

I use Vonage to call clients and conduct business, but have an unlocked GSM phone with a local SIM card that I use for personal calls. It's just much cheaper than using my Sprint phone. Last time I did that, I came home to a $400 phone bill.I think the guy had Skype .I asked him if it was Majic jack he said no but he used it outside of his room at Seabreeze he was on the 3rd floor right outside of his door.

[voltage69]

I use skype. sign up for an account and for 2.50 a month you get 10,000 mins to real phones in the US. As long as your hotel has internet , you just plug a headset and mic into your laptop and off you go. Also, depending on your cell phone, its possible to install a skype application on it. keep in mind though, make sure your cell connects to the wireless internet at your hotel or the wireless wherever you are and you set skype to use the wireless. Do not use your carriers data connection. Your carrier will rape you for data use over there. occasionally the calls break up a little since the DR internet is a tad slow, but for 2.50 a month.. cant beat it. also if you have skype on your cell, once your back home.. if youre about to go over your plan minutes, you can always switch to skype in a pinch if you have unlimited data and call from there! 8 mins at 40 cents a minute on overage with your carrier.. and skype will pay for itself!

[Tiger]

I have a verizon storm blackberry with international calling service. I would like to be in sousa incognito. Does anyone know if people in the states can tell where I am if they place calls to me or receive calls from me? What if calls goes to my voice mail? Would there be an international operator? Thanks.

[Trib]

I have a verizon storm blackberry with international calling service. I would like to be in sousa incognito. Does anyone know if people in the states can tell where I am if they place calls to me or receive calls from me? What if calls goes to my voice mail? Would there be an international operator? Thanks.

I am intrested in this too. I used my regular cell and got hit for 1.99 on verizon per min. Bill for DR alone was 250...texting seemed free though. I'll need to double check bill to be sure.

[voltage69]

i used verizon on my first trip to sosua. with their international service. i believe my regular number went through when i made a call so no one could tell i was in the DR. but after a few calls and some internet browsing ..when i got home.. my bill was 330 bucks for that month. hence my 2.50 a month for skype.. itll take me 10 years of skype to equal that one phone bill.

[Tiger]

i used verizon on my first trip to sosua. with their international service. i believe my regular number went through when i made a call so no one could tell i was in the DR. but after a few calls and some internet browsing ..when i got home.. my bill was 330 bucks for that month. hence my 2.50 a month for skype.. itll take me 10 years of skype to equal that one phone bill.


I have an unlocked phone to use down there to keep the cost down. I just want to call and receive calls from my wife and not have her know that I am down there. Anyone have any experience with this??

[voltage69]

cant help with that one.. if yuo get a sim card down there though. a dominican # is going to pop up.., youl have to use your regular carrier..which could be expensive when the wife starts to tell you about the cutest dress she saw today at the store

[ChicaSeeka]

I have had experience with Verizon and AT&T , most of the time the incoming call go through no problem , but not always does the caller id work , the only problem i encountered was at times on incoming calls, the callers would get a spanish message rather than go right to my voice mail, so i choose to leave it OFF and just checked my messages several times a day from my DR Number, and when i had to check in , i would turn it on and call back... also many time my number came up as "Unavailiable" to the person in the states

THANK GOD I NO LONGER HAVE TO PLAY THAT GAME ANYMORE, BUT IT IS COSTING ME PLENTLY (lol)
BUT DAMN THE PRICE WAS DEFINATLY WORTH THE LIFE CHANGE,
I THINK NOW I HAVE BECOME HALF DOMINICAN , AND SURELY I AM SMILING A LOT MORE THESE DAYS ......

[osanhopps]

Friends, this is something that you all should check into. I have a duel sim phone (Samsung). I have service with Verizon & for the second sim whatever country I am in. When I am in the DR I can chose a Orange sim card or Verizon. They will give you a different number for the local calls. Which works find, just purchase the sim. The phone will bounce to the appropriate sim when someone is calling you. No one can tell where you are because it will seem like a local call. This will also save you money because your DR call inside the country will be local calls. I once had a $400 phone bill because I let a friend use my old phone when I was down there! At&t love me that month!:corky: All you need to do is check on the net and see which phone will work with your carrier. This is the latest tech phones for people who are traveling. But the US is slow on giving it out. I hope this helps!

[mikelodge]

I have a verizon storm blackberry with international calling service. I would like to be in sousa incognito. Does anyone know if people in the states can tell where I am if they place calls to me or receive calls from me? What if calls goes to my voice mail? Would there be an international operator? Thanks.

In general, not exclusive to DR if you call them they can know where it's from and if they call you and get billed well you know. I like western union they are safest thing I know for private security. Getting local phone is the next best thing for local talking.

[bigtittylicker]

The Magic Jack device costs about $40, but that includes one year of service.

After that, it's $19.95 a year -- but there is one thing to keep in mind. "It's a slave to your broadband... the reliability of your Internet access dictates the reliability of Magic Jack."

All calls in the US and Canada are free calling out or recieving. It comes with it's own phone number.

You can't make overseas calls with Magic Jack, but you can take it with you when you're traveling to call back to the United States for free. It works calling to the US no matter what country I am in. I even used it to call the US when I was in Okinawa last November.

Magic Jack includes other features like call waiting, call forwarding or enhanced 911 at no additional cost.

However, like any other device that works through your computer, if your internet service goes down... so does your phone.


Magicjack works when it wants to, it has periods where even if the internet is working fine over there, it doesnt work for shit. They have not given me a legit reason yet.

[Crossfire1]

I have used Magic Jack in the DR. It is the real deal. Well worth the $20 cost. And you have a US number so you don't have to tell people where you really are. Just tell them your cell phone dosen't work well so you are using the new number. Magic Jack is not perfect. When I have had problems I would just reboot the PC and everything was fine. Go figure. Still worth it.

[mikelodge]

you can go to any orange or claro store (completly legit) ask for there cheapest phone probrably no more than 20-30 us, and its new (or refurbished?) in the box with charger & accessories, connected with minutes, then buy a couple of hundred peso's worth of minutes extra. or buy more later. I beleive it cost the same to call locally or the US, it's not much, I always used it to call my business from there. From the us, you can have your people buy the $2 phone cards from thier local bodega, they give a LOT of minutes. That solves that problem. Now you have a DR phone for whenever you travel, if you travel often, you can just keep adding minutes, if its more that the period alloted you buy a new sim card. Best thing is, this is your ongoing phone book for all your DR buddies #'s as well as Chica's, taxi's etc. When you touch ground in Dr you call your taxi & chica, and your set!

Great cell phone advice I will be needing to get one when I touch down before mine cuts into my titty money. I can't wait because titties and cell phones together keep me connected.

http://news.insearchofchicas.org/forum/imagehosting/thum_160414a9c34598f520.jpg (javascript:void(0))

[Bhutto,BhuttoGolly]

Great cell phone advice I will be needing to get one when I touch down before mine cuts into my titty money. I can't wait because titties and cell phones together keep me connected.

Click to see pic (http://javascript<b></b>:void(0))
"Titties and cell phones together"- Oh my!!!
:lol:

[Bhutto,BhuttoGolly]

Anyone know if my Orange SIM that I got in Spain last year would work in the DR? Thanks

[dunedain]

Good info here, I have been using my sprint phone. Very very sparingly on calls to the US but I will give these ideas a try my next trip down. Unless someone knows any sprint plans/tricks.


lodge; titties and cell phone:rofl:

[Tiger]

Good info here, I have been using my sprint phone. Very very sparingly on calls to the US but I will give these ideas a try my next trip down. Unless someone knows any sprint plans/tricks.


lodge; titties and cell phone:rofl:

What do the people in the states see with their caller ID? Can they tell that you are in DR when you make or receive calls?

[trEPP33]

In response to the above question, though not sprint (unless it's an unlocked phone) iphone AT&T users have no worries (other than the cost of the calls), in the sense that all calls to and from the phone show up as if the user were in the states. unanswered calls go straight to voicemail as it does in the states whether the phone is powered off or the user just refuses to answer. Also, calls from the iphone are displayed on other phones the same as if the caller was in the states.

[dunedain]

What do the people in the states see with their caller ID? Can they tell that you are in DR when you make or receive calls?

Thats a good question, I'm not sure nor did I even think about asking. I'll check with a few people I did call, but my guess is the number came up as a US number, as I think someone would have caught it and mentioned it to me or would have asked where I was calling from.

I guess this would be a good thing to know for those who are going down there undercover. Speaking for myself, being single, I don't have such problems.:corky:

http://news.insearchofchicas.org/forum/imagehosting/106324aa1d5aa91505.gif

[Trib]

Thats a good question, I'm not sure nor did I even think about asking. I'll check with a few people I did call, but my guess is the number came up as a US number, as I think someone would have caught it and mentioned it to me or would have asked where I was calling from.

I guess this would be a good thing to know for those who are going down there undercover. Speaking for myself, being single, I don't have such problems.:corky:

Click to see pic (http://news.insearchofchicas.org/forum/imagehosting/106324aa1d5aa91505.gif)

I am on verizon. Most of the time my number came up as unknown or as my area code and the first 3 numbers (NNX for you telcom folks). When people called me it was every number except the last digit or unknown (only 3 out of 20 calls)

[psriches]

Magic Jack, Vonage (my personal choice), and Skype devices are all good as long as you have a good broadband connection. But receiving calls requires you to be near your computer at that time or just relying on messages.

I use Vonage to call clients and conduct business, but have an unlocked GSM phone with a local SIM card that I use for personal calls. It's just much cheaper than using my Sprint phone. Last time I did that, I came home to a $400 phone bill.What's the cheapest way to call DR cell phones from the US???

Most of these services are for landlines only........

[mikelodge]

What's the cheapest way to call DR cell phones from the US???

Most of these services are for landlines only........

That would be very useful to know hopefully if I get your question in Today's Posts again someone will answer. I need to keep in Touch.

http://news.insearchofchicas.org/forum/imagehosting/thum_160414a9c34598f520.jpg (javascript:void(0))

[gdogg]

What do the people in the states see with their caller ID? Can they tell that you are in DR when you make or receive calls?

I guess it depends on the phone/phone company. Sometimes when I called my mother a random 809 phone number would come up (not the number I was calling from), other times no number would come up.
:confused: