Hi all,
Not quite an ex-pat, I've been trying (not super successfully) to take the laptop with me and work from places like Juan Dolió.
I look forward to learning from and contributing to these forums.
Remote Work
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And I meant to put this in the Introductions section. Sorry.
22
@TienesUnMapa what was the issue? I have been traveling to DR over the past 12 months and using wifi both mobile and in homes. Never had an issue. Works fine.
16649
Welcome to the forums! We look forward to your contributions!
Your internet needs may dictate where you can go.
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@arezkiofstow I think we have to get into the details. Here are things I found:
In Juan Dolió, Claro seems to be the usual fiber optic provider, and they use Huawei routers. In the pandemic era, much of my work is done using Microsoft Teams. I found three issues:
1. A 15Mb/sec download speed should theoretically be able to support this work, but it did not. MS Teams calls regularly froze or broke up.
2. The connection regularly randomly terminated. I could reboot everything, or just wait. I suspect that the router may have been overheating, but don't really know.
3. The power regularly went out. I had a roaming plan that connected to Altice, but the bandwidth could not sustain video. (I also had a plan which made data very expensive after a certain quantity of Gb.)
All Dominicans I spoke with assert that the country has excellent internet. I would say this is true in a general context. But for me, business video calls dropping (even a small percentage) have a reputational harm, and this didn't meet my hopes.
So here's what happened. When the power went out, it was impossible to not notice the really loud generator of a nearby tower (the Aquarella). I found a short term rental and moved there. The power still went out regularly, but the generator kicked in and the router reconnected in under two minutes. They also had a 100Mb/sec Claro connection.
As a cell provider, Altice had occasional gaps ("no signal") for me, even in urban Santo Domingo.
Also, I had faulty backup plan - I had thought I would visit a business centre in Santo Domingo and work from there if there were serious internet issues in Juan Dolió. But the distance and heat made that unrealistic.
1613
Buy a UPS and plug your router into that. It should keep your router powered long enough for the backup power to kick in. That should prevent interruptions.
317
Hello
A UPS is a great idea but I dont think thats the problem. If the problem is with Altice's network, then the UPS (battery backup power) wont matter. I have a portable but large capacity UPS that keeps my portable Altice router and my phone powered where ever I am, and I love that. Excellent solution and I can power 2 devices at the same time. It was a very inexpensive solution to my problem (from Amazon). But that does not help when the signal is gone.
When I signed on with Altice, I bought my mini router, the 50GB data plan was so cheap (RD $1325 per month for a 1 year plan or $24 a month), and the cost of the router was also cheap ($RD 2300 one time, then you own it). I bought the mini router because then I dont have to pay for it every month but the battery dies in 2-3 hours, otherwise it is reliable. That's why I have the battery backup power (UPS).
But I do experience dropped signals at home, every day and I am in a fixed location (in an apartment on the 3rd floor, no obstructions in front of me with 15 feet of windows.) Its not my power failing, I am pretty sure this means its the signal from the network provider. When I have a dropped signal it always comes back in a minute or less. I am in Punta Cana, near the airport.
I went with Altice instead of Claro because Claro was charging 3 times more. If your working and you need more reliability, maybe you have to fork out alot more $$$. It might be worth a trial run if you go to Claro and tell them your problem and see if they give you a one month trial. I doubt it but maybe you can try it. I don't know if you can sign on for a short term just to try it out.
16649
My altice at home does that as well, simply no signal, then it comes back. My business plan at the office, also altice, never drops like that. But, it costs way more!
Claro is the same I am told!
Business plan with higher cost is stable and reliable. Residencial plan not so much!
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MR network is herein boca chica they installed an antena that provides a5g connection into a wireless router I'm able to stream multiple channels Netflix etc the speed fluctuate but the connection is stable until you loose power but if you have a back up generator your good we pay 1300pesos per month takes the guys about an hour to get you connected don't know if they are anywhere else in the country but they are ranked number four as far as internet providers very reliable if you are rural also
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Buy a UPS -@ddmcghee
Business plan with higher cost is stable and reliable. -@planner
In tandem, this sounds like the way to do it! Good advice! But in rental accommodation, I'm probably not going to be able to specify the internet provider.
If I did want a Claro or Altice business plan, what type of turnaround time is involved?
16649
The answer to turnaround time - it depends.
First you solicit and without a business and some kind of credit here you may not be able to get an account. They send a tech to assess the installation and then they quote the install. After signing contracts they will install. Two weeks at least is my guess!
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@planner Thank you for the quick reply and guidance.
16649
You are very welcome
317
Interesting the Business Plan option from Altice does not drop like the way we are experiencing with the personal plan. I didnt know this is normal, its good to know. I think its fine because the price is so affordable. In Canada our internet/cable costs are out extremely high compared to here.
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