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I bought the unlocked Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830. And, the unlocked Samsung Galaxy Note II, from Amazon. They both work well, with a Costa Rican purchased SIM card. You should go with a quad band GSM 850/900/1800/1900 GSM frequency cell phone. REMEMBER: Costa Rica utilizes the 1800 GSM frequency.
I also did an internet search, for cell phones frequencies used by countries throughout the world, including Costa Rica.
I would also concur with David, check, check and recheck the specs for the phone you want to buy. I found Amazon to be very helpful, especially the reviews of customers, who used the various unlocked phones overseas.[quote=”kwhite1″][quote=”DavidCMurray”]I’m afraid you have it right, Bill. It’s not just a matter of the iPhone having been “subscribed” (your term) to Verizon. The electronic components inside the iPhone which commit it to use on a GSM system or on a CDMA cellular system are incompatible. There’s nothing you can do to one of them to make it functional on the other system.
This isn’t an administrative issue of who sold the iPhone or what its internal software settings are. It’s a matter of the nature of the two cellular systems (GSM and CDMA), how they operate, and the frequencies they operate on.
[/quote]I have a Verizon IPhone 4S, because I am a long time subscriber they unlocked my phone and I have the international data plan. It worked in Haiti and Belize while on mission trips. I just checked with Verizon and they state it should work in Costa Rica as well. The key might be that it is unlocked, but we will see. Worst case I can buy a local mini SIM card and get it to work that way. We will see said the blind man.[/quote]
For those of you that are curious, upon arrival yesterday, my Verizon Wireless IPhone 4S with the unlimited international data plan works very well on the Claro CR network. I am getting emails, texting, and even phone calls on it.
At first, my signal was shwing no service, I turned my phone off and back on, once it rebooted the Claro signal showed in the corner, even have 3G.
David, why did you not warn me about the traffic in San Jose, I thought we were tighter than that? Note to self, avoid San Jose traffic.
kw, I’ll bet that, if you delved into the technical details, you’d learn that Verizon’s international plan goes through some system that converts their CDMA signal to GSM in order to be compatible with the rest of the world. If you haven’t asked, let me be the first to tell ya that Verizon’s international service ain’t gonna come cheap. That, of course, is not to say it won’t work; obviously it does.
As to the traffic in San Jose, do you want to experience the full richness of the Costa Rica experience or do you not? If you’re daunted by a little traffic, just wait ’til you try to deal with the bureaucracy.
Wuss!
[quote=”DavidCMurray”]kw, I’ll bet that, if you delved into the technical details, you’d learn that Verizon’s international plan goes through some system that converts their CDMA signal to GSM in order to be compatible with the rest of the world. If you haven’t asked, let me be the first to tell ya that Verizon’s international service ain’t gonna come cheap. That, of course, is not to say it won’t work; obviously it does.
As to the traffic in San Jose, do you want to experience the full richness of the Costa Rica experience or do you not? If you’re daunted by a little traffic, just wait ’til you try to deal with the bureaucracy.
Wuss!
[/quote]I agree with the technical aspect of Verizon’s ability to convert to GSM. I pay a monthly charge of $20 USD for unlimited international data, that includes all email, text, and internet no matter where I am in the world. Not a bad deal in my opinion. Albeit the voice part is pricey, I’ll bet my 8 min conversation via voice yesterday was every bit of $20, but I had to smooth some wrinkles out back at the office.
David, I think the bureaucracy is on par with dealing with the permitting department back in the states. Nothing a little bit of patience, a fake smile, and a well placed $20 bill can’t solve. I will say your country is very beautiful. I can’t wait to see the pacific coast today.
You know, people here whine about the bureaucracy but, in my opinion, it’s no worse than anywhere else. It’s just different and that takes some getting used to.
Be careful, however, how you pass around those twenties. A person could make a lot of mistakes that wouldn’t be as bad as getting caught up in the Costa Rican legal system for trying to bribe someone.
Enjoy the Pacific coast. It’s all good!
(Is this your first visit here??)
I live on the Pacific coast….Guanacaste, fantastic place to live, if you like the beach. Great fishing, and Tahiti is only 12-14 sailing days away!
[quote=”kwhite1″]I will say your country is very beautiful. I can’t wait to see the pacific coast today.[/quote]
Where on the coast are you heading? If you get up near Samara I’ll buy you a cold one!
[quote=”DavidCMurray”]Geez, Bill, can’t you at least offer him an acceptable wine?
[/quote]The wine, as you know, is available as well, but the preliminary round or two will be cervesa or rum.
[quote=”costaricabill”][quote=”kwhite1″]I will say your country is very beautiful. I can’t wait to see the pacific coast today.[/quote]
Where on the coast are you heading? If you get up near Samara I’ll buy you a cold one![/quote]
Thanks Bill!! But I ended up heading south to Manuel Antonio yesterday, then we drove down to Uvita today and just got back to the Mango Moon (neat place if you have never been!)
I will however take you up on that for the next trip, we are narrowing down where we “feel” our next residence will be. Our next trip will be to the Northern Pacific side and the Arenal area. Should not be too long for our next trip!
I have a short trip to Belize early next month, but then CR will be the one after that.
David……I seemed to have switched over to Kolbi ICE? Does the other one shut down for the weekend? Yesterday I was on a different network…..interesting.
[quote=”costaricabill”][quote=”DavidCMurray”]Geez, Bill, can’t you at least offer him an acceptable wine?
[/quote]The wine, as you know, is available as well, but the preliminary round or two will be cervesa or rum.[/quote]
I prefer cervesa or rum over wine anyway!! Not opposed to wine, but when the choice is there, beer me!
[quote=”kwhite1″]
David……I seemed to have switched over to Kolbi ICE? Does the other one shut down for the weekend? Yesterday I was on a different network…..interesting.[/quote]I’d guess that your Verizon international service will connect to any network it can reach. None of Costa Rica’s cellular systems covers the country completely.
Just checking in, the Samsung note 2 is doing fine. I’ve been here almost A month, use the phone pretty regular since I have several local Tico friends, and I use plenty of data. I put 120.00 American and haven’t had to re-up yet. The signal has been good and I’ve been all over. Only A few mountain pass interferences. Other Han that alls well in the land of Pura vida.
Oh, another thing, geez, I haven’t had A cross feeling of ill intent towards another this whole time. It’s like the more I come and stay, the quicker I shed that American anxiety.Hi, I’m curious if you’ve actually been able to add a Costa Rica number to your Google Voice account – I’ve tried it without success; and according to the GV FAQ, international numbers are not supported.
[quote=”cristinam7″]My husband and I brought both of our At&t iPhones down with us in November. His was unlocked already so we went to Kolbi and purchased a SIM card and a number for about 20,000 colones. I just finished my contract and unlocked my phone so I get to go today to get my CR number. We found it very easy the first time so hoping for the same this time too. Oh! Another thing we did was transfer our US numbers to Google Voice so that our friends and family could still contact us like normal. It was only $20USD. Once you have your CR number, you can add it to Google Voice so that when people from the US call, they get you directly rather than having to leave a voicemail.[/quote]
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