Coverage in Puerto Rico

[JohnO_]

Hello,

I'm going to Puerto Rico next week for a wedding. I'm going to need to be able to get some work done while there and since we are not going to be staying in San Juan, I have some concerns about the coverage. From what I've read, Verizon has no presence in Puerto Rico, and while the coverage map looks really pretty. The comments I've seen online are not so heartening. What are my options? I have a Samsung S8+. If the coverage is inadequate, can I drop in a local prepaid sim? Or can I get a different phone that will work as a hotspot in Puerto Rico from the Verizon store?

Thanks,

JohnO

[vzw_customer_support]

John, we know how important it is to make sure that your services work properly while you are out of the country. We do have coverage in Puerto Rico. You can view the coverage online at https://www.verizonwireless.com/featured/better-matters/?map=4glte#maps

FranciscoP_VZW

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[Asterisco]

I’m in PR now, 17 May. coverage for data is pretty spotty. You’re gonna wait a while for pages to load and messages to send, and it’ll often time out. In the rest of the island it’s worse, but you’ll get some coverage in some spots more than others. You won’t see “VERIZON“ in the top corner. I barely get 3 bars in some areas. We’re traveling the whole island. In San Juan, you occasionally connect to “Claro”, but right now that’s the only service anyone is connecting to. AT&T works best right now (Family has that), and more local companies. Calling is pretty stable, but I barley use it so I can’t say it’s good everywhere. A lot of times you’ll get “Extended 1x”. Hope you have better luck than me. I usually just wait  when connected to WiFi.

[shopready]

I hardly had service when I went to  PR. Most of the times people would call me it would go straght to voicemail when i was in an area with plenty of cell service. Verizon no longer works in Puerto Rico unfortunately.

[vzw_customer_support]

shopready, I totally get how important it is to have working service while traveling out of the country. Our goal is to make sure your service is working properly at all times. Our service does work in Puerto Rico. Keep in mind that domestic rates apply for that destination. When did you travel there? What type of domestic plan do you have? 

DiaS_VZW

[mama23dogs]

Puerto Rico is covered under At&t domestic, and At&t does have coverage.  Pick up a prepaid sim for the trip.  

[chris2betsy]

I was recently there for the Earthquakes and had no signal at all, please help.

[chris2betsy]

I have prepaid Verizon and it does not work.

[chris2betsy]

Verizon need to fix this problem in PR. i was there for the earthquakes and because of not having service i coudnt see some of my relatives in this emergency situation. i am very disapointed with Verizon thinking of moving to AT&T.

[mama23dogs]

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@chris2betsy wrote:

Verizon need to fix this problem in PR. i was there for the earthquakes and because of not having service i coudnt see some of my relatives in this emergency situation. i am very disapointed with Verizon thinking of moving to AT&T.

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When you are in Puerto Rico you are roaming domestically on other carriers. So you are not in fact using Verizon towers and your notification bar should say, 'extended'.    
So 1.   Blame the earthquake.   2.  Blame the local network.   
I am sure that AT&T was suffering some of the same issues. FYI AT&T has sold its Caribbean network to Liberty.   
https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/domestic-roaming-faqs/