Speaking generally to your questions:
We recently completed (March 2022) a month-long trip to the DR, but we pretty much did the "Great Circle" from SD to LR, to PC to LT to Cabrera to Cabrete to Puerto Plata and then Santiago, and then backtracked a bit. We spent anywhere from a night to five days everywhere we stopped.
Staying mostly at resorts, airbnb and vrbo, we experience periodic spikes in power pretty much everywhere -- that is, power drops for a few seconds to a few minutes, Only once did we experience a lengthy power outage of about 3.5 hours, and that was actually overnight.
As far as quality of internet -- at the major resorts, it all depending on the time of day.
- in the evenings from about 5 pm to about 11 pm local, the wi-fi was stressed and slow. We found streaming movies possible, but slow and with frequent pauses. [Implying: if you're trading US markets, you probably don't care about those periods. If you're trading Asia or the Middle East, it is probably a problem.]
- After 11 pm local -- after most had gone to bed or at least shut off their computers -- wifi/internet was generally extremely reliable and reasonably fast. Streaming was slick and fast. [Great time for internet...if you're a night owl...but that doesn't synch well with trading US markets.]
- In the mornings...say 5 am to 8:30 am, access was great and fast. However, from 830 on, as folks woke up and went to check email and what not, speed declined up till about noon.
- From noon to 4:00 pm or so, internet access was pretty. Lots of people checked out, and new wave of stayers not yet checked in = pretty good access.
All that said, there were a few days where we simply couldn't get wifi/internet to work at all. We'd connect, but get nothing but spinning circles on websites. [Time to forget about the world and have some fun, would be my advice.]
As others have indicated, there are many factors at play, from your local wifi capability from a resort or host, to the ISP/Provider in the DR, even back to whether there are issues moving the data internationally.
- Fundamentally, if you're a day trader with the potential to lose thousands of $$$ or more with data delays of even a few seconds == I don't think the DR is the place to be.
- I'm told that in some of the upper-end enclaves in Puerto Rico -- created to serve the high-tech movers there as a result of the favorable tax regime -- the internet access is ubiquitous and blazing fast...because the customer base/residents demanded it as a Go / No Go in the purchase process. Those places all have backup generators, and some have multiple generators. But, all the generators in the world won't help when the international ines/links are down.
I'm not a trader myself...I tend to be a buy and hold forever type, with maybe a little jumping in and out if I see a stock turn into a stinker due to sudden events, or .
But, if you're coming to the DR no matter what...would you be able to shift your trading strategies a bit to accommodate the occasional internet outages you're likely to experience in the DR, no matter how careful you are???
My opinion is that no matter how good your local DR internet is, you are ALWAYS going to be lagging the US, Europe in data timeliness...it's just the nature of the beast. USA and EUROPE are simply going to have advantages of your, speedwise. I'd suspect data to/from Asia and the ME would be roughly equivalent data lags to that of the DR, but I am only speculating.
So,,,perhaps choose trades where success doesn't rely on split-second timing and/or instant responses. You know better than I what those might be.
- To offer just one example -- you could make longer trade options to sell or buy that are more dependent on long-term trends and moves, rather than trade options where you must be executing within seconds to make a bundle...or to avoid losing a bundle.
- You could also simply reduce the number of trades you commit to. Fewer trades to track = more likelihood you'll get the data you need in time to make a proper decision.
And of course, do pay attention to the local internet service where you're staying. PIck the best service possible, of course. Just understand that there's no one, and no place on the island, that can/will guarantee US-level internet access and speeds. Then, you just work around it as best for your needs.
If you trading style simply can't be adapted...I'd strongly recommend finding one of the high-tech enclaves in Puerto Rico that have far superior, and more consistent, internet service than what you're likely to find in the DR.
Best of luck.
Jim
ExpatRusher
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