www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Actually, I have service for $30 a month in the US - with Google Fi - and it's awesome AND it works in San Jose (again, probably most of the Central Valley but the only places I've tried it are in centro and in the selva - the Barra).

On top of that, Google Fi lets me make phone calls over WiFi (and seamlessly sets up a VPN so my calls are private) and then if I go outside that WiFi coverage, it seamlessly (there's that word again) shifts to one of three carriers that the system uses.

And using Gooogle Hangouts, I get my voicemails and texts on any phone I'm running Hangouts on.

So, I get my US texts and voicemails on my CR phone.

I know for sure that with Claro your smartphone can be used as a hotspot without a data plan. I do not use the other 2 companies so cannot say from personal experience. As for which is cheaper the following is the figures I was given in print.

4G LTE--no additional cost with either postpago nor prepago

Postpago: 2GB LTE c17,000 per month
Prepago: 2GB LTE c10000 per month
400MB LTE c2300 per week
100MB LTE c300 per day (24hour)

This is what you pay whether you have a date plan or not!!!! The difference is that with a plan you are charged this amount depending on which data plan you have (day/week/month) whereas without a plan you are charged the daily rate until the colony amount hits the monthly rate ate which time you will be charged only the monthly rate. Looks to me like they (like many companies) will tell you that what will actually make the most money for them is the lowest rate!! Again, I do not know what the costs are for Movistar nor Kolbi.

I've tried repeatedly to use my phone with a Kolbi prepago SIM as a hot spot.

It doesn't work.

MM3, It sounds like maybe that is just another reason Kolbi has gone from having 100% of the business (when it had NO competition) to now having the smallest portion of the movil phone business in Costa Rica. I actually have no idea as to whether kolbi is suppose to work as a hotspot or not. I do know from having used their system that their coverage and signal strength is not as good as Claro (But signal strength also depends on the area you are in). Also, with Claro I spend less per month now even using my phone as a hotspot several times a week than what I spent when I had Kolbi.

I've tried the Kolbi prepago SIM in other phones just in case it was my phone. I doesn't work.

MM3......
I'm guessing that your problem is with the settings on your phone. If you take the phone to the Kolbi store, they can probably get your hotspot to work.