Japan & WiFi
 

Hi,

Has anyone rented the Wi-Fi devices in Japan?

We are going for 8 days and I thought it would be really helpful to have.

This vendor seemed okay. http://www.globaladvancedcomm.com/pocketwifi.html Anyone have any experience with them or suggestion for someone else they have used.

Thanks!

Just returned from 2 1/2 week trip. It was very helpful to have pocket wifi for using google maps while traveling (our hotels all had in room wifi except for one that was fairly remote). Used econnect, it was fine, unit was delivered to our hotel before we arrived. I had a problem with the battery charging properly in the middle of the trip and they answered my email almost immediately, suggested a fix which worked.

We used Global Advanced Comm in 2013 for 5 weeks...worked well except in areas of Hokkaido, especially the more remote areas in the east. Very handy for looking up transportation routes, schedules and costs on the fly. The mifi device was waiting for us at our hotel and at the end of our holiday we just popped it in the provided return envelope and mailed it at the airport. We are returning to Tokyo June 5 and ordered from GAC again.

We used an eConnect device in March. Flawless.

https://www.econnectjapan.com/products/wifi/

I used CDJapan Rental which was great.

1. They have very simple pickup and return. You can pick it up at airport, hotels with it fully charged. When you leave Japan, you just need to post it the to the red mailbox which can be see in anywhere in Japan.

2. limited usage, smooth and convenient.

3. start day can be changed if your itinerary has any change. You can also extend your rental period by yourself on their website.

4. Besides, the price is very reasonable.(what impressed me most is their fast speed in replying emails when you have any questions :-))

You can compare their price and quality with items on other sites but I think CDJapan rental will be a good choice.(I am one of the repeaters)
Here are the reviews from their customers and hope this will help you.
http://rental.cdjapan.co.jp/contents...CustomerReview

I also rented a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot in Japan and found it invaluable. Regardless of the company (and you have good recommendations here), it's a good thing to have.

Agree with Doug, having a mobile wifi device was absolutely invaluable on all three of our trips to Japan. We used it to look up information on sights, on restaurants and on public transport, we used Google maps regularly when on foot especially and trying to find an address, we also used it to roughly check routings for driving though it wasn't as accurate as the in-car Satnav for that, it was sometimes handy to review in our hotel room the previous night, we used it to access Hyperdia for train timetable checks and also for general web access for social media sharing, emails and so on.

We used iVideo pocket wifi rental, and picked up in Japan, returned to postbox $1.6 daily. The signal of most places is okay. The machine is small so quite easy to take with. FYI : http://goo.gl/TPNL4D

Do you need a Japanese SIM card with these devices?

The device is a rental, so it's got a SIM built-in. You get everything in one package, which is why it's so convenient.

Yep, what Doug said.

We used the mobile wifi with our UK mobile phones and with our Android tablet. Our phones were not set to roaming, so we couldn't make calls nor use data through them, but of course we could connect them to the wifi provided by the mobile device.

I used Global Advanced Comm in April 2016 and they were fantastic. The device in delivered to your hotel (or a post office near where you are staying if AirBNB) the day before you arrive and you are given a postage paid envelope that you just drop in a mailbox before you leave. I had service 24/7 everywhere in Japan.

It was a great service and the customer support was terrific (the hotel had misplaced the device and Global hounded them until they found it)

I wish we had a service this good in the US!

Any recommendation about WiFi nowaday? We are planning a one month road trip to Japan. So i guess we need WIFI for GPS and generally. Any recommendations?

You do not need wifi for GPS. You need an unobstructed view of the skies so your phone can pick up GPS signals. Download offline maps before you travel. You won't get real time traffic but you will get gps and directions.

If you want to connect your phone to the local cell network for real time gps/traffic, VoIP calling, messaging, internet, etc, get an esim to install on your phone. I get esims for all around the world at airalo dot com. Cost is about $5 for a 1 week esim, $15-20 for one month.

Thank you do much, indeed I was referring to Google Maps. I got this site already seems like lifesaver, thank you again

I would say that esims seem to be a good solution, but I thought I understood that esim packages were long-term.

There are short term esims available. I used a regional Asia esim last week. $5 US for 1G, valid for 7 days. With the prevalence of wifi 1G was more than enough for a week. I could top it off or extend it, so the esim can be long term but it doesn't need to be. But to keep things simple on my phone I just deleted it when I was done.

I've seen some rental car stores have them available. I'm not sure about the internet speed but it's a cheaper alternative than an international plan. I would highly recommend downloading your city maps on your Google Maps app before traveling. You'll be able to use the maps even without the internet if you do that.