Portable WiFi?
 

Heading to Japan and have seen recommendations that travelers rent a portable WiFi device that you take along as you travel. .
I never have done this before and am looking for advice. Thanks.

I didn't rent one, and didn't feel I needed one. All my hotels had wifi for my iPad, and I had T-Mobile international access with unlimited data on my phone.

Earlier this year I spent 12 days across Singapore, Seoul, and Japan. I rented a device (with unlimited data) through TEPWireless and was quite pleased. The device was delivered to my home before departure; worked flawlessly throughout my trip; and I simply mailed it back when I returned home.

When we stayed in Kyoto for a week last year, the portable WiFi device came with the apartment at no extra cost.
It was extremely helpful as we could connect all our three phones to it, and did not have to buy three local SIM cards.
We used it mostly to get from A to B with Google Maps with public transit, which worked perfectly.
They only thing you have to remember is that you have another device that needs to be re-charged overnight :-)

If you’re going to rent one, try iVideo When we were there last month, we rented the Softbank 601 unit. You may also want to rent a power bank - the wifi units usually last about 8 hours on a full charge so may not last the day if you’re out and about. The power bank can also be used to recharge your phone, iPad etc. on the go.

It depends on how many devices and people you have - multiple people and/or devices make it worthwhile. If you’ll be staying in an apartment (AirBnB etc.), check if they provide one. The alternative is to roam with your existing provider (usually very, very expensive) or get a local sim. The downside with a local sim is that you don’t have your usual sim in your phone.

We rely on it quite a lot in Japan when we are out sightseeing....for google maps and google translate. Most hotels, apartments have WiFi but it is very helpful to have the portable unit when out and about.

Thanks everyone for your responses and suggestions. Portable wifi sounds perfect us. In Europe we get a SIM card for my phone and Verizon Intl plan for my husband’s phone. What we are most interested in is having access to Google Maps and Google Translate when we are out and about so the portable wifi sounds perfect.

Last summer we rented a portable wifi from Japan Wireless for our 3 week trip. They mailed it to Narita where we picked it up on arrival at the post office. It worked great and they were easy to communicate with beforehand. They included a prepaid envelope to mail it back, so we dropped it in a mailbox at Narita airport just before we left. We're hoping to go back next summer and we'll do the same thing.