Rosie is spending nearly 50 days in Japan and wants to be connected. To the outside world, you know, the World Wide Web, that crazy unseeable infrastructure that allows her to surf the net, access translation devices, use a map to get places, check out a restaurant to see if it is worth going into, stream TV and movies, speak to my family any time of the day, update my social media site, letting everyone know what a great time I am having…you know, just the usual.
Japan has great internet coverage, its infrastructure is amazing but it is difficult for foreigners to buy good ‘pay as you go’ SIM cards with the required data that you need. Don’t get me wrong there is free WiFi everywhere, every cafe has a log in, every hotel and hostel, areas in the city centers, even the trains. Rosie is not interested in intermittent coverage she is after 24/7 and to make that happen you need a Pocket WiFi.
The Operator did much research into the various companies and we went with Japan Wireless who had the exact package we were after. www.japan-wireless.com
THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT POCKET WIFI
A pocket WIFI can be only ordered outside of Japan. Order a minimum of 48 hours berfore you arrive.
You must have a postal address for it to be sent to eg, your hotel. Or, you can collect from a nominated Post Office or a Japan Wireless outlet. We opted to collect from Tokyo Narita Airport Post Office on arrival.
You pay for the length of time you wish to have the device. Our 50 days cost just under $5 per day and this gave us genuine unlimited data with no restrictions.
When ordered you get a receipt and collection number, take this info to the Post Office, show your passport for ID and they hand you a small brown envelope.
Inside you will find, the transmitting WIFI device (fully charged) plugs and connectors for charging, a wee bag to carry everything in, a back up battery, all access codes, instructions how to log on for the first time and a return freepost envelope for when your rental time is up so you can return it.
The WIFI unit has roughly a 20 metre transmitting circle and we have quite comfortably run our 2 mobiles and a laptop off it all at the same time with no lag, giving us excellent 4G coverage. They can accept up to 10 devices.
Continuous usage time would be 8-10 hours of heavy use. The back up battery will give you another 8 hours before a recharge is needed. You have a spare battery to give it a boost if out and about, rule of thumb, keep charged whenever you can. We have never had it loose charge on us.
The access is lightening fast and it has made all our internet needs here hassle and frustration free. The WIFI unit must be carried around with you at all times, hence the name, and Yes, it does fit in your pocket if you dont want too slip it in your bag.
Halfway through our holiday we woke up one day to no coverage. We thought it might have been the area, gave it a couple of hours….wasnt restored. Logged into our hotel WIFI and sent customer service a note, within an hour we had reset instructions and were back online immediately. Great service all round.
BEWARE some AirBNBs advertise a Free Pocket WIFI available during your stay with them. Most have limited data available on them and if you are a ‘normal’ internet user this will not be enough. You will be cut off when you have exceeded your daily limit until your allowance is restored the next day.
This has been the one and only international holiday we have been on where our Internet coverage has just been superb, totally reliable, except for one small hitch, and lightening fast. If only you could get these devices world wide, they are fantastic and totally worth the outlay.
We had 1 of those before. It was good for nothing, couldn’t get good wifi. Super expensive. I’m glad you had a better experience with it.