EOppie

At NRT right now and dropped off my "PocketWifi" from Global Advanced Communications at the post office.

Had it for just under two weeks traveling in and around Tokyo. Highly recommended.

Pickup was as expected, waiting for me at the NRT post office. They also had provided me with tracking information and email alerts. It actually was at the post office two days prior to my arrival.

Came with a small case, AC charger, small USB cable, and the unit itself.

It also came with prepaid return envelope, all labeled and ready to go. I simply popped everything in it, and dropped it back off at the airport. Really easy.

Overall, I would definitely do the same thing again.

Dark

Horrible experience with Japan-wireless. Received a defective Mifi router. It can happen right? The problem was the useless technical support.
The router wouldn't give any DHCP lease even if I was able to connect to the wifi with the correct wep key. Customer service kept sending me instructions on how to log on to the router to change some settings. How would you do that with no Ip address!!! anyway, it took 3 days for them to finally ask me to return the defective modem and promised to reimburse me the total amount.
I decided to try global advance communication which was a little bit more expensive. Wow. I ordered around 10ish am. Modem was waiting for me at the hotel reception around 2pm same day during a public holiday nevertheless... Everything worked perfectly out of the box. Speed is awesome. Big thumbs up.

bocastephen

Same experience for me - seamless process from order to pickup to drop. LTE service or 3G depending on the area/signal, but had pretty consistent experience in Tokyo and Kyoto and even on the train between Shinagawa and Kyoto.

One caveat (maybe it was my phone, who knows) - Google Maps (and Apple Maps) did not work well with this service. Getting a specific location was often OK, but the location was not precise and did not update as we moved. Using Google Maps for directions was instrumental for negotiating the subways and JR lines and moving between them efficiently to go from A to B - but just be aware that your nav app might not work precisely with this device.

nycnyc

Google Maps worked perfectly for me while I used their device in Tokyo and Kyoto. I'm sorry to hear you had issues with it--what phone did you use?

bocastephen

I was using an iPhone 4

EOppie

Same here, we used Google maps and foursquare a bunch, no issues.

Galaxy S3, Nexus, iPhone 4

NickP 1K

If Google maps cannot get a device GPS lock it will use Google's geolocate service which uses a few methods than just simple wifi scan (e.g. geolocated IP). This can cause the location to be VERY off until a GPS lock if using a Mifi. However it SHOULD try to use cell site data which does NOT come off a MiFi but purely as cell site ID's on the phone part of your phone - regardless if you use a MiFi for data.

I've noticed that if my phone is in Airplane mode but WiFi is on (e.g. to avoid roaming SMS/voice charges) I fail to get a good lock as it's geolocating with the IP address of the MiFi only. If you can switch your phone back to a network just divert all call to voicemail to avoid a roaming inbound caller... Other thing to try is switch from current carrier. I'm not sure which carrier has worked for me; NTT or Softbank but I know one didn't seem to have accurate enough location info based on cell site info that Google Map uses - the other one did... So if on Softbank switch to NTT ; or vice versa.

It's Really problematic in built up areas in Japan to get a quick GPS lock - so having cell site/geolocate info helps ; I've noticed when that is on GPS lock occurs quicker then.

freecia

I don't know how many other people travel with an Android phone and GPS datalogger (for geotagging photos), but I've found this combo to work well in Japan. There's apps on Google Play allow you use the external GPS which triangulates better in tall cityscapes than onboard gps and saves phone battery life. Used this method with a B-mobile sim.

http://androgeoid.com/2010/09/why-us...android-phone/

mialink

Thanks to the info here I ordered the 75MBPS unit from Global Advanced for my upcoming trip in September. Nice that they have a little discount going on right now, 5300JPY for up to 4 days. Will be picking up at NRT, will likely need net access to figure out the trip to my hotel. (first time traveler to Japan)

NickP 1K

I got a "new" Huawei T-Mobile Sonic Hotspot (the E587) on E-Bay, got it unlocked, all in 60 bucks or so with no SIM lock... I now own this device

Then I now just get a SIM from these guys: http://www.keepgo.com/

Tend to have multi country trips lately so I have a SIM + MiFi ready to go before I leave. Using Keep Go's international unlimited SIM. NOT cheap but allows me to avoid the hassle of multiple SIM's for each country and top up issues + waiting on rental pickup for Japan MiFi in hotel. I land in Haneda or NRT with a working MiFi right when I'm on the ground, no return needed.

The SIM Keep go sends you is yours and they deactivate the SIM, NO return of SIM needed

Keep Go provisions either AT&T SIM's or Vodafone Germany SIM's; seems to work OK; extra latency as APN redirects back to US or Germany. Flat rate with fair usage (500MB a day). The single SIM works in multi countries if you order international multi country. Meaning you can take your same MiFi and the SIM from KeepGo and travel anywhere including Japan and use it right away, no swapping SIM's or having to carry additional MiFi's. Used it so far in Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and China - since the APN goes back to Germany or US it avoids China filtering also.

O Sora

Looks like it costs astronomically in certain countries.
In Thailand,

41.40 dollars per 1MB

tilomba

Hi NickP -

Thank you for posting all of your experiences, to date. This is extremely helpful.

Q: Do you know if you can use the emobile prepaid service with your "Huawei T-Mobile Sonic Hotspot (the E587)" device you bought? Specifically, the EM-チャージ (http://emobile.jp/service/emcharge.html)

Or have you tried using any SIM card from a Japanese provider? It seems like it should be that simple... just plug in the SIM and go. If you have any experiences or opinions, I'd love to hear about them.

Thanks,
Michael

dcman2

FYI - We had a very positive and easy experience with global advanced communications recently.

dcman2

NickP 1K

Pick TWO countries and scroll to the right once the options come up an UNLIMITED option will come up (e..g pick Thailand and Japan)

NickP 1K

Yes used emobile service fine with it, actually still carrying a SIM.

Though there is a new guy out their now reselling same service with easier ordering and ability to TOP up an expired or end of data SIM:
http://www.econnectjapan.com/