FlitBen

Insurance and recovery fees are their profit support programs. The loss recovery fees in particular can be eye-opening.

cnk

I've used GAC two times. Requested hotel delivery both time and both times it was waiting for me at check in. No problems at all getting my phones connected and coverage was very good while I was in cities. Both times I ordered the Standard Wifi (75 Mbps). Outside of cities, I still had good coverage in the area around Fuji and Hakone. But in the mountains north of Nagoya there was no coverage at all, even along the main highway and train route.

In retrospect I should have ordered the Premium Wifi for a few yen more. They even state on their web site "If you are going to Hokkaido or Mountain area , We recomend to rent "Super Premium Wifi" or "Premium Wifi"."

So I recommend GAC, but check on coverage where you plan to go and get Premium if required. Price difference wasn't that significant.

hairpeace

Will schedule pick-up at hotel, but where would I return the device?

RTW1

You mail it.... everything is included.

TAHKUCT

Usually it comes with a prepaid envelope and you mail it. Just drop it in any Japan post mailbox. There are a few mailboxes at Narita and Haneda

NickP 1K

I've had lots of Japan trips lately where I'm also onward to Taiwan, S. Korea and HK and started to use the SkyRoam instead. Their daily high speed gap is now 500MB and you can use it across Asia, own the device and just pay for the days you want. Their device is HSPA only

shuigao

I've used GAC's premium model for a ski trip to Nagano/Nozawa Onsen plus snow monkeys, and for a self drive in autumn in Hokkado. I recall the wifi thing working perfectly in the Nagano area (except, of course, on the top of the mountain), but not-quite-perfectly in Hokkaido (there were some spots on roads in between the Biei/Furano/Sonkyou Onsen with patchy coverage).

MasterGeek

isn't it cheaper to wait until arrival in Japan and rent at an airport store ?

stencil

Yup, usually, and you just drop it off at the airport on your way home.

MasterGeek

Just made a reservation for a MiFi device with PuPuRu, they are currently cheaper than GAC because they have a special for their 30th anniversary.

SQ007

Thanks for the heads up! Reserved as well, awesome price.

dinanm3atl

This is company I used. It was beyond excellent.

longtimeflyin

I'm a repeat customer for Softbank.

Great coverage and speed, and I just pick up and drop off at Narita.

TAHKUCT

A bit of topic, but if you are based in USA, Sprint now has unlimited LTE data for free in Japan using SoftBank Network and you can tether for free from your phone as needed. Speeds are ok average over 25 Mbs

OliverB

It's been 3 full years since our last trip to Japan and we're only four months away from our long awaited and much anticipated return!

We'll be in Tokyo for 17 nights straight this time around and I'm planning to rent another pocket WiFi from GAC, but I totally forget if we ever made use of the extra battery the last time around...

Since we won't be travelling outside of the city and could easily recharge the battery every night in our hotel room where we have access to complimentary high-speed wifi, I'm wondering if it's worth renting a backup or procuring our own elsewhere or if it's likely not even necessary at all?

Can anyone please refresh my memory on how quickly these batteries tend to drain?


EDIT: I see that their website indicates 10-12 hrs for 187.5Mbps Ultra High Speed (as requested in my order today) but I'd prefer to verify that with fellow travelers who've put it through the wringer.