Mar 22, 2016, 3:00 am
Last edit by: RichardInSF
Japan - Prepaid Data SIM Wikia
1) get a SIM before the trip, activate it when you land. you can find japan-specific prepaid SIMs on ebay/amazon/... .Some countries have providers that offer good roaming rates in other countries(eg Starhub in Singapore, Ais Sim2Fly available globally)
2) preorder it, delivered to your hotel
3) preorder it to airport post office, can pick up when you land
4) preorder it, pickup at some airport counter/store
5) at airport/city, find an store/kiosk/vending machine and buy from them
6) Use an app such as Iijmio, Airalo or Ubigi to buy an e-SIM if your phone supports it
If you are arriving at Haneda international terminal without a SIM: Exit customs, turn right, and continue to the BIC camera store on the left side. Ignore any other places and vending machines that will sell you a SIM. BIC has a good selection at regular camera store prices.
1) get a SIM before the trip, activate it when you land. you can find japan-specific prepaid SIMs on ebay/amazon/... .Some countries have providers that offer good roaming rates in other countries(eg Starhub in Singapore, Ais Sim2Fly available globally)
2) preorder it, delivered to your hotel
3) preorder it to airport post office, can pick up when you land
4) preorder it, pickup at some airport counter/store
5) at airport/city, find an store/kiosk/vending machine and buy from them
6) Use an app such as Iijmio, Airalo or Ubigi to buy an e-SIM if your phone supports it
If you are arriving at Haneda international terminal without a SIM: Exit customs, turn right, and continue to the BIC camera store on the left side. Ignore any other places and vending machines that will sell you a SIM. BIC has a good selection at regular camera store prices.
Prepaid SIM discussion (consolidated)
Sep 26, 2018, 2:31 pm
#408
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: YYZ
Programs: AMEX AC CX UA AA DL
Posts: 3,008
I think I do need a lot of data, unfortunately, and I'm looking to have fairly decent speeds as well (that's why I was considering the Ninja SIM as I heard they were an MVNO with good speeds.) We'll be renting a car in both Kyushu and Yakushima and using google maps/websites to look up restaurants a lot on the fly which will eat through data I imagine.
I'd looked into the docomo welcome SIM, but worried less than 2GB won't be enough and would prefer not to be constantly worried about how much data I have left. On most trips I take I seem to average ~1 GB per week. I think 3-4 GB would likely be enough for the 2 weeks given the additional need for data in our car?
I'd looked into the docomo welcome SIM, but worried less than 2GB won't be enough and would prefer not to be constantly worried about how much data I have left. On most trips I take I seem to average ~1 GB per week. I think 3-4 GB would likely be enough for the 2 weeks given the additional need for data in our car?
GPS on smartphones uses very little data. Well written apps don't use much data. Opera Mini uses little data.
For Docomo welcome SIM , you can buy as many GB as you want, if I am not mistaken. It's all detailed on their website.
https://docomo.prepaid-sim.jp/faq/lp
Last edited by beep88; Sep 26, 2018 at 2:39 pm
Sep 30, 2018, 7:53 pm
#409
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Canada
Posts: 78
I will be buying one of these cards.
https://www.klook.com/activity/3613-...4-6ac421af8189
Hopefully Docomo is not bad in the major metropolitan areas! Thinking of heading out to Nikko/Kamakura if time permits.
https://www.klook.com/activity/3613-...4-6ac421af8189
Hopefully Docomo is not bad in the major metropolitan areas! Thinking of heading out to Nikko/Kamakura if time permits.
Oct 12, 2018, 5:30 pm
#410
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: LAX/TPE
Programs: United 1K, JAL Sapphire, SPG Lifetime Platinum, National Executive Elite, Hertz PC, Avis PC
Posts: 42,222
Ordered my SIM2FLY and have a couple questions.....
I am in TW first and it's connected to Taiwan Mobile, but only at 3G. When I landed and turned it on, I was getting repeat SMS about insufficient balance and the connection went up and down, but eventually the messages stopped and the connection is stable, but not 4G or LTE by any stretch, but faster than 3G in the USA. I am on my way to Singapore this morning and will have test #2 down there to see if it's different. Tomorrow is HK, which is test #3 . I hope there is nothing wrong with the chip or the account preventing 4G/LTE or if it's just TW Mobile nomenclature.
I tried to connect Line Pay with the AIS app, but it was asking for a passport number - when I put something in, there was a generic error and it didn't connect. Not sure if that's a temporary thing, or a real problem.
Has anyone seen either of these issues?
I am in TW first and it's connected to Taiwan Mobile, but only at 3G. When I landed and turned it on, I was getting repeat SMS about insufficient balance and the connection went up and down, but eventually the messages stopped and the connection is stable, but not 4G or LTE by any stretch, but faster than 3G in the USA. I am on my way to Singapore this morning and will have test #2 down there to see if it's different. Tomorrow is HK, which is test #3 . I hope there is nothing wrong with the chip or the account preventing 4G/LTE or if it's just TW Mobile nomenclature.
I tried to connect Line Pay with the AIS app, but it was asking for a passport number - when I put something in, there was a generic error and it didn't connect. Not sure if that's a temporary thing, or a real problem.
Has anyone seen either of these issues?
Oct 13, 2018, 4:30 am
#412
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: NUE
Programs: BAEC Silver, FB Gold, HHonors Gold, IHG Platinum, SK Diamond, ITA Volare Club Executive, TK Elite
Posts: 365
Oct 14, 2018, 1:59 am
#413
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 17
So I'm in Japan now and bought the Sim2Fly for myself and b-mobile for my partner. The Sim2Fly works great, but we seem to be getting a 404 on the activation page whenever we try to get the b-mobile one working after installing the APN. This is on an iPhone 5S. Obviously turned it off and on many times. Anyone run into this?
Oct 14, 2018, 6:48 am
#414
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: YYZ
Programs: Aeroplan, Flying Blue Gold, Accor Silver, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 662
Is this over wifi or on the mobile network? You need to first register the Bmobile card, if you didn’t purchase it online. To do so, you need internet connectivity which your Bmobile SIM card won’t have until it’s registered, so be sure to use wifi or tether to the other phone with Sim2fly
Other things to try: Remove any other profiles, do a network reset, wait a couple hours before trying internet. hope this helps.
Other things to try: Remove any other profiles, do a network reset, wait a couple hours before trying internet. hope this helps.
Oct 14, 2018, 2:41 pm
#415
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 17
Is this over wifi or on the mobile network? You need to first register the Bmobile card, if you didn’t purchase it online. To do so, you need internet connectivity which your Bmobile SIM card won’t have until it’s registered, so be sure to use wifi or tether to the other phone with Sim2fly
Other things to try: Remove any other profiles, do a network reset, wait a couple hours before trying internet. hope this helps.
Other things to try: Remove any other profiles, do a network reset, wait a couple hours before trying internet. hope this helps.
Oct 14, 2018, 10:12 pm
#416
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: LAX/TPE
Programs: United 1K, JAL Sapphire, SPG Lifetime Platinum, National Executive Elite, Hertz PC, Avis PC
Posts: 42,222
It won't connect with other networks - just the one it auto-connects with.
I had the 3G issue in Singapore upon arrival, but I removed and re-inserted the SIM and I was back to 4G, but not LTE. Upon arrival in HK, it took awhile, but connected at 4G with CSL. I am on my way back to Taiwan, so we will see what happens this time, maybe I will try forcing it to another network, but when I tried that in HK to look for a LTE signal, it failed.
I still can't get Line Pay to work, though
I had the 3G issue in Singapore upon arrival, but I removed and re-inserted the SIM and I was back to 4G, but not LTE. Upon arrival in HK, it took awhile, but connected at 4G with CSL. I am on my way back to Taiwan, so we will see what happens this time, maybe I will try forcing it to another network, but when I tried that in HK to look for a LTE signal, it failed.
I still can't get Line Pay to work, though
Oct 15, 2018, 4:57 am
#417
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: YYZ
Programs: Aeroplan, Flying Blue Gold, Accor Silver, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 662
The activation is the registration page. If the instructions say to turn off wifi to register, they I would follow those steps.. Do you have any other profiles on the phone, did you try a network reset? If those don’t work, you may have to contact their help line.
I always bought my Bmobile cards online, so they came pre-activated.
I always bought my Bmobile cards online, so they came pre-activated.
Oct 15, 2018, 8:49 pm
#418
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: SFO
Programs: Delta Gold 1MM, JAL JGC Diamond, Marriott LT Titanium
Posts: 395
Docomo is running some promotions for their prepaid SIM:
- (Available to everyone) SIM validity is now 20 days instead of 15 days
- (Available only to the first 999 customers) 1000 yen off the 2 GB / XL plan
OR
- (Available only to the first 999 customers too?) Free 300 MB high-speed data
https://wow-j.com/en/feature/jwsim/c...r=SIM_WiFi_TOP
- (Available to everyone) SIM validity is now 20 days instead of 15 days
- (Available only to the first 999 customers) 1000 yen off the 2 GB / XL plan
OR
- (Available only to the first 999 customers too?) Free 300 MB high-speed data
https://wow-j.com/en/feature/jwsim/c...r=SIM_WiFi_TOP
Oct 16, 2018, 2:00 pm
#419
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: YYZ
Programs: AMEX AC CX UA AA DL
Posts: 3,008
Log in to the app, click on the box that says "Balance ??.00 Baht" -> click check box for "Rabbit LINE Pay" , pick a top up amount , click NEXT -> "Summary of top up" click OK
The app never asked for passport number. The cards are pre-registered with the seller "Wise Corporation Limited" (in Thai) and ID number. So if I were to select certain functions like "Top Up Usage Details" it would ask for ID card or passport for verification which of course I don't have.
The app never asked for passport number. The cards are pre-registered with the seller "Wise Corporation Limited" (in Thai) and ID number. So if I were to select certain functions like "Top Up Usage Details" it would ask for ID card or passport for verification which of course I don't have.
Oct 18, 2018, 9:59 am
#420
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 326
For the Sim2Fly card first time activation do you have to do anything (run the special codes in the phone) or does it automatically activate once the phone is on with the new SIM?
I've entered the codes for reactivation but my card was activated by them at the airport in BKK.
I've entered the codes for reactivation but my card was activated by them at the airport in BKK.