What to do about cell/ data service in Japan

[tarheelalum]

I'm thinking about taking the family on a trip to Tokyo Disneyland sometime in the next two years but was wondering what do Americans do about cell/data service there. I have Verizon with a Samsung/Android phone so I doubt that will work there so what do people do on vacation there for cell/data service? It will likely be around a 8-10 day trip.

 

[MikeOhio]

For $10 a day you can use your Verizon plan. Or you can rent a portable WiFi device. Or you can rent a SIM card.

 

[iivye]

We rented a pocket wifi for ten days. Picked up and dropped off at Narita. It worked great for us.

 

[gelatoni fan]

SIM card is not an option for some Verizon phones and I don't recommend their roaming service because at least in Hong Kong, it's slow when loading the Disneyland app. Portable Wi-Fi may be the only reasonable option.

 

[hopemax]

When we were in HK, we used our UK "Pay as you go" Sim card from Three. When we went to Japan, we researched the portable Wi-Fi rentals. But with a later flight, and not sure we could pick it up at the airport post office before it closed, the length of the trip and the overall cost...we just went with our Verizon International add-on. It worked great, no speed issues at all.

 

[gelatoni fan]

When we were in HK, we used our UK "Pay as you go" Sim card from Three. When we went to Japan, we researched the portable Wi-Fi rentals. But with a later flight, and not sure we could pick it up at the airport post office before it closed, the length of the trip and the overall cost...we just went with our Verizon International add-on. It worked great, no speed issues at all.

Were you using the official Tokyo Disney Resort app? I've find that most roaming services work fine for Facebook and other things but some struggle with Disney's apps and mobile games. My cousin had some latency with the Hong Kong Disneyland app in February using Verizon roaming which is what I based my recommendation on.

 

[hopemax]

Were you using the official Tokyo Disney Resort app? I've find that most roaming services work fine for Facebook and other things but some struggle with Disney's apps and mobile games. My cousin had some latency with the Hong Kong Disneyland app in February using Verizon roaming which is what I based my recommendation on.

There was no English available Resort app for us to use, no app in the US iTunes store. However, I extensively played Disney Magic Kingdoms and Pokemon Go, both of which I can have trouble with here in the US. But I'm confused as why Verizon issues in Hong Kong would translate into problems in Japan?

 

[GoingSince1990]

The $10 per day Verizon package worked fine for us.

 

[gelatoni fan]

But I'm confused as why Verizon issues in Hong Kong would translate into problems in Japan?

I didn't know of anyone who used Verizon roaming in Japan which is why I mentioned that. I and other people had some issues using other roaming services in Japan. I know of someone who had some issues with Verizon roaming in Hong Kong. Therefore, I assumed that Verizon roaming in Japan may also have some latency issues. Now that I know it worked for you, I can change my recommendation based on this new information.

 

[OldSchoolReasons]

I rented a portable wifi and used whattsap for calls, worked brilliantly.

 

[Haley R]

All this talk about Verizon, but we have T-Mobile and it comes with free international data. Has anyone used that before?

 

[gelatoni fan]

All this talk about Verizon, but we have T-Mobile and it comes with free international data. Has anyone used that before?

Yes. Perfectly adequate for facebook and stuff but it struggles a bit with the TDR app. I can generally play Pokemon Go on T-mobile roaming. If you're using a third party app to check wait times, you should be fine although images may load slowly. Since buying Japanese SIM cards are so cheap in Hong Kong, I don't personally use it much but I often recommend my friends from the US on T-mobile to just use it to save money.

 

[Haley R]

Yes. Perfectly adequate for facebook and stuff but it struggles a bit with the TDR app. I can generally play Pokemon Go on T-mobile roaming. If you're using a third party app to check wait times, you should be fine although images may load slowly. Since buying Japanese SIM cards are so cheap in Hong Kong, I don't personally use it much but I often recommend my friends from the US on T-mobile to just use it to save money.

We don't have Facebook, but we would be checking Instagram and things like that. Right now I have a third party wait times app. The only way I would try using the TDR app is if the fp system is up and running by the time our trip comes around, but I'm not sure that'll happen. Our mobile Wifi is covered during our Tokyo stay because our Airbnb comes with one, but we were thinking about getting one for Kyoto and TDR. Should we just use T-Mobile?

 

[gelatoni fan]

Images will likely load slowly on Instagram and uploading will be a pain if you're not on WiFi. Videos are mostly not possible. If the extra cost is not a big deal for you, just get the mobile WiFi. T-mobile's free service is enough to survive (load google maps, translate, find basic text stuff) but not as fast as Verizon's paid service. I only recommend T-mobile because it's free while if you're going to pay for Verizon's roaming you might as well just rent a local WiFi for faster speeds and possibly lower cost.

 

[Haley R]

Images will likely load slowly on Instagram and uploading will be a pain if you're not on WiFi. Videos are mostly not possible. If the extra cost is not a big deal for you, just get the mobile WiFi. T-mobile's free service is enough to survive (load google maps, translate, find basic text stuff) but not as fast as Verizon's paid service. I only recommend T-mobile because it's free while if you're going to pay for Verizon's roaming you might as well just rent a local WiFi for faster speeds and possibly lower cost.

We'll just go with my original plan and rent the Mifi then. Thanks! Now I need to figure out where we'll pick it up because we won't need it until after our Tokyo stay. We might have to get it before going to Hakone.

 

[LovesTimone]

When we were in HK, we used our UK "Pay as you go" Sim card from Three. When we went to Japan, we researched the portable Wi-Fi rentals. But with a later flight, and not sure we could pick it up at the airport post office before it closed, the length of the trip and the overall cost...we just went with our Verizon International add-on. It worked great, no speed issues at all.

Thank you for posting this, we have Verizon, and have the international add which we used in France last year and it was great... the only area we had a problem was at Newport Bay at DLP, we had to stand in the window to get a signal... other than that no problems...

It's 10 bucks a day per device, and whatever your plan is here in the US is the same plan when your out of the country..... each day we would use only one device for calling, texting and such... if you don't use the phone one day, there is no charge... only when you use the phone...

Well worth it for us...

 

[foodiddiedoo]

Used Verizon International roaming several times with no problems. Verizon will probably have a roaming agreement with a larger company like Docomo. Remember it's not a Verizon network it's the cellular network of the country you're in that you're using. You'll be getting the same coverage/data rates as anyone else using that company in that country.