10 things you should think about before renting a wifi router in Japan

Japan Rental Wifi 101

Choosing the best network for your travel

　Docomo > au / Softbank / Y!mobile  > WiMax
Wider Coverage....................................→Limited Coverage

If you want to rent a wifi router for your travel in Japan, here are some basic things (101) you should think about before you make a decision.

Once you sign (or check the box) on the contract, you will be charged for the entire period of time for the router you are going to rent, regardless of what kind of signal you receive. So let's make sure you will get good connectivity in the area where you are going to stay and travel.

Although Japan is well covered, if you are planning to go to a remote area and not sure which wifi router works best, be sure to ask, either by calling or email, ahead of time which one is best for a specific area, such as on top of Mt. Fuji, etc.  They are happy to discuss.

1 Coverage where you stay:

Are you going to stay in a city, or a rural area? All five networks, Docomo, Softbank, au, Wimax, and Y!mobile are good in general, but they all have merits and demerits.

• Big cities? Choose whatever you like, even WiMax. 
• Mountains? Shores? On the water? Stay with Docomo.
• Hokkaido or Okinawa? au is recommended. 

If you experience a poor connection in a rural area, try to come close to a major highway or a train station.  Come close to a window or even outdoors if you use a WiMax router and are deep inside a concrete building or up high in a skyscraper. 

For the details of the coverage of the five networks, click here.

2 What you have:

Please keep in mind that the internet connection through wifi depends on your device as well as on the capacity of the router. No matter how advanced the wifi router might be, you won't be able to enjoy the fast speed unless your device is  capable.

It would be a good idea to check the specs of your device first to determine how advanced you want the router to be.

photo CNET:How to find your Mac's specs

3 What you want to do:

If you plan to rent a wifi router, what you want to do with it in Japan also matters. When we are using our home wifi, we don't worry about how much data we are using. But when you travel, you are likely to be using a lot of data on map apps, GPS, sending pictures to friends and families, etc.

Also, if you want to download a lot of data, play games, NetFlix, You-Tube, etc., on the road, you definitely want to choose an "unlimited data plan by Softbank."

Click here to access the shop.

4 How much to pay:

The typical cost for a "wifi rental" for Japan is $2 to $5 a day, depending on how many days you want to use it.  If it's one day it will be about $5, if it's 180 days about $2 or less a day plus shipping. If renting a few days longer than 2 weeks, probably paying for the entire month will come in cheaper.

$60 +shipping for a month would be a typical cost for a high-speed wifi router. Watch out for a heavily discounted plan, it might be a very basic model with only 3G connection.

Sample pricing for a docomo rental wifi

5 How to pay:

The most preferred and convenient way of payment is credit card, but some services might not accept a foreign credit card. Probably you will have a better chance if you stick with a big brand such as Master Card, VISA, AMex. Trial and error, but worth trying.

Also there are a few other options such as a bank transfer, COD, Rakuten shop points, etc.  Pre-pay is required if you want to use a bank transfer.

6 Where to pick up:

All online rental wifi services ship a router to your hotel or a home/office address, and some services ship to a post office in a domestic airport, such as Naha airport (Okinawa) or Shin-Chitose airport (Hokkaido), as well as in a big international airport.

Off course you can rent one at either Narita or Haneda airport if you can get by with "airport priced" charges.

Services at international airports

7 Data Plan:

There are several rental plans which have no restrictions in terms of data allowance, while others come with some limitations such as "3GB max within 3 consecutive days," or "7GB max within one month."

If you want to take advantage of using unlimited data in Japan for the same cost, "Pocket Wifi" by Softbank will be the best choice as of Spring 2017.  Good coverage and good speed is what you can expect from Softbank.

Docomo models have good coverage and are popular, but often times they come with a limitation such as "LTE is not provided if you go beyond 3GB in 3 days." You can get back to LTE the next day.

8 Liability Insurance:

Probably you want to have some kind of liability insurance especially if you have kids! You have an option to buy a policy or not at checkout. I have seen various options such as 43 yen/day, 200 yen/day, 500 yen max, etc.

Typically, damage by water and dropping is 100% covered, but if it's stolen or lost, there is a deductible.

9 How to Receive & Return:

Some services use the Japan Post "Yubin-kyoku（郵便局）," while others use private carrier services, so called "Takuhai-bin（宅配便）."  A private carrier service is usually found at a convenience store, while there are Japan Post Offices throughout Japan, where you can drop off the router.  There is a mailbox also in the international airports.

Japan Post (ゆうびんきょく、郵便局）

10 When to order:

Last minute decision?  An order can be placed up to a day prior to your arrival if you have a credit card.  Plenty of time to browse?  There are good deals such as free shipping or coupons, or a seasonal campaign. So watch out for those!