Blackberry and Iphone 3Gs

Hi,

I am planning to stay in Japan for 10 days trip. I plan to bring my Blackberry and Iphone 3Gs , buy a local Japan SIM card with a provider that could also support Wi-Fi in case we need it for GPS.

My questions are:
1. are those 2 mobile compatible with the SIM card in Japan?
2. which provider has reasonable charge for tourists (short term stay) and user friendly for non-japanese speaker?
3. I read from other forum question that there's a cancellation fee if we cancel the service before 2 years? or perhaps this only applies if we sign long term contract with the provider?

Thanks
Josie

1. are those 2 mobile compatible with the SIM card in Japan?

Blackberry: depends on the model, and must be unlocked
iphone 3gs: yes, provided its unlocked

2. which provider has reasonable charge for tourists (short term stay) and user friendly for non-japanese speaker?

A rental sim with data will probably be best for you. Softbank sims don't support (cheap) data, but there are a few companies that rent for about 1500 yen per day that include unlimited mobile data. At that price though, you may be better off renting a mobile hotspot and being able to connect multiple devices at once.

See this page for more info:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2279.html

3. I read from other forum question that there's a cancellation fee if we cancel the service before 2 years? or perhaps this only applies if we sign long term contract with the provider?

That only applies to long term contracts.

Hi,

thank You kindly for the info. It really helps :)

cheers
Josie

I had the same question before and figured it out by myself.
It seems that even if your phone is locked, you can use WiFi network. So the best way would be renting portable WiFi router.
These are the providers which I copied from previous topic.
You don't need to sign the long term contract with this.

http://www.softbank-rental.jp/en/phones/sim3g.php
http://www.globaladvancedcomm.com/simrent.html
http://www.econnectjapan.com/

I signed with GlobalAdvancedComm for a WiFi router (MiFi) to be picked up at Narita Airport (or your hotel, if you like). For 18 days, it cost me 10,000 yen and I can use it anywhere in Japan, provided I use my iPhone in airplane mode. If I went with the hotel's wired internet (which I couldn't use if I'm not in the hotel), it would come to 18,900 yen. It's about the size of a pack of cigarettes, or even smaller, and you can use it continuously for about 5-6 hours....

provided I use my iPhone in airplane mode

Please forgive my stupidity but why is it necessary to do this?

I too hope to rent a pocket Wifi for my travel in Japan so I can use my iPhone to access the internet but am now confused how this will work.

You must keep your iPhone in airplane mode and manually log onto wifi, because if you just turn on the phone, it's going to look for a carrier, in my case it was NTT DoCoMo and then you're going to get international charges.

You must keep your iPhone in airplane mode and manually log onto wifi, because if you just turn on the phone, it's going to look for a carrier, in my case it was NTT DoCoMo and then you're going to get international charges

Actually that's not entirely true, you don't have to use airplane mode to prevent international charges, its just one of doing so. The downside to using airplane mode is that you would not be reachable on your mobile in an emergency.

If you leave airplane mode on your phone will still default to using the mobile hotspot for internet related things as long as it is connected. A further failsafe is to turn off data roaming in the settings which will keep you from using expensive mobile data in the chance you are disconnected from your hotspot. In this way you will prevent roaming data charges while still being able to accept phone calls should the need arise.

But either way works, just pick the one that fufills your needs.

Thanks All for the inputs ^^ really appreciate it.

I've finally decided to use Skype Wi-fi as it does not depend on one provider only and the rate is PAYG.

Just want to confirm of how to connect to Skype Wi-fi. I put the Iphone on Airplane mode then disactivate the roaming connection option. Then I log in to Skype to manually search for Wi-fi connection. Is this correct?

cheers
Josie

I've finally decided to use Skype Wi-fi as it does not depend on one provider only and the rate is PAYG.

Just be aware that skype wifi uses local wifi hotspots, and while they can be found fairly easily in major cities, there isn't anywhere near the same coverage compared to the cellular network.

Just want to confirm of how to connect to Skype Wi-fi. I put the Iphone on Airplane mode then disactivate the roaming connection option. Then I log in to Skype to manually search for Wi-fi connection. Is this correct?

No, that is not correct. The only thing you need is for your wifi to be on. Then open the skype app and connect.

You can optionally turn on airplane mode first, but then you must turn your wifi back on (as airplane mode will shut off all connections when activated) and then use the skype wifi app to connect.

Also, I would turn off data roaming regardless of which method you choose. In fact, I always leave data roaming off even when I'm at home.