Wireless internet

[Crispy]

So, from one of the many threads warning me about that den of scum and villainy, Saitama, I have learned that wireless internet solutions for my laptop are many. So, which one is cheapest? Also, is there any equipment I can buy here (for less money, presumably) before I leave that I could use there? Not having to rely on netcafes or the school's apparently crappy internet services for my addiction is something I will pay money for.

[cstaylor]

"We must be cautious"... perhaps if you sell your landspeeder you can afford an Air-H card... AFAIK, the riccochet cards in the U.S. aren't compatible, so you'll need to buy one here.

[Crispy]

Okay, so how many yens are we talking here?

[cstaylor]

That is a question for GomiGirl... I'm not sure on the price of those puppies.

[GomiGirl]

That is a question for GomiGirl... I'm not sure on the price of those puppies.

Sure sure ask the geekgirl.

I get most of my "gadgets" for free from various places to test, review etc etc. God forbid that I should ever use my own meager salary to pay for my gadget addiction - I need everything I have to support my shoe and handbag fettishes.

OK the best deal I know at the moment is through a company call Westport. They have a b-mobile PC card prepaid that should work with most laptops, notebooks, PDA's with a PC card slot. Prepaid for either 6 or 12 months with UNLIMITED access.

Some spiel I cut and paste.
Included is the hardware (data card 128kbps), 12 months' (or 6 months) connectivity for unlimited usage, plus automatic Internet access (ISP included). Nationwide access throughout Japan. Set-up support available in English or Japanese. Also available is short-term rental, so if you have a friend visiting for a week/month.

Pricing you will have to get for yourself but I KNOW that it is MUCH less than the Air-H cards. Sure to pay for 6 or 12 months is a big upfront cost but it will save you a heap in the long run. I have tested these and can recommend them.

Email in English to: Katie McMahon <kmcmahon@gol.com> I know she is away this week but she is checking her mail. BTW - she will have no idea who GomiGirl is.

[Crispy]

Who is Katie McMahon? A friend of yours, a fellow tech reviewer, or an employee of Westport?

[GomiGirl]

Her card says CEO of Westport. I met her at a seminar a few months ago and asked her to send me some information then tested her card with gadgets that I use/need etc then passed this onto my customers.

http://www.westportcommunications.com/

A new small company that is working hard in a tough economy as far as I can tell. But she came across as extremely tech savvy and she really did know her stuff with regards to the telco situation/systems in Japan.

Try this email from their web-site. <westport@gol.com>

There is no benefit to me if you buy her card - but somebody asked me for the best deal that I know at the moment so there you are.

Apart from that I know very little about her personally... but I can find out if you like...

[Crispy]

I just sent an email. Another thing is, given that I will probably need to get a keitai for reasons I have stated before, wouldn't it be cheaper to get some kind of internet link through the phone, instead of seperate service?

[GomiGirl]

Not sure what your needs are...

All new keitais have internet connectivity if you choose, however, it is based on a subset of HTML, memory limitations and the small screens limit what you can and can't do. For example, you will have email using the gateway of the carrier, eg DoCoMo. but you will not be able to access hotmail or yahoo as i-mode doesn't support cookies etc. Certainly you can view f*cked gaijin from the phone and oteher sites that have been designed for use by mobiles. Some you will have to pay for - 100-300 yen per month. But that is a whole new thread.

PHS keitais can be used to hook up to a laptop via a cable. This is a good system as an alternative to a PC card, but you won't be able to get imode or other mobile internet sites from PHS.

My Suggestions would be:

1. Keitai (DoCoMo, J-Phone or AU) - they all have different plans, different phones, functions and web-access. There are also bi-lingual phones. DoCoMo is _usually_ more expensive than J-Phone and J-Phone also has the camera phones (Sha-Mail). Make sure you get one with a big colour screen - the new Nokia J-Phone clamshell are nice. But then the Sony Ericsson AU phone is very nice too.

2. For your laptop - get a PC card. If you are studying you will need to do papers, assignments etc. Take class notes etc. This you will NOT be able to do on a mobile phone. Also you may need to do research on the web etc etc.

So Laptop for study/work, keitai for play and keeping in touch with your friends etc etc and finding local information. I don't know that much about costs and things coz I look at features and functions of the technology rather than the street pricing.

OK I will stop now as I will give away who I am.

[cstaylor]

Unless you want to shell out about $250 for the privilege of using DoCoMo as a foreigner (no joke: it's their "gaijin tax"), I'd say "stick it to da' Japanese Man" and get a J-Phone instead.

[cstaylor]

Not sure who GomiGirl really is, but you can tell she must be a tech reviewer... trust me, unless you want to be picked up by the cops for skirt photography, I'd stay clear of the sha-mail phone... the photos look like crap anyway... a decent digital camera puts them easily to shame.

[cstaylor]

Westport doesn't have Mac OS X support... I wonder if they need someone to write the drivers for them... maybe I can weasel a free card???

[GomiGirl]

Not sure who GomiGirl really is, but you can tell she must be a tech reviewer... trust me, unless you want to be picked up by the cops for skirt photography, I'd stay clear of the sha-mail phone... the photos look like crap anyway... a decent digital camera puts them easily to shame.

Sha-mail is a fun gimmick but certainly not for serious photographers. Heaps of fun though especially now that you can get little flash attachments for night shots. The movie sha-mail phones are awesome - I saw some a few months ago.

DoCoMo charge the "foreigners" deposit coz so many people skip the country without paying their final bill. I don't agree with such a broad measure for a few ratbags but apparantly it was costing them a heap of money - not that they can afford it or anything.

But again it is all about what your needs are. If it is just voice plus a few emails and a small amount of surfing - then you can't go past J-Phone. They have really lifted their game and have been aggressively targeting the "foreign" community with bilingual literature, good pricing packaging as well as the "Global Net" section on J-Sky. AU have the Global passport phones but they are an afterthough solution. IMHO

I have noticed that people actually change their phone habits after they have been here for a while - people are using less and less voice and are using email and location based mobile internet sites for communication.

What do I use - whatever I can get my hands on. :P I still use my old faithful 2.5 G DoCoMo grey scale Nokia (i-mode) for personal stuff but I do prefer 2.5G colour. 3G hasn't really impressed me thus far.

I have just seen a new GSM phone that arrived today - man is it stunning!!

Ask Westport if they want an OS X driver. ... you never know your luck.

[Crispy]

Eh, all I was looking for was some way to use my laptop to check email and messageboards and IM conversation when I am away from school, without tying up my host family's land line (and it seems that they have no internet service of any kind). I just got an email from Westport, they would want around 45k yen for a four month rental. That's a little much, seeing that I am leaving the US with only about $1500.

[Crispy]

http://www.j-phone-east.com/p_and_s/mobile/usb_ii.htm
What about this dealie? 9600bps would be acceptable if the price was right, but how much does it cost? I assume it just uses the cellphone's airtime minutes...

[cstaylor]

Eh, all I was looking for was some way to use my laptop to check email and messageboards and IM conversation when I am away from school, without tying up my host family's land line (and it seems that they have no internet service of any kind). I just got an email from Westport, they would want around 45k yen for a four month rental. That's a little much, seeing that I am leaving the US with only about $1500.

I'm just slinging the math around here, but a cheap cellphone will cost a bit over 10000JPY, and the service runs about 5000JPY a month, so for four months you'd pay 30000JPY for 9600bps versus 128kbps with Westport... I guess it depends on your needs.

[Crispy]

Yikes, I didn't realize the phone and the service were that expensive. Didn't someone say that there was a sliding relationship between the monthly fee and the cost per minute of use? I would prefer a lower monthly fee and a higher per minute cost. Anyway, where are these numbers coming from? I haven't been able to find any prices for any of this on the internet.

[cstaylor]

Those numbers are coming from my DoCoMo monthly bill... so really those are ass-numbers, not real numbers.

[Crispy]

Bah, I am about to give up and re-evaulate once I get to Japan. Seriously though, I don't know how the hell my budgeting is going to work while I am over there.

[cstaylor]

Good plan... maybe you can work as a host in order to supplement your income?

[Crispy]

Well, supplementing my income will be paychecks coming in from my summer job due to the cooked books.

[GomiGirl]

Cost of living is HIGH here. Actually that quotes you have sourced sound not too bad.

Remember that data traffic is charged on the number of packets you use. So you can be chewing up the minutes, but not the packets so not being charged much.

That host job is looking pretty good now isn't it???

[Crispy]

If anything, it'll just be correcting papers or something.

[cstaylor]

That host job is looking pretty good now isn't it???

Good way to meet girls too... but don't take any jobs near Shinjuku.