Can anyone recommend a ‘pocket WiFi’ company in Japan please?

[Leafy24]

I want one that will be reliable and easy to collect and drop off. Thank you!

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I've used Japan Wireless previously and had no issues - picked it up at the airport and dropped off at my hotel at the end of my trip. However, on my most recent trip I used an eSim, which I found much more convenient.

Thank you! I have considered an e-sim but I’m afraid I couldn’t really work out how it works. I’d have to disconnect my own SIM, but wouldn’t that mean I’d lose my number for the duration of the holiday? So I couldn’t use WhatsApp/Line (the Japanese WhatsApp) while I was on the e-sim?

I also thought that one pocket WiFi for DH and I would be cheaper than two e-sims… 🤔

We used an e sim from Ubigi and also a pocket wireless from Japan Wireless both were really good

We rented a pocket WiFi from Ninja WiFi and it was very good and reliable. Picked it up from the airport, dropped it back at the airport

We used PocketWifiJapan.com recently and it worked really well. They delivered it to our hotel as we were arriving late and then we dropped it back into the post box at the airport when we were leaving the country 5 days later.

I found the eSIM really straightforward to set up, but my phone has dual sim capability so could have both connected at the same time. This meant I could still use my own number for things like WhatsApp, but the eSIM was just for data. I also liked not having something extra to carry around/charge every day.

One eSIM worked out cheaper than the pocket wifi, but not sure how it would compare vs 2 eSIMs.

We’ve used pocket WiFi Japan a few times - no problems with the pick up / drop off and the WiFi did what it was meant to. I think most of the companies with pick up / drop off booths at Narita or Haneda are much the same.

Your phone can probably do duel sim?
I live abroad and have a physical sim form uk and a local e sim, both work on same phone at same time, so you keep both numbers

I agree with everyone else. eSIMs are cheap and really easy to install. Most are data only and my phone can do dual sim (as can most modern smartphones) so my phone number will stay the same. I’ve bought one recently for Japan and it cost us £8.50 each for a 5G data package. Pocket wifis looked to be about £40 upwards, so it was a no-brainer for us to just go down the eSIM route.

I have looked into esims more since posting and I really can’t work out how they would work on my phone. I have an iPhone 11 and I can’t see how I could activate it while still using my phone number without keeping roaming on, at a charge with EE of nearly £8 a day. It may be simpler ‘if you know how,’ but I think we will just have to stick with pocket WiFi! 😅

We don't go until next week, but after a fair bit of research we have gone with ninja wifi which we'll collect from the airport when we arrive.

You install the eSIM by going into your “mobile service” section in your iPhone settings.

You would then activate both SIMs but set your mobile data default to the secondary SIM and turn off mobile data switching. You would leave your UK SIM as the default voice line, but if you aren’t making or receiving calls and are only using WhatsApp or other apps for text messaging/calls then there will be no charges on your UK SIM and you won’t need the £8 per day add on with EE.