I am going to Japan next month for 10 days. I currently have a quad
band phone that does NOT work in Japan (I guess I need a 3g phone to
do that). I am not a heavy phone user. I would probably use the
phone less than 10 minutes per day and/or send 3-4 text messages per
day. I can do most of my business via email and the internet from the
hotel. I mostly plan on keeping in touch with the wife and kids. I
will spend most of my time in Tokyo proper. I guess I need to either
rent a phone and service and/or buy a Japan capable phone and use
cingular/ATT's internatonal roaming.
Does anyone have a easy and hopefully somewhat inexpensive solution to
my problem? I would appreciate any and all suggestions.
Mike wrote:
> I am going to Japan next month for 10 days. I currently have a quad
> band phone that does NOT work in Japan (I guess I need a 3g phone to
> do that). I am not a heavy phone user. I would probably use the
> phone less than 10 minutes per day and/or send 3-4 text messages per
> day. I can do most of my business via email and the internet from the
> hotel. I mostly plan on keeping in touch with the wife and kids. I
> will spend most of my time in Tokyo proper. I guess I need to either
> rent a phone and service and/or buy a Japan capable phone and use
> cingular/ATT's internatonal roaming.
>
> Does anyone have a easy and hopefully somewhat inexpensive solution to
> my problem? I would appreciate any and all suggestions.
Not inexpensive!
See
"http://www.japanvisitor.com/index.php?cID=382&pID=828&cName=Phone+Rental&pName =spon-my-japan-phone"
On 2007-09-07, Mike <mnolan@purdue.edu> wrote:
> I am going to Japan next month for 10 days. I currently have a quad
> band phone that does NOT work in Japan (I guess I need a 3g phone to
> do that). I am not a heavy phone user. I would probably use the
> phone less than 10 minutes per day and/or send 3-4 text messages per
> day. I can do most of my business via email and the internet from the
> hotel. I mostly plan on keeping in touch with the wife and kids. I
> will spend most of my time in Tokyo proper. I guess I need to either
> rent a phone and service and/or buy a Japan capable phone and use
> cingular/ATT's internatonal roaming.
>
> Does anyone have a easy and hopefully somewhat inexpensive solution to
> my problem? I would appreciate any and all suggestions.
If you travel frequently in Europe and Asia, and want a new phone,
buying a phone that supports 2100 MHz UMTS (i.e. 3G) might be worth
it. The trouble with this is that there are very few phones which
support 2100 MHz UMTS which also provide full band coverage in the US,
and those that exist are expensive. I think the only phone with this
band AT&T sells is the 8525 smartphone, which is quite expensive.
I have a Hong Kong V3xx which I've used in Japan; it supports 2100 MHz
and I paid less than $100 for it, but it lacks 850 MHz support so I can't
use it in the US. I'm hoping there'll be a better selection of phones
with full band coverage next year.
Apart from this, you can rent a Japanese phone when you get there. Last
time I was there I saw a DoCoMo booth at Narita Airport which was renting
phones. I'm not sure what this costs, though, nor do I have any idea what
a local prepaid SIM costs if you already have a phone. I travel to Japan
infrequently, and never more than a couple of days at a time, so I normally
just grit my teeth and pay roaming rates.
In article <slrnfe37av.a5.dcferguson@akit-ferguson.com>,
Dennis Ferguson <dcferguson@pacbell.net> wrote:
> On 2007-09-07, Mike <mnolan@purdue.edu> wrote:
> > I am going to Japan next month for 10 days. I currently have a quad
> > band phone that does NOT work in Japan (I guess I need a 3g phone to
> > do that). I am not a heavy phone user. I would probably use the
> > phone less than 10 minutes per day and/or send 3-4 text messages per
> > day. I can do most of my business via email and the internet from the
> > hotel. I mostly plan on keeping in touch with the wife and kids. I
> > will spend most of my time in Tokyo proper. I guess I need to either
> > rent a phone and service and/or buy a Japan capable phone and use
> > cingular/ATT's internatonal roaming.
> >
> > Does anyone have a easy and hopefully somewhat inexpensive solution to
> > my problem? I would appreciate any and all suggestions.
>
> If you travel frequently in Europe and Asia, and want a new phone,
> buying a phone that supports 2100 MHz UMTS (i.e. 3G) might be worth
> it. The trouble with this is that there are very few phones which
> support 2100 MHz UMTS which also provide full band coverage in the US,
> and those that exist are expensive. I think the only phone with this
> band AT&T sells is the 8525 smartphone, which is quite expensive.
> I have a Hong Kong V3xx which I've used in Japan; it supports 2100 MHz
> and I paid less than $100 for it, but it lacks 850 MHz support so I can't
> use it in the US. I'm hoping there'll be a better selection of phones
> with full band coverage next year.
>
> Apart from this, you can rent a Japanese phone when you get there. Last
> time I was there I saw a DoCoMo booth at Narita Airport which was renting
> phones. I'm not sure what this costs, though, nor do I have any idea what
> a local prepaid SIM costs if you already have a phone. I travel to Japan
> infrequently, and never more than a couple of days at a time, so I normally
> just grit my teeth and pay roaming rates.
>
> Dennis Ferguson
Renting in Japan is cheap and you can get good rates for overseas,
though when I go, I mainly just use internet.
Dennis Ferguson <dcferguson@pacbell.net> wrote:
> infrequently, and never more than a couple of days at a time, so I normally
> just grit my teeth and pay roaming rates.
The upfront cost of a "cheaper" solution probably doesn't amortize well for
a few day's stay. Perhaps the biggest advantage would be for parties
calling you to get a local number.
What about concentrating on text messages? I've been told that is much
cheaper, and might be used to give a local telephone number for further
communication.
--
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley Lake, CA, USA GPS: 38.8,-122.5
In article <slrnfe37av.a5.dcferguson@akit-ferguson.com>,
Dennis Ferguson <dcferguson@pacbell.net> wrote:
>On 2007-09-07, Mike <mnolan@purdue.edu> wrote:
>> I am going to Japan next month for 10 days. I currently have a quad
>> band phone that does NOT work in Japan (I guess I need a 3g phone to
>> do that). I am not a heavy phone user. I would probably use the
>> phone less than 10 minutes per day and/or send 3-4 text messages per
>> day. I can do most of my business via email and the internet from the
>> hotel. I mostly plan on keeping in touch with the wife and kids. I
>> will spend most of my time in Tokyo proper. I guess I need to either
>> rent a phone and service and/or buy a Japan capable phone and use
>> cingular/ATT's internatonal roaming.
>>
>> Does anyone have a easy and hopefully somewhat inexpensive solution to
>> my problem? I would appreciate any and all suggestions.
>
>If you travel frequently in Europe and Asia, and want a new phone,
>buying a phone that supports 2100 MHz UMTS (i.e. 3G) might be worth
>it. The trouble with this is that there are very few phones which
>support 2100 MHz UMTS which also provide full band coverage in the US,
>and those that exist are expensive. I think the only phone with this
>band AT&T sells is the 8525 smartphone, which is quite expensive.
>I have a Hong Kong V3xx which I've used in Japan; it supports 2100 MHz
>and I paid less than $100 for it, but it lacks 850 MHz support so I can't
>use it in the US. I'm hoping there'll be a better selection of phones
>with full band coverage next year.
>
>Apart from this, you can rent a Japanese phone when you get there. Last
>time I was there I saw a DoCoMo booth at Narita Airport which was renting
>phones. I'm not sure what this costs, though, nor do I have any idea what
>a local prepaid SIM costs if you already have a phone. I travel to Japan
>infrequently, and never more than a couple of days at a time, so I normally
>just grit my teeth and pay roaming rates.
The Nokia 6120 Classic is a 6-band phone for about $250.
It supports quad band GSM _plus_ two UMTS bands.
Mike S. wrote:
> In article <slrnfe37av.a5.dcferguson@akit-ferguson.com>,
> Dennis Ferguson <dcferguson@pacbell.net> wrote:
>> On 2007-09-07, Mike <mnolan@purdue.edu> wrote:
>>> I am going to Japan next month for 10 days. I currently have a quad
>>> band phone that does NOT work in Japan (I guess I need a 3g phone to
>>> do that). I am not a heavy phone user. I would probably use the
>>> phone less than 10 minutes per day and/or send 3-4 text messages per
>>> day. I can do most of my business via email and the internet from the
>>> hotel. I mostly plan on keeping in touch with the wife and kids. I
>>> will spend most of my time in Tokyo proper. I guess I need to either
>>> rent a phone and service and/or buy a Japan capable phone and use
>>> cingular/ATT's internatonal roaming.
>>>
>>> Does anyone have a easy and hopefully somewhat inexpensive solution to
>>> my problem? I would appreciate any and all suggestions.
>> If you travel frequently in Europe and Asia, and want a new phone,
>> buying a phone that supports 2100 MHz UMTS (i.e. 3G) might be worth
>> it. The trouble with this is that there are very few phones which
>> support 2100 MHz UMTS which also provide full band coverage in the US,
>> and those that exist are expensive. I think the only phone with this
>> band AT&T sells is the 8525 smartphone, which is quite expensive.
>> I have a Hong Kong V3xx which I've used in Japan; it supports 2100 MHz
>> and I paid less than $100 for it, but it lacks 850 MHz support so I can't
>> use it in the US. I'm hoping there'll be a better selection of phones
>> with full band coverage next year.
>>
>> Apart from this, you can rent a Japanese phone when you get there. Last
>> time I was there I saw a DoCoMo booth at Narita Airport which was renting
>> phones. I'm not sure what this costs, though, nor do I have any idea what
>> a local prepaid SIM costs if you already have a phone. I travel to Japan
>> infrequently, and never more than a couple of days at a time, so I normally
>> just grit my teeth and pay roaming rates.
>
> The Nokia 6120 Classic is a 6-band phone for about $250.
> It supports quad band GSM _plus_ two UMTS bands.
>
>
My first time in South Korea/Japan my roaming bill was $600 for 2 weeks!
Last time I rented a phone at the airport, and it was about
$10/day with
10 cent/min for calls to the US...
On 2007-09-07, Kurt <labolide@spacegmail.com> wrote:
> In article <slrnfe37av.a5.dcferguson@akit-ferguson.com>,
>> Apart from this, you can rent a Japanese phone when you get there. Last
>> time I was there I saw a DoCoMo booth at Narita Airport which was renting
>> phones. I'm not sure what this costs, though, nor do I have any idea what
>> a local prepaid SIM costs if you already have a phone. I travel to Japan
>> infrequently, and never more than a couple of days at a time, so I normally
>> just grit my teeth and pay roaming rates.
>
> Renting in Japan is cheap and you can get good rates for overseas,
> though when I go, I mainly just use internet.
>
> Those roaming charges must kill you, though!
I just looked at the bill for the last time I was there, and for
two days (fly in one morning, out the next evening) I got by with
about $25. That's not all the calls I made, however, since I used
my laptop to call from the hotel.
Which reminds me that I forgot to mention that to the original poster.
If you'll have an Internet connection a VoIP application on your
computer may cover what you want, at least in part. I use Skype
since it is good at dealing with firewalls and other attempts to block
it, and calls to the US are quite cheap.
roaming in Japan-need suggestions 
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