Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by ketahi on April 29, 2011 at 6:56pm

Something to keep in mind-

The 3G iPads have a built-in GPS, and the wifi units don't. The Maps app is amazingly more useful and accurate with gps tracking built in. It also makes it possible to use navi apps on your iPad.

If you will be using your iPad2 heavily for 2 years, you might find the 16 gb ipad2 3G model to work out well. With subsidies, the effective cost of the iPad itself is free, as long as you pay 4400 yen/mo for all-you-can eat access for the full 2 years.

But if you don't aggressively use your iPad while you are out and about, it is a terrible deal, as over the 2 years of the contract, you will have spent over 113,000 yen in data fees! (4400 yen/mo for data, 315 yen/mo for Internet access= 4715 yen/mo x 24 mo. )

Permalink Reply by mavis on April 29, 2011 at 10:48pm

I was in the same position as you - owned a wifi iPad for a year and debated upgrading to the 3G model this time around, but in the end, I went the PocketWifi route. I bought a MacBook Air a few weeks ago, and needed Internet access for it, and the MyWi on my jailbroken iPhone 4 is just so horribly slow, I decided to skip SoftBank's crap network this time around and try something else, instead.

 

I picked up an eMobile GP01 - the new, 21Mbps PocketWifi unit. My average speeds were in the 1-2Mbps range over the course of a week, so I returned it. I never expect to get the advertised network speed out of any device/service, but 5% of the advertised speed is a bit ridiculous. So I then decided to try UQ WiMax - the URoad-9000, also a wifi hotspot - and it's GREAT. I average about 7-10Mbps throughout the Kanto area (mainly Tokyo, Yokohama, and Saitama), and am able to FaceTime to/from my iPhone and MacBook, no problem. In fact, I can FT between two devices connected to the URoad-9000 at the same time, and it's still very smooth. I get decent speeds downloading from Giganews (usenet) and torrents are quick, as well. The only problem is that coverage isn't that great - I very rarely have the full five bars of signal strength - but even at 1-2 bars, the throughput is 5-10 better than the best I ever saw with SoftBank.

 

Another nice thing about the URoad is that it passes GPS (or A-GPS) data to the iPad, so Google Maps works just like on the iPhone (only, 5-10 times faster, every time) ... For 3,800yen/month, less than the iPad's data charges, you can connect all your devices to high-speed mobile internet. For me, that's a far better value than signing up for another SoftBank data plan which is both painfully slow and locked to a single device.

 

So to sum things up: in my experience, eMobile is just not worth the money - their PocketWifi units get less than 10% of the advertised speed, making it only about twice as fast as SoftBank. The monthly service charges are also fairly high (4,400y/month for the first year and 5,800/month the second!) but the PocketWifi device itself is heavily subsidized to cheap/free. UQ WiMax/Bic Camera's URoad-9000 is much faster than both eMobile and SoftBank, is cheaper (3,800/month, one year contract, doesn't go up if you continue month to month after the first year) and has a better battery, though it's slightly larger and costs 6,800yen up front. 

 

Hope this helps.

Permalink Reply by Doug Lerner on April 30, 2011 at 10:22am

That is useful information, Mavis. I was wondering about the best mobile wifi myself, and was skeptical of the eMobile offering. 

 

Does the UQ WiMax plan include unlimited data?

 

Looking at the new iPad 2 for everybody plan though:

 

http://mb.softbank.jp/mb/ipad/price_plan/everybody/

the cost of the iPad is basically free.

It commits you to 4,725 yen/month for two years for the unlimited data plan though. That is a total of 113,400 yen.

Otherwise you can buy the iPad 2 under the "pre-paid" plan for 56,640 yen (and pay it out over two years) and add 4,725 any month when you need up to 1 GB of data.

4,725 x 24 = the same 113,400 yen, so if you are using the iPad a lot outside the iPad 2 for Everybody plan seems like a bargain. So they really are giving it away - if you use your iPad outside regularly.

On the other hand, if you rarely use the iPad 2 on the outside on 3G, 56,640 yen for the iPad / 24 months is just 2,360 yen per month. And the wifi only version a bit cheaper.

Another point to consider. If you get the prepaid version and just need occasional small amounts of access outside, you can purchase it for 1,835 yen for 100 MB. Unfortunately, 100 MB goes pretty quickly on the iPad because you can easily use up 10 MB casually reading the NY Times on the train.

If we add the UQ WiMax into the mix and get a pre-paid only iPad 2, the month cost is a fixed 2,360 yen + 3,800 yen/month for the mobile wi-fi = 6,160 yen/month, which makes the iPad 2 for everybody plan 24% cheaper and no extra device to carry around.

On the other hand, if you connect to a UQ WiMax you are always connected "via wi-fi" so you can use FaceTime, which you can't do over 3G.

And the SoftBank speed you are likely to get sounds much less than what you get with the UQ WiMax plan.

So many things to consider. Plus you have to take into account how much time you actually spend outside rather than on an existing wi-fi.

I like have the 3G model though. When in the U.S. the AT&T no-commitment plan is cheap and it's convenient on travel there.

doug

Permalink Reply by mavis on April 30, 2011 at 5:30pm

I guess for me the deciding factor was that I have several devices that need internet access when I'm out - sometimes all I've got is my iPhone but usually when I head to work I've got either the iPad, the MacBook Air, or (usually) both. Paying for SoftBank for yet another single-device slow-as-hell internet connection just didn't make a lot of sense, in my case. Also, as you mentioned, being able to FaceTime from anywhere is AWESOME. I can FaceTime with my son on my lunch break or when I'm cruising around Tokyo, friends in the States when I visit touristy places like the Sky Tree, Asakusa, etc) and the quality is great. It does suck having to carry around an extra device, but I just toss it in my briefcase in the morning and generally forget about it all day.

 

Oh, and to answer your question, yes - the UQ WiMax plan is for unlimited data.

Permalink Reply by Michael Ash on April 30, 2011 at 7:45pm

Thank you everyone, for the very helpful advice.

I can see the advantages of having the UQ wimax unit, but I don't need too much speed for web browsing, which is mainly what I will use the ipad2 for. So instead I've been able to sell my wife on the cost advantages of the 2 year Softbank plan.

Today the Shibuya Apple store had 3g models available (with a 1 hour wait in the late afternoon), but we'd already put ourselves on the waiting list at Yodabashi Shinjuku.