iPhone on KDDI? Here is what you need to know...

So after 2 years with SoftBank, I switched to au, and so far, I am extremely pleased. Here is what I noticed so far.

Pros-

1. Network Connectivity. Bottom line, for me at least the KDDI network has been a dream. In places where I had 'No Signal' under Softbank, I am now getting at least 3 bars of KDDI. As I mentioned in another post, I routinely went through (and worked in) 10 SoftBank dead spots on my 2 hour daily commute from Chiba to Tokyo. Now, with my KDDI iPhone, I have ZERO dead spots. Not a single dead spot. In fact, with a week of use, I have yet to EVER see the 'No Signal' mark on my iPhone screen.

2. Network Speed. As good as KDDI has been for signal, the data speed has also been outstanding. At first, I was not sure if the difference was my 4s, or the network itself. But after running speed tests, it became clear that KDDI was (for me at least) consistently giving me more speed in the same offices/places where I used my SoftBank iPhone. I have pitted my Softbank iPad (first gen) against my KDDI 4s while sitting in a Starbucks in Tokyo station. Running the same test, I had 200kbps on my iPad under Softbank, but my 4s was running at 1.2Mpbs. Your mileage may vary, but I would feel confident that almost everyone will have consistently better speeds with KDDI (at least for now).

3. KDDI offers the same 980 yen/month calling package that includes free calls to other KDDI users BUT unlike Softbank, they offer OTHER calling plans with free minutes every month. This means that if you routinely make a lot of calls, you can actually end up saving quite a bit of money each month. So, if you have KDDI family calling plan (free calls to family members), you might opt to choose the 1000 yen of free call credits to any carrier plan instead of the unlimited KDDI-only free call plan.

Cons- It isn't all wine and roses. There are some problems with KDDI, and some sacrifices you have to make.

1. No FaceTime app. It just DOESN'T EXIST on the KDDI iPhone 4s. Even if you are on wi-fi, you can't use it! KDDI says that it will be available 'soon', whenever that is.

2. No MMS messages. So you cannot send photos or videos by sms. Again, coming 'soon'

3. No iMessage. You are not permitted to enter email addresses in the Message app! Just numbers!

Also coming 'soon'.

4. No Visual Voicemail. It just is not offered, at any price. Not today- maybe later.

5. No simultaneous data and voice calls. So you can't send an email to someone you are talking to on the phone. You also can't browse the web while on a call. Unfortunately, unlike the first 4 problems, this issue will NEVER be remedied- it is a fact of life for KDDIs network.

6. Threat of throttling. KDDI states the following on their billing pages...

IF you exceed 3 million packets in a single day, you MAY be subject to having your data speeds immediately throttled down until the next day.

AND

IF you have exceeded 3 million packets IN SUM for the LAST 3 DAYS, you MAY be subject to having your speeds throttled down UNTIL the sum of the last 3 days use is less than 3 million packets.

Strict, huh? That being said, I have already downloaded over 10 million packets, and I am still getting 1.3-1.4 Mbps download speeds, so if they are throttling my speed, I say go ahead!

So that is just off the top of my head- there are probably more things. If you have anything you want me to check on the au network, just let me know.

Tags: 4s, KDDI, iphone, softbank

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Kizuki on October 21, 2011 at 1:26pm

From the speed test, the download speeds evidently show that KDDI on top. Can you please post the latency values from those tests as well.

Permalink Reply by ketahi on October 21, 2011 at 3:53pm

Here goes-
Au: down speed 1768 Kbps. latency= 110 miliseconds

SoftBank: down speed 668 Kbps. Latency >1000 milliseconds

Same location, same speed app, all other apps closed.

Ouch! That's terrible!

Permalink Reply by Kizuki on October 21, 2011 at 4:00pm

Thanks for sharing.

Depending upon the application (actually for most of them), it is the latency which will make a bigger difference for user experience.

Actually 668 kbps is not bad at all. Of course it is not as advertised but for most applications including VOIP it is more than enough. But latency of >1000ms is a show-stopper.

Permalink Reply by ketahi on October 21, 2011 at 4:07pm

Happy to help. Yeah - the latency is terrible on SoftBank, but I suppose at this point, it can only get better as time moves on. (and perhaps kddi might start to get worse as more and more users come online).

At the end of the day,Softbank's mad scramble to improve their network and kddi's battle for market share will make all of us winners.

Now when NTT joins the party- that would be a fine day indeed...

Permalink Reply by AJT on October 21, 2011 at 3:58pm

With so many features missing from the AU iphone I am really glad that I have stuck with Softbank. No iMessage? That sucks. No Facetime? That sucks even more. No Visual Voicemail? That doesn`t bother me since I don`t subscribe to it anyways!

I guess it all boils down to coverage for some folks. I live in Hokkaido and I can honestly say that I have a strong Softbank signal wherever I go. I guess your situation `down south` is quite different but for me I am glad to be with Softbank and have an iPhone 4S that I can do everything I want to with....well, except tethering that is but don`t get me started!!

Permalink Reply by ketahi on October 21, 2011 at 4:11pm

Absolutely valid points. I do wish the FaceTime app was at least on the phone, but apparently apple made that concession. It took a year for MMS to come to SoftBank, so I would expect iMessage (and facetime and Japanese Siri) to make an appearance in ios 6 at next year's WWDC.

Permalink Reply by Ricardo Blanco on October 22, 2011 at 5:33pm

Sorry if my question is a bit dumb, but whats the benefits of using sms, mms, or just email?

On my current phone I never use "cmail" (sms). Everything I do is through email (like people's @softbank.ne.jp, etc). And if I use email, everything gets billed through the data plan right? No need to worry about charges if I have a flat rate...

I feel like I'm missing something here..

Thanks.

Permalink Reply by ketahi on October 23, 2011 at 10:05pm

Good question....

Why SMS/MMS is special? 2 reasons. First of all, custom notification tones for different people. With mail, that is not possible. Second of all, it keeps your conversations nice and organized by individual.

Yes, if you use email, everything gets charged through data. If you use SMS/MMS on Softbank, it is no problem, but on KDDI you will get zapped 3 yen per message UNLESS you are sending c-mail to a registered family member, in which case it is free.

If you are on Softbank, use either- it costs the same (free). But other than having conversations nicely organized by person and custom notification tones, using MMS/SMS has no real advantages, and some significant DISadvantages if sending messages from a KDDI phone.

Permalink Reply by Buckethead on October 24, 2011 at 11:22am

As for me SMS/MMS is very important, I use it more than e-mail to other iphone users. Very easy and simple for tracking in-coming messages.

Permalink Reply by Ricardo Blanco on October 25, 2011 at 6:34am

Thanks.

I'm leaning towards au now (network speed benefits mostly) so I'm planning on just using my au email address. But, I'm not looking forward to having one more email address to manage. :O

Permalink Reply by Buckethead on October 25, 2011 at 9:03am

Hi Ricardo,

For SMS/MMS, you do not need to use another e-mail address, as long as someone knows your phone number and is also a softbank user, they & you can just send messages to the number, makes it very easy.

Permalink Reply by Ricardo Blanco on October 25, 2011 at 9:29pm

Hi thanks.

If I go with softbank, definitely use the free sms...but for au, I don't want to have to pay for each one sent to my non-au friends. So, I'd have to stick with email. (Although I also read somewhere that au email on the iphone only checks in every 15 minutes..that would be annoying).