WiFi in Tokyo
 

Hi all!

I was in Japan last August and noticed how many wifi hotspots there were around town. Unluckily for me, they were all subscription services! Does anybody know if a visiting gaijin can sign up for these services before I go back to Japan this August? And what kind of speeds the hotspots have? I have recurring nightmares about the horrendous speed / connection quality I got at the hostels my friend and I stayed at last year...

If the hotspot at the hostel was free.. you can't really complain no matter how bad it was. I remeber the days when 26k/s was amazing!

Ah yes those were the good old days. I could go the kitchen and make myself a cup of tea while a page was loading.

Well, I can't complain that I had access at the hostels, but I can complain that I'd rather pay $40 a month and get GOOD access from a service and have a good time on vacation without worrying about connectivity!

Having one of those awesome train schedule pages available while out in the city

*Remembers when the AOL dial-up sound was awesome*

I am using a neighbours wifi as I type. I have about three unsecured routers near me and have not paid for a connection for over 2 years.

Last time I was here I had about 15 unsecured routers to choose from and had mutiple connections for some very rapid download speeds. I leeched a 970mb file in under 20 mins.

Well when i was ut hunting for access, i only found one unsecured AP on a street corner in akiba, and i was only out there looking because the hostel 'net wasn't stable enough to load gmail

go buy yourself a usb wifi reciever. sounds like your pc's one is too weak.
BTW, you was in Akiba so you should have been spoiled for usb reciever choice.

I have that as a .mp3, used to be my ring tone :o

Nah, the hostel just had crappy wifi... My x41 tablet gets reception down the street from my house. The signal strength was fine, just couldn't connect to sites worth a damn. That's just one of the places we stayed at. The others (where I could connect decently) could only upload about 10kB/s, which made posting pics in the evening quite a pain.

Anyway, enough about explaining the crappy hostel internet... How can I sign up for like a 1 month subscription to a regular, commercial wifi service around tokyo? Or even what kind of speeds they have for those services?

they should have free wi-fi somewhere.

They should, but I couldn't find any when I needed it. I was presented with a list full of about 10-20 secured, subscription access points wherever I went.

you should research it

I am saddened to hear that there is next to zero free wi-fi. There are an abundance of free wi-fi here in the states.

Maybe in the states, but not here where I live, people here barely know what wi-fi is, and free wi-fi is like a myth here.

All you people moaning about no free wifi I suggest you buy a good USB wifi receiver.

I have not paid for a connection for over 3 years now and I have had success in UK, USA, Japan, Holland and Greece with free wifi (piggy backing).

Most times I get an unsecured on both my inbuilt and USB receivers so I get even faster speeds then the owner. Even better if I get a diverse as my speeds rocket up to some silly rates.

STOP MOANING - THERE IS LOTS OF FREE WIFI IN TOKYO!!!