Even though vacations are supposed to be the optimum opportunity for us to completely disengage and immerse ourselves in the planned getaway that was months or even years in the making, sometimes real life, either work, family or just the sheer need to stay engaged gets the better of us and we need options. 

I have found that resorts in isolated foreign lands may promise wifi but actually lack the full wireless experience we rely on at home. I’ve been to Europe, Mexico and Asia and have sadly had issues when checking and downloading heavy emails let alone streaming on my iPad. I decided that this trip to Japan would be a different and a hopefully more effective and successful venture on that front.

The hotel we are staying at has wifi but it does not guarantee the speed, the safety or the effectiveness of the service. I give them credit for their honesty. It forced me to research other options. I reviewed the questions and comments on TripAdvisor. I also read quite a few blogs of people who were in Tokyo and Japan and ascertained that most picked up wifi routers or SIM cards for their wifi options. 

I initially read quite a few travel bloggers talk about Tep Wireless and how seamless their connections were and how it truly was unlimited in data. Since I’m planning on being wifi dependent for 11 days, the total rental or purchase for my device would have been approximately $160.

The next option was finding a local Japanese wifi router. There were quite a few options but none sounded like overwhelming endorsements. In my travel search for places to visit, I ran across Voyagin. I clicked around their site and noted that they offered a 30% discount on wifi routers, specifically for Ninja. I read up on the brand and was surprised there were quite a few very positive reviews.

My last option was contacting my cell phone carrier, which in this case is Verizon Wireless. For $10 per day on an as used basis, I would be able to use my phone as I normally would and Verizon claims I will not have any issues connecting. 
I also recently discovered that T-Mobile has a global plan so there is no additional cost to utilize service of the standard kind in foreign lands. 

Between the wifi at the hotel and on the cruise as safety nets, I opted for Ninja through Voyagin with the Travel Pass as a backup so that I have 3 possible layers of connectivity from which to utilize. As Phoebe on “Friends” said, “it’s just good sense to backup your backup.” ☺️

Tep Wireless: https://mbsy.co/nrlch

Voyagin: https://www.govoyagin.com/activities/japan-tokyo-ninja-wifi-router-rental-service-in-japan/8762?acode=ggfoodie