How to import and use your cell phone in Japan

So, having just got my lovely eeepc 901 off ebay and sent to me in Japan i was stuck for internet access while roaming around (including a short trip to europe).

one temporary solution was to buy an unlocked 3g modem and sim card.

however in japan the service provider is docomo which charges $25 a Mb!! Say what!!

The most obvious solution was to get a data service from a Japanese cell carrier but WHY? Why should I get another contract and sim and a little modem to stick into my pc?

The best solution for me was to buy a cell phone not available in Japan which has a 3g modem (i was lusting after the Nokia E52, but plumped for the E51 in the end. This has an awesome bluetooth 3g modem that i can use to connect to the internet with my eeepc 901 with its bluetooth connection.

The next essential step is to change the data plan to pakehodai or unlimited packet use. im on whiteplan so i needed to upgrade to the softbank pakehodai service which is about another 4500yen a month for unlimited packets. these charges change depending on how much data you use so you could pay less if you use less.

anyways, once you’ve upgraded and configured your phone for softbank’s setting you can get online anywhere anytime at 3g speeds which totally beats sniffing around for a freaking wifi hotspot (which is pretty lame in my opinion anyways) and blaze a trail at 3g speeds on your phone and on your pc.

more details on how to connect your phone in japan to use the internet via a modem here.