WiFi On The Go

The hotel provided an Android device for our use. It’s data-enabled, but it doesn’t allow porting out to other devices. That's at least useful for maps and navigating around Tokyo, making local calls and and all. But there's no way I'm signing in to my usual apps on it although it says that 'Your data is SAFE'. Riiiight. I couldn't be bothered to take it out. It's not heavy, but with so many gadgets weighing down my bag, I really don't need this.

We didn't bother to ask for a pocket wifi thing from the office, so the BFF took out this Android phone from the hotel for her use. She has a thousand things to do on it. She's responsible for some of our jaunts around town. Tokyo is not unfamiliar to us, and we're comfortable with the language; but we don't live here, and will need help with some of the little alleys, bus routes and such.

I'm carrying around the pocket wifi device rented from Changi Recommends. It works great, and allows up to eight devices to latch onto it. Of course the more devices latched, the faster the battery drains. It isn't too heavy and when we have just two devices, it lasts for a good eight hours with fairly extensive usage. Reserving and collecting the device were a breeze; payment is only collected when I get back to Singapore and return the device; rental date is extendable. Importantly, it's stable and fast without data limits or throttled speeds (for some countries; check before you rent one), and is steady even when I travel out to the countryside, along the Tama River, across Tokyo Bay and up the hills.