Its been a while since I have posted something. So, hello again!
Warning: Long post
I have been debating on writing this review but after thinking about it – I think it might be helpful for someone and hopefully they can avoid the same mistake as me. Live and learn folks – live. and fucking learn.
When I moved to Japan as student, I was planning on moving to my own apartment. I did some research – found out that if I wanted to avoid breaking the bank and not sign a contract, I could use a pocket wifi. That’s where Mobal comes in – I saw their plans for pocket wifi and decided to go for the basic wifi 100GB plan (I think with tax included it came to 5,600\\) which that was all they advertised on their site. I bought the device and plan together…I paid a pretty penny.
For the first 6 months, the internet was terrible and customer service was slow in response. Mobal does not have a phone number and only takes inquiries by email, which would take about an average of 3-5 days to respond. So, if you have technical issues, good luck on getting help right away. Mobal also advertises that you can use it anywhere but using it in my apartment was bad. I was probably getting 150kbsp for speed – it was slow just to open a website, my phone calls on LINE would drop or lag, I couldn’t download anything on my computer (downloading software especially would consume a lot of data) – it was hard to function. Lord forbid if you use all your data.
I do video editing so I needed the internet – unfortunately, I couldn’t find anyone who matched the pricing and data plan (I was a thrifty student back then).
Fast forward, I got a job and moved to another city – at this point I had been using Mobal for about 10 months now, the internet is not the greatest but I changed my plan to 150 GB. I had some other complications as well (my wifi router was not charging so they sent me a replacement, I had to pay a small fee for it…they didn’t tell me this).
The last string of hope that broke for me was their payment methods – let me explain: I had been using my debit card from back home to pay, however, its expiring so I was waiting for my newer debit card to come and asked if I can pay the bill in cash…
The customer service agent, we’ll call him Joe Bob, told me that I didn’t qualify for it yet…qualify for it yet…
I was really confused – I saw on their website that they offered this option. There was nothing mentioned about qualifying for it…
When I asked him why I didn’t qualify for it yet (mind you this is me emailing them and getting response 3-5 days later), he avoided answering my question and asked me to provide him my wifi device info (contract#, IMEI, etc.) …once I provided my info then he can answer my question?
I just got that email today and today my contract with Mobal was terminated. So now I have no wifi…
That is my experience – If you plan on using Mobal short term, its probably not bad but using them long term…would suck.
6 comments
Wow… Not recommending Mobal, anymore. Sorry you had to deal with all that.
Why would anyone use a service for tourists long-term? Ahamo offers 100gb plan using docomo network for 4,950円 w/tax.
I’m glad you found out they suck, but that was to be expected.
Their ONLY purpose is for someone who just landed here, has no bank accounts/utility bills/mynumbercard/japanese ability to use temporarily for a month or two max.
Even during being a thrifty graduate student, I would not even touch those “designed for foreigners” companies even with a ten-foot pole. On top of it, I would never consider getting home internet replacement 4G plans. Mmwave 5G – maybe, but definitely not 4G.
> at this point I had been using Mobal for about 10 months now
100gb ahamo existed back then if you are not keen on getting a long-term contract. Docomo home 5G existed back then if you wanted wireless home internet.
> If you plan on using Mobal short term, its probably not bad
Copium. No, it is bad either way. Just do your research [in Japanese](https://kakuyasu-sim.jp/data/unlimited-data#SIM-Ranking) using the google translate extension, and do not trust those stupid articles from Tokyocheapo, etc. They are clearly getting kickbacks from Mobal, Sakura Mobile, etc.
“I had been using my debit card from back home to pay, however, its expiring so I was waiting for my newer debit card to come and asked if I can pay the bill in cash…”
On hindsight, payment via bank account direct debit would be more likely accepted, no?
Also, you should get one of the JP credit cards from convenience store. I am a student and I can get 7-11’s credit card. It saves you lot of trouble than using a debit card.
If you want high speed customer service, you should have chosen a provider that actually has an office building.
I chose to contract with GTN this way because I can always drop by their office building if I need something done quick.
Online-only support will definitely be slower because you are just a queue number they can ignore more easily without seeing your ass in their office clicking your tongue and tapping your foot every goddamn 10 seconds.
Sorry you have to deal with this. I use mobal sim card because it was the easiest to get when I arrived but yeah there are definitely better options if I’m going to stay for 2+ years. But I don’t understand the decision to use a mobile wifi if you have an apartment of your own… Cable internet does pay a bit more at first for installation fee, but it’s going to be more reliable and cheaper down the line. I paid 4400/month for internet from NTT and Asahi-net, with English support and very few connection problems.