HomeResidents in JapanGuys, I’m thinking of switching to Softbank Air. Has their service improved? I’ve just been reading more negative reviews than positive.
I’m currently using AsahiNet and I hate that it slows down once it reaches the 10GB cap. I want a legit unlimited internet service, one where I can freely stream without worries of lagging. Advice please?
I’ve been using Softbank Air for about half a year. I don’t do online games, but do a good amount of Youtube, Netflix, etc. I’ve never had a buffering issue or anything like that.
We used pocket wifi for the first few months waiting for fiber to be installed only for NTT to tell us 6 months later that they can’t install. This was our only option and it hasn’t let us down yet.
I used it for 4 years and had zero streaming issues, it’s always worked flawlessly. No complaints.
I got it for a bit over a year now.
Recently we noticed it got much slower than it used to. Like buffering and stuff. If I restart the router, it gets better.
No cap that we noticed, but I don’t think we are heavy user neither.
I have Softbank Air for emergencies when hikari is out. The speed of Softbank Air is pretty bad for the price IMO. I’ll be dropping it soon, and just falling back to hotspotting my phone when hikari is down.
If you’re going to try to do some online games then you’re out of luck since you have to turn off everything except the one you’re using if you want consistent connection
Avoid SoftBank. They are no good.
I know somewhere where Softbank Air has been complete garbage for years and years, but they’re in a commercial property where there are no other options.
They just got their hardware replaced with the new 5G version, and with 5G reception it actually works really well now. Went from like 3 Mbit to 300 Mbit.
Now, it’s only been a week so we’ll see how it goes…
Fuck Softbank.
It was fine for me, but I fucking hate softbank with a passion. I’d go with docomo home 5g, since it’s basically the same but without having to deal with softbank.
Avoid Softbank Air like the plague. I finally gave up on it in the beginning of this year after months of support adjusting the settings and begging me to give it another month. It is extremely unreliable, will drop all internet suddenly and randomly, has extremely spotty connection (especially in apartment buildings at higher floors), and was a pain to deal with support with. Not worth it at all. Save yourself the money, time, and frustration.
NTT Hikari internet is much better and more stable, I did not get mine through Softbank because I had had enough with them. I highly recommend going with Hikari if you have the option.
**Short answer:** No, the service hasn’t improved and most likely it will not. (Reason in long answer below)
**Long answer:** It all depends on how much you download/upload and where you geographically are.
If you’re into streaming, playing games where ping matters to you, teleworking where your work requires you to upload 50MB or higher files everyday or even want to do video calls with true HD quality avoid SoftBank Air (any similar products for that matter)
If you rarely upload anything, go ahead with SoftBank Air. Download speeds are usually around 10-25MBps. Upload speeds however area 1-2MBps on a great day. Usually they’re at 250-500KBps. And on rainy/cloudy/windy days they even go down to 10-30KBps.
Now about geography, if you’re in the area where SoftBank provides 5G, you’ll most likely get better speeds than mentioned above. But regardless of that, upload speeds will ALWAYS be drastically lower than the download speeds. You can check the network coverage map and see if you’re fortunate to have been covered in 5G spot and might just be lucky enough to wing it.
**Reason why it won’t get better:** The problem with Air Terminal and similar devices is that, they’re great with downloads but are horrible for uploads. They’re designed that way and draw signal from the same network which are used by cellphones and mobiles.
Think of these devices as a smartphone connected to a cellular network, which has turned on Wi-Fi hotspot for you to connect without any other smartphone feature. (*Trivia:* They even come with a SIM card inside)
The bandwidth pie is limited. Cellphone users pay more so they get bigger piece. Air Terminal users pay limited fees as well as are locked-in to 3 year contract and thus can-be ignored by SoftBank.
**My two cents:** If you can get Hikari, try everything in your power to get it installed. It’s a hassle to get done, I know but it is worth it.
It takes some time to get installed. If you’re worried about going dark until you get your Hikari connection on, don’t worry. During your application and eventual installation, your ISP will provide temporary pocket Wi-Fi for free (*Trivia:* it’ll be Air Terminal if you chose SoftBank as your Hikari ISP)
***Pro Tip 1:*** Chose any big ISP catering in your area, avoid local ISPs/ small piggybackers providing Hikari.
***Pro Tip 2:*** Check out Rakuten Hikari. If you’re concerned about exit costs, you’re in for a treat with Rakuten. They have the most consumer friendly and economic cost structures for entry and exits. They’re fast, reliable and transparent. The catch is, you need to buy your own router yourself. Every other ISP will give it to you for free.
I truly hope this helps.
I’d recommend you to be careful. Back in 2019, my neighbor had a 2 years contract for a wireless Softbank internet (I can’t remember exactly, but looks like it was exactly the Softbank Air). The internet was working pretty bad, I was able to check it for myself. The neighbor didn’t speak japanese at those moment, so he asked me for a help. A supporter said that our home just have a bad connection to their service due to its location and nothing can be done. It sounded like they could check it before making a contract, but they didn’t. Softbank rejected my ask to terminate the contract for free due to the inability to provide a good connection. They said that probably they can offer us something good instead. We had to wait like a month or a two till they contact us again. Unfortunately I don’t remember any later details well. I moved another house about half of a year later and the problem still wasn’t resolved at that moment. But probably it was also because the neighbor tired to fight soon and took his destiny.
12 comments
I’ve been using Softbank Air for about half a year. I don’t do online games, but do a good amount of Youtube, Netflix, etc. I’ve never had a buffering issue or anything like that.
We used pocket wifi for the first few months waiting for fiber to be installed only for NTT to tell us 6 months later that they can’t install. This was our only option and it hasn’t let us down yet.
I used it for 4 years and had zero streaming issues, it’s always worked flawlessly. No complaints.
I got it for a bit over a year now.
Recently we noticed it got much slower than it used to. Like buffering and stuff. If I restart the router, it gets better.
No cap that we noticed, but I don’t think we are heavy user neither.
I have Softbank Air for emergencies when hikari is out. The speed of Softbank Air is pretty bad for the price IMO. I’ll be dropping it soon, and just falling back to hotspotting my phone when hikari is down.
If you’re going to try to do some online games then you’re out of luck since you have to turn off everything except the one you’re using if you want consistent connection
Avoid SoftBank. They are no good.
I know somewhere where Softbank Air has been complete garbage for years and years, but they’re in a commercial property where there are no other options.
They just got their hardware replaced with the new 5G version, and with 5G reception it actually works really well now. Went from like 3 Mbit to 300 Mbit.
Now, it’s only been a week so we’ll see how it goes…
Fuck Softbank.
It was fine for me, but I fucking hate softbank with a passion. I’d go with docomo home 5g, since it’s basically the same but without having to deal with softbank.
Avoid Softbank Air like the plague. I finally gave up on it in the beginning of this year after months of support adjusting the settings and begging me to give it another month. It is extremely unreliable, will drop all internet suddenly and randomly, has extremely spotty connection (especially in apartment buildings at higher floors), and was a pain to deal with support with. Not worth it at all. Save yourself the money, time, and frustration.
NTT Hikari internet is much better and more stable, I did not get mine through Softbank because I had had enough with them. I highly recommend going with Hikari if you have the option.
**Short answer:**
No, the service hasn’t improved and most likely it will not. (Reason in long answer below)
**Long answer:**
It all depends on how much you download/upload and where you geographically are.
If you’re into streaming, playing games where ping matters to you, teleworking where your work requires you to upload 50MB or higher files everyday or even want to do video calls with true HD quality avoid SoftBank Air (any similar products for that matter)
If you rarely upload anything, go ahead with SoftBank Air. Download speeds are usually around 10-25MBps. Upload speeds however area 1-2MBps on a great day. Usually they’re at 250-500KBps. And on rainy/cloudy/windy days they even go down to 10-30KBps.
Now about geography, if you’re in the area where SoftBank provides 5G, you’ll most likely get better speeds than mentioned above. But regardless of that, upload speeds will ALWAYS be drastically lower than the download speeds.
You can check the network coverage map and see if you’re fortunate to have been covered in 5G spot and might just be lucky enough to wing it.
**Reason why it won’t get better:**
The problem with Air Terminal and similar devices is that, they’re great with downloads but are horrible for uploads. They’re designed that way and draw signal from the same network which are used by cellphones and mobiles.
Think of these devices as a smartphone connected to a cellular network, which has turned on Wi-Fi hotspot for you to connect without any other smartphone feature. (*Trivia:* They even come with a SIM card inside)
The bandwidth pie is limited. Cellphone users pay more so they get bigger piece. Air Terminal users pay limited fees as well as are locked-in to 3 year contract and thus can-be ignored by SoftBank.
**My two cents:**
If you can get Hikari, try everything in your power to get it installed. It’s a hassle to get done, I know but it is worth it.
It takes some time to get installed. If you’re worried about going dark until you get your Hikari connection on, don’t worry. During your application and eventual installation, your ISP will provide temporary pocket Wi-Fi for free (*Trivia:* it’ll be Air Terminal if you chose SoftBank as your Hikari ISP)
***Pro Tip 1:***
Chose any big ISP catering in your area, avoid local ISPs/ small piggybackers providing Hikari.
***Pro Tip 2:***
Check out Rakuten Hikari. If you’re concerned about exit costs, you’re in for a treat with Rakuten. They have the most consumer friendly and economic cost structures for entry and exits. They’re fast, reliable and transparent. The catch is, you need to buy your own router yourself. Every other ISP will give it to you for free.
I truly hope this helps.
I’d recommend you to be careful. Back in 2019, my neighbor had a 2 years contract for a wireless Softbank internet (I can’t remember exactly, but looks like it was exactly the Softbank Air). The internet was working pretty bad, I was able to check it for myself. The neighbor didn’t speak japanese at those moment, so he asked me for a help. A supporter said that our home just have a bad connection to their service due to its location and nothing can be done. It sounded like they could check it before making a contract, but they didn’t. Softbank rejected my ask to terminate the contract for free due to the inability to provide a good connection. They said that probably they can offer us something good instead. We had to wait like a month or a two till they contact us again. Unfortunately I don’t remember any later details well. I moved another house about half of a year later and the problem still wasn’t resolved at that moment. But probably it was also because the neighbor tired to fight soon and took his destiny.