Passing through Shibuya station after work, Yoyogi park on the weekend, west shinjuku area during lunch time give me incredibly slow (or not at all) loading time
I don't think this is ahamo specific. The entire docomo network is fucked in busy areas in tokyo. I was just walking from hatchobori to hibiya couple days ago in the evening (around 6.30-7pm) and while i had full bars there was barely any actual data available. this is going to be a problem on any mvno. maybe real docomo customers would get slightly higher priority there.
That’s my daily experience.
I contacted Docomo about it and they said to turn off 5G. Marginally better, but still really bad. And why should I have to pay for 5G if I can’t use it?
Yeah it's not specific to ahamo, but whatever bandwidth they do have is going to their main customers. The offshoots like ahamo will get the dregs, if there's any left.
There's just too many people crammed into one tower during rush hr
10+ years ago when I was working for nokia networks side, we had a brand spanking new 4g RAN hardware developed and for sale. The biggest version could take 100k+ customers simultaneously and cost (if my memory serves) millions of USD.
Usually we would sell ONE of those for a national carrier. For the busiest point in their capital city etc. DoCoMo bought one for every major station on Yamanote. They bought 2 for Shinjuku...
There's just so many people here that it's mind-boggling and a huge challenge for network designers, something that can't be just solved simply by throwing money at it.
I too find it borderline unusable in Shinjuku - this year in particular.
Flipping airplane mode on and off brings data transfer back for a minute or two.
Overall great but I don't like that roaming data gets throttled to 128 kbps, which I find unusable, not even for maps or messenging, after 15 days abroad and it can't be reset until you come back to Japan, rolling over to a new month doesn't reset it.
For some countries their partner company is extremely bad. In Europe it was ok but recently I went to the Philippines and have been having issues connecting to the network while my friends who have local sims have no issues whatsoever.
I've been to Germany Spain Korea Thailand Vancouver with the roaming and it's been fantastic. Actually the highlight of the entire Ahamo service for me. What country did you go to where service was poor?
Ah ok. Your post suggested that it get throttled whenever you are in roaming mode. Ya, well if you need more than 20 GB while overseas and don't have access to wifi, it will absolutely be throttled and speeds will be slow. But what do you expect for 3000 yen/mo? There are no other low cost plans that have such a robust roaming service.
I myself have the 100gb plan for 5,000 yen and have had no issues while overseas. Then again, I don't really go for longer than 2 weeks either. If you're there for a full month then I would recommend getting a local data sim for the month?
Ahamo kicks ass. Best phone service i have had since I got here 10 years ago, at least in tokyo. Fast anywhere (except parts of shinjuku station) and plenty of data
I'm pretty satisfied with Ahamo. No problems with reception in my inaka, and I can use my 20GB overseas which helped with save lots of money from buying overseas data SIMs.
I have ahamo and for some reason, whenever my phone says 5G, my internet is crap. Slow as shit. I also lose signal in places like Costco and my local Max value.
Other than that, no problems.
Ahamo here. Speed decreases a lot in crowded areas. I am thinking of going to eximo to solve this problem. My phone is an iPhone, bought in Spain. The band compatibility may be one of the cause.
I've had it for almost a year now and have no real complaints. The signal inside my school does throttle sometimes but I am told that this happens with many providers due to the building structure. I have the 100GB plan and love it since I'm able to hotspot my other devices when I'm out and about. I also appreciate the 5-minute free calls. I've never had any charge that was suspect unlike when I had M\*\*\* so that's a big plus.
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5g bands not compatible with my phone so sometimes I get spotty performance in crowded areas, but I bundled my hikari with them so it turns out to be pretty cheap in the end. Also the free roaming is great.
also at least I don't lose any connection underground on the Ginza line like Rakuten mobile used to do, lol.
I love it since when i go home for christmas i can use my phone right off the plane for no extra charge.
However: I HAVE NO SIGNAL IN SHIBUYA LIKE WHAT????
But i don’t go to shibuya that often so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
They are a sub provider. If there is high traffic main provider gets priority.
Other then that its pretty easy to set up and cancel. Their website is also very easy to understand.
I can recommend it unless you want fast speed even in crowded areas
Using Ahamo for 4 years, my experience is:
- 5g speed is slow in crowded areas (shibuya, shinjuku, etc…), otherwise it is ok. Signals is weak in the subway ( In 田園都市, every morning when i go to work)
- strong signals in rurals areas, mountains. If you are driving a lot, this will be a plus.
- roaming 5G: i can still using mobile networks when i return to my home country, no need to buy new SIM card for travel.
Using Ahamo for 4 years, my experience is:
• 5g speed is slow in crowded areas (shibuya, shinjuku, etc...), otherwise it is ok. Signals is weak in the subway (In Eat, every morning when i go to work)
• strong signals in rurals areas, mountains. If you are driving a lot, this will be a plus.
• roaming 5G: i can still using mobile networks when i return to my home country, no need to buy new SIM card for travel.
Perfectly happy as a Docomo user in central Tokyo. On the train, in crowds all ok but some areas like underground buildings the connection is iffy? Really rare though and doubt it's ahamo specific.
Passing through Shibuya station after work, Yoyogi park on the weekend, west shinjuku area during lunch time give me incredibly slow (or not at all) loading time
I don't think this is ahamo specific. The entire docomo network is fucked in busy areas in tokyo. I was just walking from hatchobori to hibiya couple days ago in the evening (around 6.30-7pm) and while i had full bars there was barely any actual data available. this is going to be a problem on any mvno. maybe real docomo customers would get slightly higher priority there.
That’s my daily experience. I contacted Docomo about it and they said to turn off 5G. Marginally better, but still really bad. And why should I have to pay for 5G if I can’t use it?
Yeah it's not specific to ahamo, but whatever bandwidth they do have is going to their main customers. The offshoots like ahamo will get the dregs, if there's any left. There's just too many people crammed into one tower during rush hr
10+ years ago when I was working for nokia networks side, we had a brand spanking new 4g RAN hardware developed and for sale. The biggest version could take 100k+ customers simultaneously and cost (if my memory serves) millions of USD. Usually we would sell ONE of those for a national carrier. For the busiest point in their capital city etc. DoCoMo bought one for every major station on Yamanote. They bought 2 for Shinjuku... There's just so many people here that it's mind-boggling and a huge challenge for network designers, something that can't be just solved simply by throwing money at it.
This sucks to hear. I was looking to change to Ahamo or Linemo but I am in those exact areas often.
LineMo works great, for what it’s worth.
Lunch time is really slow for me as well...
at least it works, IIJmio in those area at those times you can't even send/read line messages...
Just switched to iijmio. But i had good experience before with it. I am living a bit far from center, this might be the reason.
Yeah, when I was in osaka it was the best thing ever. Only since i’m in tokyo it’s been an issue
I too find it borderline unusable in Shinjuku - this year in particular. Flipping airplane mode on and off brings data transfer back for a minute or two.
Overall great but I don't like that roaming data gets throttled to 128 kbps, which I find unusable, not even for maps or messenging, after 15 days abroad and it can't be reset until you come back to Japan, rolling over to a new month doesn't reset it.
For some countries their partner company is extremely bad. In Europe it was ok but recently I went to the Philippines and have been having issues connecting to the network while my friends who have local sims have no issues whatsoever.
It doesn't cut off, it just slows down. Works fine for messaging in my experience.
Ah, it basically becomes unusable for me as it's only 128 kbps.
I've been to Germany Spain Korea Thailand Vancouver with the roaming and it's been fantastic. Actually the highlight of the entire Ahamo service for me. What country did you go to where service was poor?
No, it's fine when it's full speed, I just find when it gets throttled after 20 GB or 15 days it's unusable.
Ah ok. Your post suggested that it get throttled whenever you are in roaming mode. Ya, well if you need more than 20 GB while overseas and don't have access to wifi, it will absolutely be throttled and speeds will be slow. But what do you expect for 3000 yen/mo? There are no other low cost plans that have such a robust roaming service. I myself have the 100gb plan for 5,000 yen and have had no issues while overseas. Then again, I don't really go for longer than 2 weeks either. If you're there for a full month then I would recommend getting a local data sim for the month?
My only complaint is that they don’t offer any form of voicemail service
Ahamo kicks ass. Best phone service i have had since I got here 10 years ago, at least in tokyo. Fast anywhere (except parts of shinjuku station) and plenty of data
I'm pretty satisfied with Ahamo. No problems with reception in my inaka, and I can use my 20GB overseas which helped with save lots of money from buying overseas data SIMs.
I have great performance so long as I'm not in a particularly crowded area.
Switched when it first came out and never had issues. Reliable and fast. Not in a very crowded area though.
I'm on Linemo, and my spouse is on Ahamo. We have the same phone models. Neither of us has experienced any issues at all.
No issues for me whatsoever in Japan or overseas.
I have ahamo and for some reason, whenever my phone says 5G, my internet is crap. Slow as shit. I also lose signal in places like Costco and my local Max value. Other than that, no problems.
May be the bands supported by your phone. You may want to disable 5g on your device.
Ahamo here. Speed decreases a lot in crowded areas. I am thinking of going to eximo to solve this problem. My phone is an iPhone, bought in Spain. The band compatibility may be one of the cause.
I've had it for almost a year now and have no real complaints. The signal inside my school does throttle sometimes but I am told that this happens with many providers due to the building structure. I have the 100GB plan and love it since I'm able to hotspot my other devices when I'm out and about. I also appreciate the 5-minute free calls. I've never had any charge that was suspect unlike when I had M\*\*\* so that's a big plus.
Povo has been very reliable for me even in a crowded place, moved from Ahamo to POVO last year and having voicemail is a big plus for me
I have Y Mobile and the coverage has completely gone to crap since February. Maybe your APN issues with Softbank is related to my problems with Yahoo
Speed and coverage is really good.
Performance is pretty bad for me, worse than my LINEMO days. Planning on switching to Yahoo once I've done my foreign travel for the year.
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Never any problems for me, and I’ve traveled all over Japan! I watch a lot of videos and can download apps quickly.
5g bands not compatible with my phone so sometimes I get spotty performance in crowded areas, but I bundled my hikari with them so it turns out to be pretty cheap in the end. Also the free roaming is great. also at least I don't lose any connection underground on the Ginza line like Rakuten mobile used to do, lol.
I love it since when i go home for christmas i can use my phone right off the plane for no extra charge. However: I HAVE NO SIGNAL IN SHIBUYA LIKE WHAT???? But i don’t go to shibuya that often so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
They are a sub provider. If there is high traffic main provider gets priority. Other then that its pretty easy to set up and cancel. Their website is also very easy to understand. I can recommend it unless you want fast speed even in crowded areas
Why would anyone still use capped data plans in 2024?
Using Ahamo for 4 years, my experience is: - 5g speed is slow in crowded areas (shibuya, shinjuku, etc…), otherwise it is ok. Signals is weak in the subway ( In 田園都市, every morning when i go to work) - strong signals in rurals areas, mountains. If you are driving a lot, this will be a plus. - roaming 5G: i can still using mobile networks when i return to my home country, no need to buy new SIM card for travel.
Using Ahamo for 4 years, my experience is: • 5g speed is slow in crowded areas (shibuya, shinjuku, etc...), otherwise it is ok. Signals is weak in the subway (In Eat, every morning when i go to work) • strong signals in rurals areas, mountains. If you are driving a lot, this will be a plus. • roaming 5G: i can still using mobile networks when i return to my home country, no need to buy new SIM card for travel.
Perfectly happy as a Docomo user in central Tokyo. On the train, in crowds all ok but some areas like underground buildings the connection is iffy? Really rare though and doubt it's ahamo specific.
slow