Switching mobile phone operators

[RetireJapan]

Just tried again. Aeon Mobile (I'm using a Nexus 5X from the UK):

39.41 down, 15.21 up.

[Tony]

UQ Mobile (iPhone X - Hiroshima)
53.2 Mbps down 8.75 Mbps up

I do believe that population density and time of day are going to play a huge part in these results though.

[N00bster]

These results are pretty decent, but living in Tokyo I'd like to see the metrics of someone from there as well. I have been bitten quite badly last time and it was kind of humiliating to go back to my operator and ask them to have me back again.

[Tony]

Here's a comparison which uses the same model phone, and does the test at the same time in the same location. Looks like they run the test every week, but they're on break at the moment.

[RetireJapan]

Lunchtime on a large university campus, surrounded by 2,000 students on lunch break

The results are... a little underwhelming.

down 0.66, up 7.87

Aeon Mobile, downtown Sendai, Nexus 5X

[N00bster]

Lunchtime on a large university campus, surrounded by 2,000 students on lunch break

The results are... a little underwhelming.

down 0.66, up 7.87

Aeon Mobile, downtown Sendai, Nexus 5X

Ouch. Dealbreaker. That's why you pay more when using the 3 major operators: you get priority on their network over MVNO users.

Guess I will remain with Y-mobile (effectively, Softbank) and try to put my hands on a newer Google phone, since they are the only decent Android phones out there.

[Akatani]

is anybody doing the cheap carrier deal with an iphone? I'm currently on AU with an Iphone but want to lower my bills. I want to keep going with Iphones for the camera and the apps I have for it.

[RetireJapan]

Ouch. Dealbreaker. That's why you pay more when using the 3 major operators: you get priority on their network over MVNO users.

Guess I will remain with Y-mobile (effectively, Softbank) and try to put my hands on a newer Google phone, since they are the only decent Android phones out there.

Lunch is over, and we're back to normal: 32.11 down, 7.48 up

(Sendai, Aeon Mobile, Nexus 5X)

[Tony]

is anybody doing the cheap carrier deal with an iphone? I'm currently on AU with an Iphone but want to lower my bills. I want to keep going with Iphones for the camera and the apps I have for it.

I'm using an iPhone X with UQ Mobile. I was previously using my iPhone 6s with them.

With an iPhone 6s, you get full service similar to any of the major 3, with an iPhone 7 and up, you won't be able to using tethering, because ... reasons. That is with au MVNOs, if you go with a docomo MVNO you can do tethering, but you won't be able to do visual voicemail.

The reason I chose UQ initially, was that I could tether, use visual voicemail, and there free time phone calls didn't require you to use a separate when making the phone call. Unfortunately, I obviously hadn't done enough research, because when I upgraded to an iPhone X I discovered I could no longer tether, hopefully it'll get fixed at some point ... soonish.

[Akatani]

Thanks Tony!
Where did you buy the iphone from? Does the carrier sell it or do you just find a sim free one on kakaku.com?