Internet providers

[RetireJapan]

I get asked a lot about internet providers, and my current OCN connection seems kind of crappy, so it seems like a good chance to look at what is out there.

What are the options for internet? Are any better (more uptime, faster speeds) or cheaper?

[Tony]

I've been with OCN for about 12 years now, and never had a problem with them. Always blistering fast speeds, and no real downtime. That said, your speeds will depend on internet usage in your area, as all connections are pretty much shared bandwidth.

The only problem I did have was years ago, when I uploaded too much in a single day, multiple times. I had multiple emails to me, and the last time I had to call there service counter, and promise that I wouldn't do it again. They've since changed their system, so that's not a problem anymore.

[RetireJapan]

Interesting. Our OCN connection is useless in the evening (fine the rest of the time).

I wonder if there are any new entrants to the space?

[Dan]

Interesting. I'm using SoftBank WiFi. The speed is fine. It costs about 5,000 yen a month but I believe the cost could go up to 6,000 to 7,000 yen if you pay separately for renting their hardware. There must be more providers on the market than these two although I wouldn't know if they offer better service or value.

[RetireJapan]

KDDI (or someone claiming to represent them) called us about twenty times last month, so I'm guessing they do it too

[Kiyora999]

I use So-net and my 2 years contract will end in october.
My connection is useless from something 18:00 on week days and from the afternoon on weekends.

Do you have that kind of problems too?
I actually pay 4300 yens/month but it's really too much for that kind of shitty service... Do you know some providers that guarantee a good/normal traffic?
I have less than 30kb/s on download at night so even watching Youtube in awful quality takes ages to load...

[Akatani]

We get ours from the cable tv company and just get the most channel plan for the tv (only free channels). We pay it in a lump sum once a year for a reduced rate

[Dan]

There's an ad in the Tokyo subway about DMM Hikari, advertising it from 3,220 yen a month. Seems like that must be a competitive price?

[Jamo]

Are you talking about OCN hikari?

[Kiyora999]

I'm still looking into changing my Internet provider and did some research.
It looks like all the providers I know, including mine, are managed by NTT.

Does that mean that I'm screwed up if the signal is bad just because of other people downloading too much at night?
Do you know providers not managed by NTT?