Job Discussion Forums

[tantina]

Hi!!

i`ll be working with AEON*Amity this coming Sept..

I've read thru the boards and many information on the Internet, but finding the Internet issue a little confusing...so see if someone can help me on this..

ASDL is the broadband/cable equiv. of N America right???
Is it more like Cable (Rogers/Cogeco) or More like Bell Sympatico???

If its like Bell, which means for ASDL, I MUST have a phone line that works right?? So in Japan, applying for like ASDL \, FLets, YahooBB service things I`ll need to rent or buy a phone line for sure even if I will NEVER make a phonecall from a landline?

Also for like the wireless such as what yahooBB offers..does that need a phoneline as well?????

I`m calcualting cost and stuff and just confused here, coz renting or buying a phone line has to put in more money...
i hate taking on phone so I`ll just get a cell, dont plan on getting a land phoneline at all. Is there anyway to get all day Internet access in resident (like Cable/Broadband/Wireless here in Canada) without dealing with any Phone company issues at all???

Btw, anyone here from southern Gunma????
How's the prefecture like?? and the main cities in Gunma...are they cities or really just towns??

thanks loads!!

[Glenski]

You need a landline phone system to do any kind of Internet work at your home. I'm not familiar with any other type of installation back in the USA that doesn't.

If you don't want to buy or rent a phone line for this purpose, you can always use the Internet on your cellular phone, but your options will be more limited. How can you surf the Net on such a tiny screen, too?

[JimDunlop2]

[JimDunlop2]

[Gordon]

Another benefit of YahooBB is that you can make feee calls within Japan to anyone else who has YahooBB. Pretty well all of my friends have YahooBB (must be different people than Jim's friends ) so it helps out the phone bill. Unlike NA, you pay for local phone calls which adds up quickly. Also to call Canada from Japan on Yahoo it is 12yen/min and 2.5 yen/min to the US. No major complaints with YahooBB except it took a long time to get hooked up initially.

[carlspackler]

For a good idea of what using YahooBB entails, here's a good site to peruse.

http://www.bbapply.com/support.html

For the record, I also find YahooBB's service to be pretty good.

[Willy_In_Japan]

You can rent a phone line from NTT for about 2000 a month.

If you can't or don't want to go to the hassle of dealing in Japanese, Flet's can be set up by the English operator at the same time.

I have Yahoo BB and it is fast and cheap. I call Canada as much as I want with it and Im typically paying about 5000 a month for Yahoo. It is a 26 Megabit speed too which is super quick. I can download as quickly as it comes.

Some things like credit card applications require a home phone not a cell phone, so it is nice to be able to give a home phone number.

[worlddiva]

Hey Tantina,

Just to add to what other posters have said....
I used to work for Bell Sympatico and Telus Mobility so when I came here I thouroughly reasearched all possibilities.

ADSL is like Bell Sympatico. However, the max speed you get with Bell Sympatico is about 7Megs download for about 70$CAD/mth. In Japan, you can get YahooBB, 26Megs or 50Megs download speed for about 40-50$CAD (4000-5000yen/mth). It is a much better deal than in Canada. We don't even have speeds like that available in Canada for residential use.

You don't necessarily need a phone line to get ADSL in Japan the way you do in Canada. However, your phone line still needs to be connected for internet service to work as it runs through your phone line.

You can choose to have a residential phone number or not, it's up to you. The company that offers it is NTT which is the equivalent of Bell, here in Japan. No frills service is about 20$ CAD/mth (2000yen/mth).

I went via the bbapply website that another poster mentioned. The hookup was fast and efficient. haven't had any probs and got 3 months free too. I think it is an ongoing promo.

With YahooBB, you also get YahooBB IP phone for free, although you do have to pay for your calls. It only costs 12yen/min (12cents/min CAD) to call Canada. The cheapest rate I have found other than Skype. You simply plug in a regular phone into your modem.

I also got my NTT line. I rent it for about 600yen a month which is included in the 2000yen I mentioned earlier.I recommend getting the phone line too as it is much cheaper for people from anywhere to call you. And, if your internet goes down, your BB phone won't work. So I like having a back up.

I investigated FLETS ADSL but found that their prices were higher and their hookup fees were more expensive. Not the best deal around.

As for you cell, having a cell in Japan is very expensive compared to Canada. You can probably get the phone for free but the monthly fees are ridiculous. In Canada you can get 400min daytime calls plus unlimited evenings and weekends for about 40-50CAD. In Japan, they don't offer unlimited evenings and weekends and for 40$CAD/4000yen per month you only get about 66min of call time. And, nothing else. I keep a cell for emergencies and security purposes but do all my calling on my BB phone. If people from Canada want to call you on your cell it will cost them at least 4x the amount versus them calling you on a landline.

Hope this helps.

[worlddiva]

ps: I also work for AEON and would recommend that you bring some childrens teaching supplies with you. Such as: games, childrens books and flashcards. There is stuff available at the school but things tend to be disorganized and I wind up making flashcards for fruits and animals. Bring stickers too as you can use them as rewards with kids. I find it keeps them well behaved. They really like spiderman. They don't know who spongebob is and they don't know the ninjaturtles so don't bring any of those.

As for the games, anything you can use with very young kids will be especially helpful. Try to aim for games tailored to kids ages 2-8. If you don't have room in your luggage which you probably don't, have someone mail stuff to you.

[Gordon]

If you want a cell primarily for emergencies, get a prepaid cell phone. I have one. It is 3,000 yen for the phone and 3,000 yen for the card which is 75 mins of calling in Japan (40 yen/min). Not cheap but better than occasional cell phone use. It is through Vodaphone.

[Synne]

[tantina]

Thanks guys/gals!!!
I never knew that from Canada or anywhere else, calling to a Jap cell and a Jap Landline makes a difference in price for those overseas!!!

So I basically haev to get a landline connection anyways? and extra charges depend on if I make any calls? does recieving calls on landline cost extra money or sth??

I don't make international calls. I won;t call back to Canada. tho I will probably recieve calls from overseas.

Does recieving oversea calls on Japan Cell phones cost extra also??

thanks everyone!!

[Glenski]

[tantina]

Sorry, I didn't know its offensive to use that word......

[Synne]