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iphone in japan with docomo

Still lost

Hi Guys,

Have the same problem here.
Am currently on the Docomo plan cos my company has some group subscription, but I really want to use my iphone3G instead.

Have followed the instructions but to no avail... still "could not activate cellular data network" it says.

Just to check to APN settings are:

APN: Mopera.net
Username: ** if my email address is xxxx@docomo.ne.jp <--- is that my username??? or is it just the xxxx without the domain??

password: ****

Regardless, have tried both ways but to no avail.

On a related issue, how do i set up the docomo email account on my iphone?? Anyone can help with the mail server, SMTP, etc etc???

Really appreciate any assistance that you guys can give.
Thanks in advance!!
 
@drew416440

Username and password for your docomo mail cannot be used for Mopera. You will need to sign up with Mopera to get your own ID's. Mopera is not part of Docomo; it's an ISP service provider that subcontracts to Docomo.

Docomo mail will not work with the iPhone because its based on Docomo's iMode. The settings are preprogramed into all Docomo handsets. Your alternative is to use web-based email (gmail, yahoo, hotmail, etc). you may also try Docomo's own iMode.com; however, it's not very reliable (see Daveychan's and Each's thread above). Goodluck.

Each
 
new iPhone 3Gs and Docomo

Planning to buy a SIM free iPhone 3Gs in Italy and use it in Japan with my present DoCoMo SIM card. I can use the phone I presume, but how about the Internet in 3G mode? I am using mobile.me so no problem to send and receive emails. When in wifi no problem ( excluding phone calls) with data, Internet, mail, App downloads etc?
I have to change the APN, or other special settings?
Any suggestion will be highly appreciate, since the new iPhone will be on sell from June 19th and I would like to have some answer before!
Thank you indeed!
 
My Own 2 Cents

First off, thanks, when I first jailbroke and unlocked my iPhone I was at a loss as to how to realize the full potential. I would like to give a big shout out to Each! Thanks Bro. Long story short, don't try to do ANYTHING offically through docomo, my brother in law works for docomo and has always been so cool, but when i told him i had an iPhone, all he saw was red. Ditto when I called docomo to try set mopera up (silence is golden, hear no iPhone, see no Iphone). If you have a Japanese friend, wife, etc. do it online! (http://www.mopera.net/) so much easier. If you are a Mac user like me, don't bother, you will still need a PC. You need to connect your phone to docomo, which means you need the domomo driver for your phone (doesn't matter which one, they all seem to be windows only). Other than that, follow Each's instructions. One final note, docomo now has plan similar to soft banks, so if you are a heavy internet user, by that i mean if you are not using wi-fi for your big data transfers (docomo uses 128 k packets, they cost .0042¥ per packet), you should think about the biz double hodai plan (www.nttdocomo.co.jp/english/charge/discount/) for what its worth, its the same plan as soft bank, minimum 490¥ and maximum 5, 900¥ per month. 490 buys you about 5,000 packets a month, it maxes out about 72,000 packets. If you go above that no charge, unless you tell them you are using an iPhone, in which case, I was told they can not guarantee the cap, bottom line: never tell them you have an iPhone . I followed Each's instructions and I have had no problems. I signed up for Mopera Lite and I have complete internet access. When I don't want to worry about being charged for internet, I just go into settings, general, and I delete only the APN: mopera.net, it leaves my password and such, but it wont connect, try it, it works, "cellular network unavailable".

P.S. You need a mopera account to get the biz double hodai plan. Mopera Lite is 300¥ a month.
 
I'm planning on going to Japan. Does anyone know if they have Prepaid sims there (where i can just put a fake apn and use my iPhone as a regular cell phone) or some other method to be able to call my friends? I don't really want to bother with phone renting and stuff, as that would increase the cost by a lot.
 
I'll say this clearly:


It's not worth using iphone with docomo, period.



i'm a former 2year dedicated docomo user with regular docomo japanese phone, and i was just as all of the people here who wanted iphone in docomo service.

but i found out a lot of informations for sms, mail, internet and found out that it's just not worth it.

for instance, sms doesn't work properly. second, docomo.ne.jp mail doesn't work. third, internet packets are not unlimited, and have to use a special settings such as mopera, which is expensive and a hassle.




seriously, if you want the iphone in japan and use it 100% of its features, i just recommend you to cancel docomo or au service and just go with the iphone in softbank.


everything is so much better in softbank anyways: unlimted internet, price plans for talking, and u even get the MNP and tadatomo 5000+5000yen certificates so that can cover up your cancellation fee from docomo or au.



the only downside about softbank though, is that antenna is not as much as docomo. but internet-wise, it's perfect and no complaints. (getting 4mpbs at max)
as far as foreigners are concerned (as i'm a foreigner living in japan also), iphone is really worth switching from docomo or au.
all of the japanese phones are made for specific japanese market anyway, but we foreigners were never raised here, so it's much better off to use
iphone with all of the foreign features. (not to mention iphone already has A LOT of japanese features that even other japanese users can't use)

i'm really glad that i switched though, there are so much gains with the iphone than the loss from my japanese phone (which was the newest phone still, and lost only infrared and keitai-based websites really)


hope my advice helps
 
Leomode are you a Softbank rep or what? Docomo has unlimited internet with its biz double hodai plan, also mopera is not expensive or a hassle, cost 300¥ a month and took me about 5 minutes to set up (with my wife's help). And just a side note, my sms works perfectly, with absolutely no configuration, used ultrasn0w to unlock and have had no problems at all.
 
What is the cheapest DOCOMO phone that I can buy so that I can take out the SIM card from it and put it into my unlocked iPhone when I move to Japan? I just need a DOCOMO FOMA SIM card and plan for my iPhone 3G. Any thoughts?
 
Okay, so, I went to the Docomo store yesterday after having my iphone on the network for a week.

I've had wonderful coverage and speed on the 3G network. Here's the thing...

The Biz Hodai Double isn't capping my price at ¥5,985. In fact after just a week of using it, I have already racked up a ¥16,000 bill.

So, does anyone have any suggestions?

The Japanese girl who I see at the store, she is helping me try to find out the answer (because afterwards, I'm supposed to help her get an unlocked iphone). So, her thought is that I switch to Pake-hodai Double, and then, supposedly, there is a ¥13,650 cap for using for using data for PCs and PDAs.

See, I think thats the problem. The Docomo network isn't picking up that I'm using a Keitai. Its looking at the iphone as if I was tethered to a PC.

This is proving to be a very expensive little gadget I have going here.
 
dreamsandart said:
I already have docomo service and phone so there isn't any point in getting Softbank too. I just wouldn't mind the iphone for ease of interface use - in English - and the video/music features. Japanese phone's interface are not the easiest to get around on, especially if your Japanese is limited.

Doesn't seem to be an easy or sure thing switch with the SIM card from the docomo phone/service. And finding an iphone jailbroke at a decent price...?

thanks for any help you can point my way.
Click to expand...

My only question is why did you get docomo from the start? Softbank is the most gaijin friendly, the phones are fairly easy to use, and most gaijin have softbank so its cheaper messaging/calling.

-Omi
 
I live in Oshima-cho, an island right off the coast of the mainland of Nagasaki in a municipality called Saikai-shi.

If Softbank had coverage where I lived, you can bet I would of signed up with them to begin with!
 
NTT DOCOMO and iPhone

I found this in Cydia. Anyone tried it?:eek:
What is it? Just an emulator (using Softbank) or can use imode too with a Docomo sim card in a jailbroken japanese iPhone?
You can find this inside Cydia looking for NTTDocomo

NTTdocomo Carrier Bundle

Carrier.bundle for NTTdocomo, Japan. Contains NTTdocomo's logo for carrier name in the status bar, voice mail and some more service settings, internet APN for mopera.net and enable tethering. Please restart your iPhone for the settings to take effect.

Repo: ModMyi.com

Version: 0.6.1
Author: maruo98
Section: Localization

Identifier: com.modmyi.docomojpbundle
Maintainer: poetic_folly
Homepage: http://modmyi.com/info/docomojpbundle.php
File Name: 2debs/docomojpbundle0.6.1.deb
Size: 4236 bytes
Architecture: iphoneos-arm
 
I just tried it. Seems like the Internet works fine. I haven't tried the internet tethering. I'm not sure how imode works, so I don't know how to check that. I supose I just go to a imode site in Safari?

MMS and SMS isn't working yet.

Anyone know if there is a hack or program to install to mask the iphone to identify itself as a different phone? I was thinking perhaps that could be the answer to get mopera to stop seeing the iPhone as a PC that is tethered to my Keitai.
 
This news is really exciting. I will never use Softbank and so I feel as a long time Apple user really left out in the cold.

From what I gather everything works fine except
1. Imode and its phone mail
2. packet use being capped

This is really great news, i suppose the above should be solved give a little more time.
 
Hey Guys,

Just a heads up. I just checked my Docomo bill and I have the cap set in place (finally).

So, right now, I have "unlimited 3G data" on Docomo. (Yes, the bill is high, ￥12800, for those of you who are wondering). But that is under the PC tethering cap, so for that price you can tether to your computer unlimted too!

Also, one nice thing about Docomo is that the 3G network is a less crowded, so I'm finally being able to enjoy a true high speed data link.
 
Sweet! Thanks for the update! I always figured that the iphone would run better on docomo's network. It would be cool to see a side by side comparison of download speeds.
 
Hey guys. Need your help. I have an unlock 3G iPhone & want to use my ntt sim. I have install the nttdocomo bundle from cydia but unable to get the Internet to work. The ntt sim is my wife's & I believe she has a data plan. Is there a username & password for the apn setting? I asked her but she doesn't remember adding it to the docomo phone. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
 
This post had questions that had been answered clearly after having reread the thread. I have tried again below.
 
I have been doing some re re rereading and think that i am finally getting my head around it all.

sealab2021 said:
Hey Guys,

Just a heads up. I just checked my Docomo bill and I have the cap set in place (finally).

So, right now, I have "unlimited 3G data" on Docomo. (Yes, the bill is high, ￥12800, for those of you who are wondering). But that is under the PC tethering cap, so for that price you can tether to your computer unlimted too!

Also, one nice thing about Docomo is that the 3G network is a less crowded, so I'm finally being able to enjoy a true high speed data link.
Click to expand...

So does that mean that you still need mopera?

Also do you think if I were to then use my iPhone to tether for real on my laptop that DoCoMo would notice? Or would that be pushing the envelope?

I am happy to spend the money if I can forgo my landline based net and as long as I can be certain that a few months in DoCoMo wont chuck a softbank and start saying that the cap is invalid because of use of the iPhone.

Lastly, from what I have read I think everybody is using a jailbroken and unlocked iPhone, where as I would be trying to use a legit unlocked phone from Aus. Does this work or does it still need to be hacked?

As was mentioned here before any help would be greatly appreciated because there really is no info out there.

Thanks in advance
 
Hi guys,

just signed up for docomo with my iphone. Phone and sms functions work perfectly. Now I am trying to get data and tether it to my laptop.

1) Do I ignore the docomo data plan and sign up straight to mopera online?
2) I have a Mac laptop. Someone mentioned mopera works on windows only? Does that mean I can still use it with Parallel on Mac?
2) Has anyone used PDAnet to tether? How is that?
3) which plan exactly do I need to get from Mopera so my monthly bill is capped?

Thank you.
 
I'm a little confused at the outcome of this thread... Is there a definite way to get capped data for the iphone with NTT (and at what price)?

I'm here in Japan for the next 8 months, and I really need to figure this out!

thanks
 
^ if you read the thread one more time. The iPhone isn't recognised as a normal phone on the docomo servers so the normal cap doesn't take effect. The only successful option is to take out the tethering cap that is available and that will cost you 12600 yen a month. that is all you can use and no repercussions if you tether.

Not the best deal. It might be an option if you are willing to for go an actual wired internet service. My wired interet for what we call adsl 2+ in aus costs me 5000 for the telephone connection and then at the moment 600 yen on top of that for internet which will change after the campaign ends.

that is still 2600 more than a conservative estimate on what a mobile and interntet combi would cost you a month
 
rtc872 said:
The iPhone isn't recognised as a normal phone on the docomo servers so the normal cap doesn't take effect. The only successful option is to take out the tethering cap that is available and that will cost you 12600 yen a month. that is all you can use and no repercussions if you tether.
Click to expand...

I guess they know you're not using a docomo smart phone based on the IEMI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number. Which totally sucks.:(

But what if one was using a foreign HTC Magic (HT-03A) on docomo? Would the same happen?
 
hmmmm this is actually really interesting!

If I'm guaranteed to be able to get a 12600 yen cap WITH tethering, I wouldnt have to pay to get internet service at home, so it would balance out to being reasonable-ish monthly!

I currently have a Docomo number from my company, who is taking care of it for me... I would have to ask them to add the service for me. Can anyone tell me what the service is called? (and this is a service that I can add on top of a voice plan correct? I know there are some instances where you can either have only data, or only voice on a device, which is quite confusing....)

thanks alot guys it looks like this is my solution (softbank are being real f*&$%ers-- every time i ask I get a different answer "yes no problem/yes, but only if/no it's against policy")
 
hmm after poking around on the the NTT english site the only data plans that sounds like the capped PC/tethering plan that I could find say specifically that they can not be used with Voice Communication....

Sealab-- How were you able to get this capped data plan with voice? If I go in to Docomo, what data plan service should I be asking for (i noticed the double hodai says specifically that PC tethering is outside of the flat rate charge...)?

And I'm still a little confused about Mopera as well I think. As far as I understand it, to use ANY NTT data you need mopera account, which at the cheapest is the lite one for ~300Y a month... what about they higher priced mopera plans? Does mopera itself have a good data plan i can use, or do I just get a basic mopera subscription and use NTT's....
 
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