AT&T use while visiting Japan?

I have a family member who found their AT&T phone didn’t work there. I believe it was a Samsung.

Have you used AT&T while traveling to Japan? If so wasn’t it just in Tokyo or around the country? Any issues?

We have used their day pass plan in a few countries in Europe and Caribbean without fail and their website says our iPhone 6 may work in Japan but also read online that their systems doesn’t work well at all here.

Just like America, Japan uses different wavelength bands for mobile telephones.

In most cases you will need a 4-band or 5-band mobile telephone of get service.

Most foreign telephone service providers are not available in Japan. Many tourists there rent a Japanese mobile telephone for their visits.

Thanks,

Which phone rental companies have been shown to be reliable, reasonably priced and legit?

While AT&T in the US uses GSM, and Japan uses WCDMA, the truth of the matter is that all iPhones sold in recent years (I think starting with the 5) are not carrier dependent (ie: they can use any technology). In addition to which, most phones are connecting via 4G LTE these days rather than GSM/CDMA/WCDMA.

According to this list, the only difference between NA versions of the iPhone and their JDM counterparts is the omission of 1500MHz on bands 11 and 21.

https://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/

This means that, with a few exceptions where 1500MHz is used (see link below), I would expect your phone to work just fine, if you sign up for the International calling plan. Or at least that's what I expect to find (though I'm on Verizon, which is native CDMA):

http://eng.blogfromamerica.com/archives/31

Almost all modern phones can be used in Japan, it is the carrier that does not work.

You can rent a phone or you can just have your phone unlocked and then rent a SIM card. This will give you a Japan phone number and you still use all of the same apps and features of your phone. We use Mobal, about $30.

It sounded like OP's "AT&T" phone had issues with getting 3G or 4G data signals, more so, than the device didn't work at all - not clear what specific device or phone in question, the problem could've been a provisioning issue with the partner's network (there are 3 major networks/carriers in Japan)

As for 4G/LTE data & voice coverage, Band 1 (2100 Mhz) are mostly used in cities vs. Band 20 (800 Mhz) in rural area - the typical entry/mid-range smartphones sold via AT&T's contracted post-paid plans have Band 1 but not necessary Band 20, or, possibly in an area with limited/poor signals.

Newer iPhones typically will have some bands included if not both of these, subtle differences between US, Euro/global and Asia models - do and are known to vary a little. High end devices usually have both W/CDMA and GSM bands covered - when we travel, a dual-sim smartphone with a local/regional prepaid sim card in slot #2 is preferred ... key, is, to plan ahead & a little bit of online research is minimize surprises.

Google's inexpensive Project Fi - voice, text & WiFi coverage in 170+ countries. Look it up, highly recommended - designed for the Android platform but got a data only sim on the iPhone ... that's our mobile MiFi/hotspot on the go. And, I'm sure many are aware of Ooma, VoIP technology. :halo: