High-Speed Internet Problems: Service Comparison Japan vs. Netherlands

Today, our wifi 5G modem suddenly stopped sending out a wifi signal. After two hours of rebooting, soft resetting, and hard resetting our Softbank 5G modem, I gave up and called my mother-in-law for help. Since the internet plan isn’t in my name and I can’t speak fluent Japanese well enough to explain the issue, my mother-in-law had to go through the same reboot and reset procedures while she was on the call with the Softbank helpdesk. It took another half hour, and finally, the Softbank helpdesk said they would pick up the broken wifi modem the day after tomorrow and ship us a replacement.

This situation raises the question: is this good or bad service?

Comparing this experience to a recent issue with my fiber optics internet in my property in the Netherlands, the difference is stark. When that internet went down, I had to call for my tenant and get it fixed. It took a whole week to get the broken internet modem replaced. Unfortunately, the actual problem turned out to be the outdated fiber optics black box preceding the wifi modem; since I am not allowed to handle it myself, it took almost two weeks to get the internet connection restored. I had to call in a technician to get the modem and black box checked and repaired, but he could only come after a few days due to a busy schedule.

The fact that the Dutch provider failed to anticipate and proactively address the issue prior to the internet connection going down is disappointing. Additionally, the technical difficulties in sorting everything out remotely and the extra billing for the technician’s visit have caused further frustration. I will definitely protest the technician’s bill.

Returning to Softbank’s situation, while it isn’t perfect, it seems that having only one box makes it easier to pinpoint the issue compared to dealing with two potential points of failure. This has been my first experience with high-speed internet problems in Japan, and I understand that such issues can occur anywhere where internet is available. The quality of service in these situations truly makes the difference.

By the way, I’m using my mother-in-law’s 5G wifi modem while waiting for the replacement. Her loan of the modem is really helpful.

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