Using MacDonalds WiFi hotspots in Japan

How much, how fast and other options

[whats up skip]

I will be in Tokyo in a couple of weeks and the place I am staying in does not have the internet, so I will have to use WiFi hotspots. It looks like most Mac's have them in Japan, but I was wondering if anyone can give me some more information about using them.

What is real data speed? (In Australia the connection is 11Mbps, but they limit the throughput to 512Kbps).

What is the cost? Through Boingo it looks like it is about US$0.12 per minute. Is it cheaper to buy a prepaid block in Japan?

Do they block any ports?

Are their any better options? (I will only be using this for a week and I will be based in Chiba. I don't want to lug the notebook all round Tokyo every day).

[zCat]

In mid-2005 McDonalds didn't have any WiFi, at least as far as I can remember. Things might have changed, mind you.

I did have a fair bit of success finding open connections though, particularly around major stations.

Probably not very useful if you've got accomodation already, but the "Super Hotel" chain
( you can guess the URL ) is not only quite reasonable, but also provides free LAN (not wireless) connections in every room.

[whats up skip]

I have been able to find lots (may be all) of the Mac's in Tokyo have WiFi.

I particularly want to know what the upload speed is, so I upload (big and many) photos onto our server.

I don't like to use unknown open connections. I am not sure about Japan, but in Australia it is normally classified as computer network hacking.

[zCat]

Poking around a little, this page:
[mcdonalds.co.jp...]
says they use Japan Telecom's "BB Mobile Point" service, here:
[japan-telecom.co.jp...]
it says it's a maximum of 11Mbps, more realistically 3-4 Mbps
max.

This page might be of interest too:

[freespot.com...]

[whats up skip]

Thanks for both those links. It has been very helpful.

It will be interesting to see how fast the "freespot" places are.

3 to 4 Mbps is not bad and may work out to be fast enough for what I need.