[Q] Need Help: Using the Nexus S In Japan

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Hello. In a nutshell, I would like to know how in the world I can get my unlocked Nexus S to work in Japan with respect to data transmission.

Early this year I developed an interest in foreign smartphones as all we had here in Japan was the (IMHO) horrid Xperia X10 and the wonderful HTC Desire. I have purchased a number of phones from overseas (either Hong Kong or the UK) including:

HTC Mini (HK)
HTC Desire (HK)
Xperia X2 (UK)
Galaxy S (UK)
Galaxy Tab (UK)
Nexus S (USA)

Now here's the thing: ALL of these phones were unlocked yet NONE of them allowed any data transmission except the HTC Mini. To this day I fail to understand why.

When I got the HTC Mini, I was using the Mopera U APN/service. I put my Docomo SIM card into the Mini and without doing anything at all, it had data connectivity from the start. To this day I question if it was something related to Windows Mobile, as all of the other phones I listed above are Android (except for the X2).

I had Mopera U with all of these other phones and yet NONE of them work, even after I have tried multiple APN services and have manually typed in the APN settings (i.e. mpr2.bizho.net, spmode.ne.jp, mopera.flat.foma.ne.jp, etc).

Just yesterday I received my unlocked Nexus S from the USA and while it hardly came as a surprise, I am nonetheless infuriated once again that the phone refuses to connect to the wireless network.

It should be noted however that the very first time I attempted to connect the Nexus S to the mpr2.bizho.net APN, for a scant one second, the 3G data transmission icon appeared in the taskbar at the top of the screen, but then immediately disappeared. Since that initial setting, it has never reappeared when I toggle the APN.

Can anyone please offer some advice here? I fail to believe that there is absolutely no way to use this phone in Japan. With all the different network bands and whatnot supported by this phone, surely it has to work. I am still at a loss as to why the Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab failed to connect to the network here when both are in fact, available for purchase domestically. Are the manufacturers actually creating modified band phones for each country despite making the same exact product?

Docomo is absolutely no help whatsoever, claiming that the ONLY band supported here is "3G" and denying any understanding of the other band spectrums (i.e. Quad Band GSM, Tri-Band HSPA, etc).

Some of the IT-related people I know have suggested that my phone is in fact, NOT unlocked and thus the problem stems from that, however considering that the phone will instantly register the NTT DOCOMO network and I can make calls and receive SMS messages, I fail to believe the phone is locked.

I will bring up a point that a friend passed onto me: They suggested that perhaps my problem is that the phone won't work because the previous carrier settings are still on it. The seller on eBay however stated that this was a factory unlocked phone and thus I don't think this applies, though I was a bit confused as to why there was a T-Mobile SIM card inside the Nexus S box, which led me to believe that perhaps the phone is unlocked but it is "defaulted" to T-Mobile network values?

Anyway if anyone could be of some assistance here I would greatly appreciate it.

The phone is unlocked, and I believe all nexus s come with a Tmobile SIM in the US, since it will only work on Tmobile's Network for 3G. From what I can find about NTT DOCOMO, it sues 3G 2100 band, so i don't see a reason why it would not work.

http://www.mobileworldlive.com/maps/...cid=3027#ninfo

Hi, thanks for the reply. Honestly I have no clue whatsoever why it won't work either. But as I mentioned it's not just the Nexus S, it's also every other phone I've bought (save for the HTC Mini as mentioned) and even some that I tried out and didn't buy because they didn't work. Docomo just keeps spitting out their lame "We can't be sure about any phones not sold by Docomo" excuse that basically amounts to them lacking the technical expertise to answer a basic question about their own network infrastructure.

I can't even begin to express how infuriating this is, because Japan is so horribly behind the times with mobile phones. It's ironic that the country that basically created mobile technology has no ability to further it's development. I remember coming here in 2003 (I'm from the US) and was blown away at the phones having 3G, front facing cameras, VIDEO chat, etc. Yet lo and behold Japan only got LTE THIS month (and only via DOCOMO's USB dongle at that) though to be fair it had Wi-MAX since last July (though to this day there is not a single phone that uses it).

We just got the Galaxy S at the end of October for crying out loud. People here want garbage like 1Seg wireless TV and the mobile wallet (Stored Fare) system and thus the Japanese manufacturers (specifically Sharp and Toshiba) have made phones that have said features but they are just plain awful. Sharp in particular can't seem to make phones that work efficiently as the Lynx and Galapagos models are quite unresponsive. So naturally I want to get something like the Nexus S because it's both state-of-the-art and (IMHO) a great phone.

Can't really help you much but based on the specs those phones you got should technically work on the networks there...

I've been to Tokyo with my Nexus One but left my AT&T sim in it (yea I was using AT&T in the US when the phone was meant for T-mobile) and we desperately had to use Google Maps since we were lost in Roppongi... so I bit the bullet and enabled data roaming and it picked up a 3G signal and was actually quite fast for the few minutes I used it. That's all the help I can offer, sorry, lol.

Thanks for the reply...I think perhaps it worked for you because of roaming agreements and whatnot between AT&T and Docomo.

I can't be sure, but something tells me that the Japanese carriers actually ban foreign mobiles from accessing their network directly via IMEI, but that fails to explain why the HTC Mini worked without a problem.

I have the feeling that you need to enter a specific set of connection settings for DoCoMo.

You mentioned that the HTC mini worked just by inserting the SIM card. On my Xperia X1 (also WM), it would automatically change my settings depending on which SIM card/carrier I inserted. Why don't you insert your DoCoMo into the Mini, copy the connection settings (manually copy all the values) and then use them on the Nexus S?

If i were you I would do the following:
Settings - Wireless & Networks - Mobile Networks - Access Point Names - Delete All the APN's in there, then use one of the DoCoMo ones listed here:
http://code.google.com/p/cyanogenmod/wiki/APNlist

Ensure you have the "Type" section filled with "default,supl" and that you have it selected after SAVING it.

<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo" mcc="405" mnc="025" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.INTERNET" type="default,supl" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo MMS" mcc="405" mnc="025" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.MMS" mmsc="http://mmsc/" mmsproxy="10.124.26.94" mmsport="8799" type="mms" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo" mcc="405" mnc="026" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.INTERNET" type="default,supl" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo MMS" mcc="405" mnc="026" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.MMS" mmsc="http://mmsc/" mmsproxy="10.124.26.94" mmsport="8799" type="mms" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo" mcc="405" mnc="027" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.INTERNET" type="default,supl" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo MMS" mcc="405" mnc="027" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.MMS" mmsc="http://mmsc/" mmsproxy="10.124.26.94" mmsport="8799" type="mms" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo" mcc="405" mnc="029" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.INTERNET" type="default,supl" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo MMS" mcc="405" mnc="029" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.MMS" mmsc="http://mmsc/" mmsproxy="10.124.26.94" mmsport="8799" type="mms" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo" mcc="405" mnc="030" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.INTERNET" type="default,supl" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo MMS" mcc="405" mnc="030" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.MMS" mmsc="http://mmsc/" mmsproxy="10.124.26.94" mmsport="8799" type="mms" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo" mcc="405" mnc="031" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.INTERNET" type="default,supl" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo MMS" mcc="405" mnc="031" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.MMS" mmsc="http://mmsc/" mmsproxy="10.124.26.94" mmsport="8799" type="mms" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo" mcc="405" mnc="032" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.INTERNET" type="default,supl" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo MMS" mcc="405" mnc="032" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.MMS" mmsc="http://mmsc/" mmsproxy="10.124.26.94" mmsport="8799" type="mms" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo" mcc="405" mnc="033" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.INTERNET" type="default,supl" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo MMS" mcc="405" mnc="033" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.MMS" mmsc="http://mmsc/" mmsproxy="10.124.26.94" mmsport="8799" type="mms" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo" mcc="405" mnc="034" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.INTERNET" type="default,supl" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo MMS" mcc="405" mnc="034" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.MMS" mmsc="http://mmsc/" mmsproxy="10.124.26.94" mmsport="8799" type="mms" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo" mcc="405" mnc="035" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.INTERNET" type="default,supl" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo MMS" mcc="405" mnc="035" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.MMS" mmsc="http://mmsc/" mmsproxy="10.124.26.94" mmsport="8799" type="mms" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo" mcc="405" mnc="036" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.INTERNET" type="default,supl" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo MMS" mcc="405" mnc="036" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.MMS" mmsc="http://mmsc/" mmsproxy="10.124.26.94" mmsport="8799" type="mms" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo" mcc="405" mnc="037" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.INTERNET" type="default,supl" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo MMS" mcc="405" mnc="037" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.MMS" mmsc="http://mmsc/" mmsproxy="10.124.26.94" mmsport="8799" type="mms" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo" mcc="405" mnc="038" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.INTERNET" type="default,supl" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo MMS" mcc="405" mnc="038" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.MMS" mmsc="http://mmsc/" mmsproxy="10.124.26.94" mmsport="8799" type="mms" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo" mcc="405" mnc="039" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.INTERNET" type="default,supl" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo MMS" mcc="405" mnc="039" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.MMS" mmsc="http://mmsc/" mmsproxy="10.124.26.94" mmsport="8799" type="mms" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo" mcc="405" mnc="040" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.INTERNET" type="default,supl" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo MMS" mcc="405" mnc="040" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.MMS" mmsc="http://mmsc/" mmsproxy="10.124.26.94" mmsport="8799" type="mms" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo" mcc="405" mnc="041" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.INTERNET" type="default,supl" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo MMS" mcc="405" mnc="041" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.MMS" mmsc="http://mmsc/" mmsproxy="10.124.26.94" mmsport="8799" type="mms" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo" mcc="405" mnc="042" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.INTERNET" type="default,supl" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo MMS" mcc="405" mnc="042" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.MMS" mmsc="http://mmsc/" mmsproxy="10.124.26.94" mmsport="8799" type="mms" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo" mcc="405" mnc="043" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.INTERNET" type="default,supl" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo MMS" mcc="405" mnc="043" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.MMS" mmsc="http://mmsc/" mmsproxy="10.124.26.94" mmsport="8799" type="mms" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo" mcc="405" mnc="044" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.INTERNET" type="default,supl" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo MMS" mcc="405" mnc="044" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.MMS" mmsc="http://mmsc/" mmsproxy="10.124.26.94" mmsport="8799" type="mms" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo" mcc="405" mnc="045" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.INTERNET" type="default,supl" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo MMS" mcc="405" mnc="045" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.MMS" mmsc="http://mmsc/" mmsproxy="10.124.26.94" mmsport="8799" type="mms" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo" mcc="405" mnc="046" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.INTERNET" type="default,supl" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo MMS" mcc="405" mnc="046" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.MMS" mmsc="http://mmsc/" mmsproxy="10.124.26.94" mmsport="8799" type="mms" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo" mcc="405" mnc="047" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.INTERNET" type="default,supl" />
<apn carrier="TA TA DoCoMo MMS" mcc="405" mnc="047" apn="TATA.DOCOMO.MMS" mmsc="http://mmsc/" mmsproxy="10.124.26.94" mmsport="8799" type="mms" />

Thanks/Problem Solved

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Thanks to everyone who offered help. I've no idea why, but the APN "MOPERA U" worked, though it didn't originally the first dozen-or-so times I tried.

As far as the 3G bands go, NS can take band I/IV/VIII while Japan uses I/V/IX (850/1700-1800/2100).
Band IV runs on 1700+2100 aka AWS.

[Q] Quick Carrier Question (Unlocked...TMobile?)

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Hello. It's been ages since I've been in the USA and thus have become somewhat unfamiliar with some aspects of the telecommunication companies.

Can someone explain why it is that the [unlocked] Nexus S will only work with TMobile? Does this have to do with their network infrastructure? How is it possible that with all the bands the Nexus S supports, it only works with T-Mobile? I don't even understand why Google would sell an unlocked phone if (for US residents) it ONLY works on the one carrier. They might as well lock it.