Fibre internet in an unfurnished Tokyo apartment

If you have just signed a lease on an unfurnished Tokyo apartment, order the internet before you arrange anything else. A new fibre contract usually needs an installation visit. Unless the room already has a fibre socket, a technician has to come, you have to be there, and the date can be weeks away.

Find out how the building is wired

NTT East's guide for apartment buildings lists three ways a building can be wired. With 光配線方式 (hikari haisen hōshiki — fibre wiring), the fibre runs all the way to your room. With VDSL方式, the fibre stops in the building and the last stretch uses the old telephone wiring. With LAN配線方式, that last stretch is a network cable. The building decides which one you get. In NTT East's words, you cannot choose it yourself.

The method matters for two reasons. It sets how fast your line can be: NTT East warns that VDSL can slow down or stop working because of the building's equipment and interference from other lines. It also decides whether anyone needs to visit. A room that already has a 光コンセント (hikari konsento — fibre socket) can often be connected without a technician.

You can check this yourself. Put the address into NTT East's area search and read the plan name it shows. NTT East explains what each result means:

• “フレッツ 光ネクスト マンションタイプ” means VDSL or LAN wiring.
• “フレッツ 光クロス” or “マンション・ギガラインタイプ” means fibre wiring to the room.
• “ご指定の住所は詳しい状況確認が必要です” (this address needs a detailed check) means the building has no equipment installed yet.

If internet speed matters to your work, run this check before you sign.

What the listing words do and don't tell you

Rental listings say インターネット対応 (intānetto taiō — internet ready), 完備 (kanbi — fully equipped), 接続可 (setsuzoku-ka — connection possible) or 無料 (muryō — free). SUUMO's own explanation of these words says they do not show which connection method a building uses, and the same word can mean a different setup in a different building. Its glossary adds that 接続可 can mean a telephone line and nothing more, so it does not mean you can connect as soon as you move in.

Whatever the listing says, ask the agent two things: is there a working internet line to this room now, and if not, is there a fibre socket?

Free internet is the exception. SUUMO describes it as the owner arranging and paying for the building's internet connection. You skip the order entirely, but you cannot choose the company, and the speed is whatever the building's connection provides.

What happens between ordering and the visit

NTT East's apartment installation guide says a technician comes when the fibre cable has not been brought into the home, or when there is no fibre socket. For that visit, you or someone acting for you must be present, and the work takes about two hours. If the fibre is already in the room, the technician does not come, and you connect the equipment yourself using the mailed guide.

How long you wait is not fixed. The apartment guide says the waiting time depends on where you live, what equipment NTT East has there and how much work is needed. NTT East's page for its office service gives about one month and asks people to apply early in moving season. Spring is that season in Japan, so allow extra time for a March or April move.

Two parts of the visit involve your building rather than you. Some of the work happens in the building's wiring room, which NTT East calls the MDF room: the cupboard or room where the telephone lines for the whole building come together. If it is locked, you must tell the management company or landlord the date in advance and ask them to unlock it. Where a building has no fibre equipment yet, NTT East says it builds it only after getting the consent of the owner or management company, which can take time. On signing day, ask the agent who holds the key to the wiring room and whether the owner has already agreed to fibre work.

Bridge the gap without a second long contract

If the visit date is far off, a home router that uses the mobile network covers the wait. NTT Docomo's home 5G, for example, needs no construction work and plugs into a power socket. One condition is written on its product page: it cannot be used anywhere other than the registered installation address, so register the new apartment, not the old one. Phone tethering covers email and calls if your plan allows hotspot use.

For a wait of a few days, tethering is enough. For a month or more, rent a router. The contract-free internet guide explains which no-commitment options exist and what you owe when you stop them.

If the visit date is too late, use the eight days

You can cancel an NTT East fibre contract within its first eight days. The window runs from the day the 開通のご案内 (kaitsū no go-annai — connection notice) arrives, and that day counts as day one. If the notice arrives on Monday 3 November, day eight is Monday 10 November, so your request has to be in by then. Cancelling this way still leaves you paying the contract fee, any construction work already done, and the usage fees up to the day you cancel. Use it when the installation date is too late for you, not as a free trial. If another company can connect you sooner, this is the moment to switch.

Before you move in:

1. Check the address on NTT East's area search.
2. Ask the agent about the fibre socket and the key to the wiring room.
3. Place the order and book the visit for a day you can be home for two hours.

When you move in, use the rented router or your phone until the technician has been.