Television

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When we first rented our apartment, the realtor arranged to have a "technology" company called Asist Solutions which does a lot of work for them and the expat community to provide an estimate on phone, internet, and satellite television connectivity. They came out the day of our walk through to provide the estimate for:

Internet set up
Wireless router set up
Two skyperfect tv (for Japanese tv) antenna purchase, installation, and connection
Armed Forces Network (AFN) TV (10 channels of US tv) satelitte antenna installation and connection

All together, the estimate was for 128,000 Yen or a little over $1100. There was just one hitch; we had not been able to locate an AFN antenna; they were on back order at the Base Exchange. We had the two decoders but still no antenna when it came time for installation.

Two days later was the big day when we would get connectivity to the world (I had been stealing free wireless in the interim). First came a gentlemen from NTT to install the modem. Our apartment has 100-Mbps high speed connectivity. We were also lucky that our apartment also came with a phone line. Most Japanese purchase a phone line for a high price. Most expats just lease the phone line like in the states. We didn't have to do either. The NTT installer put little connectors on our phones so that all our phone calls go out over the internet at a lower price (supposedly around $0.08 per minute) although we have just been using skype as it is even cheaper.

A little while after the NTT installer left, the installers from Asist Solutions arrived. They quickly connected our computers to our wireless router, inititated the connection to the ISP (really appreciated this as all screens are in Japanese), and had us up and running in a few minutes. Then they went up to the roof and installed two skyperfect tv antennas and had the decoders installed and up and running in just a little while. All in all they were hear for maybe three hours and handed me a bill for 85,000 Yen or around $740. They asked us to call them when the antenna for AFN came in and they would install it at that time. While we had no AFN with US sports and primetime programming, we did have around a dozen channels (e.g., CNN, Bloomberg, Discovery, History, etc) that were in English.

Lo and behold, a week later we get a call that an antenna had arrived at the Base Exchange. It was a big day when I brought it home. The installers were out the next day. After two hours....

....no luck.... 😞

after two more hours......

......I get a call from their office saying that there installers on the roof are going to give up. They couldn't get a signal. 😞

Back to square one.....

I asked around at the Base and also my co-workers about other options. There was an installer located in the community near the base but he wouldn't come into Tokyo. I eventually found a company, Mediotech, that had worked with some of the US folks at the Tokyo base. No one at their office spoke English so my secretary was nice enough to coordinate the installation for us. 😊

They came out and tried to set up the antenna; they could get no signal quality. I called AFN support in the states but still no luck. As it was pouring down rain, they were getting soaked up there on the roof. Shortly after dark they said that they would like to try again; I said ok.

The next time the installer that came knew no English. He took a lot of equipment and a very long extension cord to the roof so he could check signal strength directly. He was having no luck either. He could get signal strength but no signal quality. After a few hours, he too gave up. He indicated that someone from his company would call the next Saturday.

The next Saturday we stayed at home; sure enough we did get a call. They wanted to try a third time. We set up a time for the next week. The two installers from Mediotech that had tried the first time were back. They had the instructions from AFN translated into Japanese; they were all set. However, same old problem; no signal quality. I was getting frustrated thinking that we would never get AFN. As it was, I had missed all the bowl games. These installers had spent over 10 hours at our apartment and hadn't earned a penny. I was ready to give up or at least try to find another company or try to find a new satellite antenna. However, they asked for one more try. I couldn't refuse given the amount of time they had invested. However, it was getting hard to keep arranging to take off work so that I could be at home; therefore, I asked for a Saturday appointment; today.

They arrived at 5pm. They took the antenna up on the roof and installed it in the same place they had installed it before. They dropped a cable outside the living room window. Arlene and I were in the office when she said "I think I hear someone speaking English." I went into the living room and sure enough there was US tv!!!!!!!!

😊 😊

They did not know why it worked today when they did the same things as before. It was a couple more hours for them to get the cable across the roof to drop down on the other side of the building for our office/guest room tv and to make all connections permanent.

The bill came to 69,300 Yen or around $600 but well worth it.

After being in our apartment for 46 days, we finally have full connectivity to the outside world.

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Comments

[Suzanne]

WooHoo!!!
I know what a triumph this is, and how utterly rewarding (like finding a two pund box of See's candy by the side of your bed. Ok, it's not le Maison du Chocolat or even Godiva, but it's sooo good because it's familar). I remember watching ancient episodes of Dallas, dubbed in French, 'just because'. And, hey! Just in time for a certain football game.