Uploading photos and video with a travel eSIM: budget the files first

Say you need to send 2GB of files a day for seven days: that is 14GB before maps, messages or anything else. Add 0.5GB of other phone use a day and 25% extra room for unexpected use, and you need about 22GB in this example. A 10GB plan will not cover it. Use Plan my trip for a starting estimate from your dates, phone use and sharing choices, then compare that estimate with the files you already know you need to send.

Our seven-day Japan plan at up to 10Mbps costs A$24.95. It includes unlimited data on your phone, plus 6GB you can share with a laptop or another phone across the seven days. A 14GB laptop backup will not fit that sharing allowance. The plan does not routinely slow your phone data because you have used a particular amount, although the operator can still restrict use in exceptional circumstances to protect its network.

The seven-day Japan full-speed plan costs A$34.95. It does not set a fixed speed limit or total data limit, routinely slow heavy users, or put a separate limit on data sharing. Actual upload speed still depends on the network, and exceptional restrictions to protect it can apply.

Indonesia unlimited has no total data limit or published usage amount that triggers a slowdown, and no extra slowdown for heavy use. Thailand works differently: you get 100GB across the trip at up to 10Mbps, then data continues much more slowly at 384kbps. We have not confirmed laptop sharing or its device/network limits for either offer, so ask us about the exact plan before relying on it for work uploads.

The local KDDI plans cover 11–21, 26 and 31 days in Japan. You can use unlimited data on your phone, but heavy use is reviewed over a rolling three-day period and may slow to around 1Mbps. The operator has not published a fixed number of gigabytes that triggers this slowdown.

Data shared with a laptop or another phone has its own limit for the trip: the number of plan days minus one, in GB. That gives you 13GB on the 14-day plan or 30GB on the 31-day plan. Once you use that sharing allowance, shared data may slow to around 128kbps.

The date you first use KDDI data counts as Day 1, even if you connect late in the day, and the plan ends at 11:59pm Japan time on its final day. There is also a start-by date supplied with the eSIM; an unused plan may start automatically when that date passes. Your phone needs to support KDDI, including LTE Band 18 or 26, and the local eSIM needs Data Roaming OFF. Follow its own setup details, because the shorter Japan plans work differently.

Using decimal units, 1GB is 8,000 megabits. At an ideal sustained 10Mbps upload, that takes 800 seconds, about 13 minutes 20 seconds; 5GB takes about 67 minutes. Network conditions and overhead can make the real transfer longer, and a plan advertised at up to 10Mbps may upload more slowly where you are.

Keep an urgent small delivery on mobile if the selected service supports the task, and schedule large backups over a reliable accommodation connection where practical. For Thailand, a stated 4GB a day for thirty days totals 120GB before other use, so that pattern crosses the 100GB high-speed threshold; at 384kbps, large transfers would take substantially longer.

The shorter Japan, Indonesia and Thailand unlimited plans discussed here must be started within 60 days of purchase. The longer local KDDI plans use the start-by date supplied with the eSIM. Save your email before flying, then install after landing on working, steady Wi-Fi.