ReCloud Japan BGP VPS: Performance Review and Speed Tests

Are you looking for a budget-friendly Japanese VPS with solid BGP connectivity? Wondering if ReCloud's latest Japan Softbank line can handle your streaming, testing, or lightweight hosting needs without breaking the bank? This hands-on review breaks down real-world performance metrics, network routing, and media unlock capabilities to help you decide if this 200Mbps BGP solution is worth your money.

What is ReCloud Japan BGP VPS?

ReCloud is a China-based VPS provider offering servers across multiple locations including US NTT, Hong Kong HGC, Hong Kong CMI, and Japan Softbank lines. Their recently launched Japan BGP service runs on Softbank infrastructure with bandwidth options from 200Mbps to 500Mbps.

Here's what you need to know upfront: This isn't optimized for mainland China connections, speed to China isn't guaranteed, and ports 80/443/8080 are blocked. If you're cool with those limitations, let's see what this thing can actually do.

Configuration Tested

Japan Softbank 200M Plan

• vCPU: 1 core

• RAM: 1 GB

• Storage: 15 GB SSD

• Traffic: 2 TB/month (200Mbps port)

• IPv4: 1 address

• Price: ¥35/month (~$5.50 USD)

The price point is pretty competitive for what you're getting. Not exactly premium territory, but decent enough for side projects or testing.

YouTube Streaming Test

Testing from a China Mobile home broadband connection, YouTube streaming worked smoothly. The connection handled video playback without buffering issues, which is a good sign for media consumption use cases.

👉 Looking for reliable Asia-Pacific VPS solutions with proven BGP routing? Check out ReCloud's full Japan lineup here

Detailed Performance Metrics

System Specs (Superbench)

CPU Model: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2673 v3 @ 2.40GHz
CPU Cores: 1 Core @ 2397.222 MHz x86_64
CPU Cache: 16384 KB
CPU Flags: AES-NI Enabled & VM-x/AMD-V Disabled
OS: Debian GNU/Linux 11 (64 Bit) KVM
Kernel: 5.15.0-0.bpo.2-amd64
Total Space: 2.1 GB / 15.0 GB
Total RAM: 77 MB / 975 MB (121 MB Buff)
TCP CC: bbr
ASN & ISP: AS48024, Nerocloud LTD
Location: Tokyo, Japan

The E5-2673 v3 is older generation Xeon hardware, but perfectly adequate for this price range. BBR congestion control is enabled, which helps with throughput on high-latency connections.

I/O Performance:

• Run 1: 332 MB/s

• Run 2: 362 MB/s

• Run 3: 345 MB/s

• Average: 346.3 MB/s

Disk I/O is solid—nothing spectacular, but way better than budget HDD offerings.

China Three-Network Speed Test

Here's where things get interesting. Performance to mainland China varies wildly depending on which carrier you're on:

China Telecom:

• Shanghai CT: 18.07 Mbps up / 193.98 Mbps down (93.76ms latency)

• Guangzhou 5G CT: 8.75 Mbps up / 109.89 Mbps down (83.15ms)

• Nanjing 5G CT: 199.47 Mbps up / 193.46 Mbps down (60.13ms)

China Unicom:

• Shanghai 5G CU: 200.67 Mbps up / 194.84 Mbps down (60.65ms)

• Nanjing CU: 200.46 Mbps up / 191.25 Mbps down (72.59ms)

China Mobile:

• Shanghai 5G CM: 203.30 Mbps up / 193.77 Mbps down (79.96ms)

• Harbin CM: 177.58 Mbps up / 182.63 Mbps down (135.44ms)

Unicom and Mobile connections perform pretty well, hitting close to the 200Mbps port limit. Telecom is more hit-or-miss—some nodes perform great (Nanjing), others struggle (Shanghai, Guangzhou).

Global Speed Tests

Performance to international locations is consistently strong:

• Singapore SG: 197.50 Mbps up / 191.60 Mbps down (76.55ms)

• Tokyo JP: 199.08 Mbps up / 191.05 Mbps down (0.32ms)

• Seoul KR: 197.37 Mbps up / 177.94 Mbps down (34.02ms)

• Los Angeles US: 198.86 Mbps up / 192.45 Mbps down (105.37ms)

• London UK: 181.05 Mbps up / 185.76 Mbps down (205.46ms)

The server maxes out its 200Mbps port to most international destinations. Latency is reasonable for the distances involved.

Return Routing Analysis

The return path uses standard direct routing through NTT, not Softbank. Here's what the trace looks like:

To Shanghai Telecom:

1. Host-by.nerocloud.io (178.173.229.1)
   2-4. [Internal routing]

2. ae-22.a01.tokyjp09.jp.bb.gin.ntt.net (NTT Japan)
   6-7. [NTT backbone]
   8-9. [Enter China]

3. 202.97.57.150 (China Telecom)

To Shanghai Unicom:
Routes through NTT Japan → NTT Osaka → enters China via Unicom backbone.

To Shanghai Mobile:
Goes through NTT infrastructure before hitting China Mobile's international gateway.

The routing is straightforward direct connection—no fancy optimizations, but also no weird detours.

Ping Latency Results

Latency to mainland China ranges from roughly 60ms to 135ms depending on destination and carrier. Not lightning-fast, but acceptable for most use cases that don't require real-time interaction.

YABS Benchmark

Single Core Geekbench 5: 577
Multi Core Geekbench 5: 541

Single-core performance is better than multi-core (which makes sense for a 1-core VPS). These scores are typical for this CPU generation and adequate for lightweight workloads.

Network throughput (iperf3):

• London UK: 163 Mbps send / 169 Mbps receive

• Los Angeles: 184 Mbps send / 184 Mbps receive

• Singapore: 190 Mbps send / 145 Mbps receive

Pretty much maxing out the 200Mbps port in most directions.

Media Streaming Unlocks

Netflix: Originals Only
YouTube Premium: Yes (Region: JP)
Amazon Prime Video: Yes (Region: JP)
Disney+: No
Dazn: No
Tiktok Region: JP
iQyi Oversea Region: JP
Steam Currency: JPY

Netflix only works for Originals (not full Japan library access). YouTube Premium and Amazon Prime Video recognize it as a Japan IP. If you need full regional unlocks for streaming, you'll need to look elsewhere.

For developers or users needing reliable Asia-Pacific connectivity, ReCloud's BGP infrastructure provides the routing flexibility and network stability that matters for production workloads. 👉 Explore ReCloud's optimized network solutions here

Final Thoughts

This VPS does what it says on the tin. For ¥35/month, you're getting a solid Japan-located server with decent international connectivity and acceptable performance to China (though that's not the primary use case).

Good for:

• International API requests or services

• Testing and development in Japan region

• Lightweight hosting that doesn't need mainland China optimization

• YouTube and basic streaming

Not ideal for:

• China-optimized applications (no CN2/IPLC lines)

• Web hosting (ports 80/443 blocked)

• Full Netflix Japan library access

• Resource-intensive applications (only 1 core)

It's a straightforward budget option. Nothing fancy, but it works. If your needs align with what it offers, the price-to-performance ratio is decent. Just don't expect miracles at this price point.