Orange 3G - good or bad?

[Taz]

Has anyone got an Orange 3G phone? If so, what is the network quality like? Does Orange just piggy-back onto the '3' network?

I'm tempted to get a Nokia 6680 on Orange 3G but it would be a costly mistake if the quality of the network is cr*p.

Also, some of the places around the world that I travel to don't have roaming agreements with '3'. Would the phone then operate in 2/2.5G mode?

[Aaron]

Has anyone got an Orange 3G phone? If so, what is the network quality like? Does Orange just piggy-back onto the '3' network?

I'm tempted to get a Nokia 6680 on Orange 3G but it would be a costly mistake if the quality of the network is cr*p.

Also, some of the places around the world that I travel to don't have roaming agreements with '3'. Would the phone then operate in 2/2.5G mode?

I've got a couple of Orange 3G SIMs that I've been using in regular phones for about a week. I should be getting a 6680 sometimes this week.

Any 3G on the market at present will work with both 2G and 3G networks. If you can't get a 3G signal then you'll drop down to using 2G. '3' had problems at first when you switched between the two mid-call, but these teething problems seem to have been solved. In call, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

Orange have their own 3G network and although it doesn't cover the whole population yet, it does cover most urban areas. As the 6680 works in 2G mode, you can roam to practically any country in the world with a mobile network without problems.