Gash - £8 for unlimited *WAP* browsing????? So I can only view what Orange will let me view? Are they having a bubble?

I think its worth pointing out that "WAP" is just a processing method for the delivery of low-bandwidth webpages.

WAP is a way of formatting text and low-quality images in a way that allows them to be easily displayed on WAP-compatible handsets, just like HTML is used to format webpage content.

Other handsets can only visit WAP sites. This is NOT just the Orange (or Voda/Tmob/O2) portals! *Any* site written in WML (the HTML-esque language for WAP) is viewable in a WAP browser, and the majority of HTML browsers, WM's IE included, are backwards compatible. However the delivery is still over GPRS, with HSCSD ("WAP") as a fallback.

also, i know about "not being able to use it as a modem blah blah" but what about putting the sim in the 3G data card? theoretically it would work fine...

as far as orange could see, the data would be coming from the device not a daisy chained device, like a pc hooked up to a phone/pda etc.

Can't say much at this stage, but suffice to say, not many Orange customers will be leaving for T-Mobile for a while!

More later...

This might not matter much, but both T-Mobile's network and CS is not as good as Orange.

I was on the mighty O until June, when I switched over. Yes, my bills were cut in half, and I'm enjoying unlimited GPRS, but with no WM5 (no push emails then) on the SDA and an avarage wait time of 20min to get thru to CS, it's not all smiles. Not to mention the remarkable number of times I simply don't get texts until I make a call on the network.

T is cheaper, but you understand why after a while.

Orange wouldn't know if the device is "daisy-chained" or not. They might be enforcing their policy by looking for Windows XP specific stuff during the PPP session negotiation, or possibly packet inspection to identify things at the protocol layer which are a good indication of someone using it as a modem for a PC. For example, if they run a transparent proxy and see that all HTTP sessions have the IE7b user-agent chances are you're using a PC/Laptop. Of course these things are easy to work around, but you need to know what they are looking for in order to fake it.

Aaaah ... but here's the killer disappointment

The Orange £75 Panther tariff (which offers 1500 cross network minutes and unlimited texts in the Orange Shop ) does have unlimited browsing on GPRS (subject to the no streaming, file sharing, using as a modem etc etc T&Cs that you would expect ) but, according to the Orange Shop magazine, this GPRS usage must be OFF PEAK

Oh dear.

ive recently upgraded my m2000 to an m5000. after weeks of trying to get 3g working on my payg, i get informed that i need a new sim. i get a new sim, make great use of oranges £1 a day unlimited, yet even tho i rarely make calls, my top ups disapear so quickly i can only assume that my traffic on 3g isnt counted on the unlimited extra (im sure i remember when buying it before it said it didnt work on 3g)

last night i bit the bullet and got the £75 panther contract. have i made a booboo? is this not truely unlimited? i very nearly got webnwalk before i remembered the complete hell it is trying to get hold of my parents who are on tmobile. i guess i still have time to cancel, but i use the internet a LOT so id get the value from it i expect, but only if it is what it says it is.

I should add that I was on the poncy Orange Premier service. (I was automatically added due to high bills), which seemed to help alot in terms of call-waiting times and frequency of upgrades, but most importantly, I just dialed a number to get straight to CS rather than the myriad of press-the-hash-key nonsense T serve up when you call them (I think 1 then 4 will lead you to a fairly competent bunch).

I've had to call T on avarage once a week, I'm happy to lists reasons, but it deducts from my original point that there is more to a network than saving a few quid, and that I for one did not consider them when I switched.