The Underscore Archives

Evening folks,
I've just purchased a Orange Options USB 3G thingamebob (Option Icon 225 in
more techy jargon) as a fall back for when I can't get to a wifi service/not
at home/on hols etc.

I've only used it briefly since finding the OSX modem scripts for it, but so
far it seems a bit on the unstable side... I can be browsing (impressively
quickly I must admit) then it just dies off, shows as connected but no data
flows. Now given I was sat in the same spot at home while doing this test,
and the network signal is showing as full (with HSDPA/3G+ available) I can't
imagine this is coverage related...

I have had a brief chat with Orange's Business Tech people who just got very
scared that it wasn't Windows XP or Vista that I was using. Tried to tell me
that they don't support macs with this device (despite their website being
my source of the driver/manager software) and made various other grunts like
I was practicing voodoo. To conclude the call they told me it was probably
because my sim was only activated today...

It's ironic that I bought Orange as I used to work for them when 3G first
launched - but their package was good (for unlimited data) and I just
assumed 3G has been around long enough to just work by now...

Anyone else using this device - or similar? I'm wondering whether to return
it and try a different network / device / solution, or whether this is just
the way these things go and I'm expecting too much reliability.

Cheers,

Steve