Don't go with Orange! Took out their most expensive 10GB for £25 a month deal over 24 months (business use). After 1 week they cut me off. I had gone over the limit due to laptop problems and downloading softyware to recover it, but crucially, Orange had reduced my limit for 1st month (without telling me), didn't warn me I was approaching or had reached the limit, and the internet landing page usage widget badly misinformed me that my usage was much lower than actual. Plus, they refused to address my problem until the end of the billing period. And actually have yet to respond 2 weeks later. They just sent me a bill for nearly £900, so BEWARE!!.
Orange mobile broadband
Orange overview
- Good range of pay monthly contracts, including 12 month or flexible 1 month options with a 14 day guarantee
- New high-performance dongle gives better coverage, and comes with a free Micro SD card.
- You can buy add-on data on a 30-day rolling contract basis.
- Orange mobile broadband customers get 2 for 1 cinema tickets with the Orange Wednesdays offer
Orange Broadband Genie Road Test results
Orange Road test
- Downloads
3 stars- Uploads
4 stars- Streaming
2 stars- Stability & coverage
- 3 stars
- Feelgood factor
- 3 stars
- Dongle & software
- 4 stars
- Overall
- 3 stars
May 2012
In 2011 we noted how well Orange had done in terms of stability, offering hugely improved coverage compared to our previous attempts, garnering the Dongle on the Move runner-up award in the process. It was therefore slightly disappointing to find that this wasn’t repeated in 2012.
Overall test success rates were only 11 out of 30, just inching past O2 to take fourth place. Not disastrous but poorer than expected, and surprising when Orange users are now able to jump on T-Mobile’s signal.
Test results were as inconsistent as Orange’s signal. Just over half the downloads completed but with some of the slowest times. Yet in the speed tests we recorded a top download of 3.21Mb and a strong 1.66Mb average, second only to Three on both counts, and it blazed through on upstream with a very impressive average of 1.93Mb and a scarcely believable high of 3.1Mb. It was not quite as reliable as Vodafone when actually uploading files, however.
Streaming was less impressive, with fewer than half the audio/video attempts completed. Orange was the only provider to complete one stream, but others involved up to 63% of additional time waiting for the buffer to fill.
One area in which Orange demonstrated a definite improvement is the quality of the dongle. This year the network supplied the Huawei E367. Build quality is far better than the old E1752 and its USB connector is hinged. The marketing claim is that this provides better reception but that didn’t come through in the test results. What it does do is take up less space. It’s not sticking out the laptop so is less likely to snag and damage the computer or dongle (always a risk on a train) and allows it to be used in a rear USB port.
Overall analysis of the Mobile Broadband Genie Road Trip 2011
by May 2012
About Orange
Once the cool, trend setting mobile network with a bright future, Orange Mobile is now established as one of the big boys. Its 'Orange Wednesdays' two-for-one cinema ticket deal has been a sure-fire winner with mobile broadband customers, although many of its rivals have now caught on and copied it with similar offers. However, in terms of performance, its mobile broadband speed test results have been consistently behind the curve.
Back in 1994 Orange became the new kid on the mobile network block (a title it has since passed to 3). The company was taken over by France Telecom in 2001, along with the internet branch of the company originally known as Wanadoo (under which name it took over Freeserve): it became part of the Orange brand in 2006. As for mobile internet, while Orange has introduced a one-month rolling contract, there is not a specific pay as you go mobile broadband deal available. It no longer does so-called 'free' laptop deals direct, but has branched into both iPad SIMs and mobile Wi-Fi.
In the UK, Orange integrated with T-Mobile in July 2010 and the combined networks were renamed Everything Everywhere. In October 2012 the joint effort was further cemented as it was renamed once more to EE and high street stores received a makeover. However both T-mobile and Orange continue to operate alongside the new 4G EE, and customers benefit from improved network coverage with seamless roaming between the two.
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Orange customer reviews
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Report abuseJust taken out a 12 month mobile broadband contract with Orange on a light user package (500Mb/month)
Very pleased with customer service and connection speed, done speed test and am getting download speed of 4.33Mbps and upload speed of 1.5Mbps and for only £5 per month.
Very Happy Customer. -
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Mmmmm!!! Thank god I read these reviews before buying an Orange Dongle .... I'm going to live abroad and need a Dongle for my laptop so I can keep intouch with people back in England .... Can anyone help me as to which network I should buy?? I am currently with 3 and they are sooooo bad even in England so won't be using them!!! :O(
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I have been using Orange Mobile Broadband at my current address in Bedford for nearly 2 years. Although better than the awful fixed-line speed to start with it has gradually declined to the point that the last month or so has seen a total drop off in line speed. My contract is up soon, but they are now charging a fortune for my current 3 gigs a month. This is no surprise since their phone coverage is worsening by the week. WAKE UP ORANGE !!! You are not keeping up with the advancing technology and usage levels so stop flogging promises of service that you know you can't meet.
PEOPLE, DO NOT enter into a fixed contract until you can check the equipment at home/work etc. There should also be a 28 day trial/refund period on all long contracts to check these product work as advertised.
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