3G Phones and GPRS

I have a 3G Nokia 6280 on the O2 network. When I am in a 3G area
should I still be connecting via GPRS or should the phone switch over
to 3G? Is 3G something that replaces GPRS (like ADSL replacing
dialup)?

Thanks

Andrew wrote:
> I have a 3G Nokia 6280 on the O2 network. When I am in a 3G area
> should I still be connecting via GPRS or should the phone switch over
> to 3G? Is 3G something that replaces GPRS (like ADSL replacing
> dialup)?
>
> Thanks

I use a N70 on Vodafone. As far as I'm aware, if you have the network
settings set to enable 3g then when you are in a 3g area your phone
should always use 3g.. If it isn't avaiable then it should switch back
to gprs. For what it's worth, I have mine set to use gprs all the time
as the signal is better and it is better for battery life, in my
experience anyway.

mafustokes wrote:
> Andrew wrote:
> > I have a 3G Nokia 6280 on the O2 network. When I am in a 3G area
> > should I still be connecting via GPRS or should the phone switch over
> > to 3G? Is 3G something that replaces GPRS (like ADSL replacing
> > dialup)?
> >
> > Thanks
>
> I use a N70 on Vodafone. As far as I'm aware, if you have the network
> settings set to enable 3g then when you are in a 3g area your phone
> should always use 3g.. If it isn't avaiable then it should switch back
> to gprs. For what it's worth, I have mine set to use gprs all the time
> as the signal is better and it is better for battery life, in my
> experience anyway.

With the 6280 you have a choice of either Dual Mode or GSM Only (if you
go to settings -> network settings -> network mode. If it's on GSM then
it will only use GPRS. If in dual mode it will handover between
technologies when available. If you are in a 3G area (and it's not
congested) then you will be able to surf on 3G. If while transferring
data you move to a 2G only coverage area then you should seamlessly
handover but continue on a low GPRS data rate. However the phone will
only handover in the other direction if you are not actively
transferring data as most mobile operators only upgrade you to 3G in a
period where the phone is idle (i.e. you are reading a web page for a
few minutes and not generating any traffic). It's worth noting that
dual mode will run your battery down much faster than GSM only as the
handover process is power hungry and 3G in general eats up more power.