Setting up Wireless Internet access on PDA/Pocket PC

pealy

Anyone have any experience of setting up a Pocket PC to use a home wireless network to access the internet?

I have an HP Ipaq hx4700 which has integrated wireless 802.11b and should be capable of doing exactly that. Unfortunately the Windows Mobile 2003 SE o/s is a complete mystery to me - all this Home vs Work vs My ISP nonsense is driving me up the wall! I'm sure I've managed to connect to the network but IE can't seem to use it and keeps asking me to create a connection..

Is there an intelligable guide anywhere? I know I'm not the only person to have problems with this as the internet is littered with similar queries but none of the reposnses seem to help me. The HP support area is curiously short on detailed help too.

espresso

As usual Google is your friend but this time Google Groups is better to find what you want. :rolleyes:

If you search in the box at the top right (i.e. search that particular group) you should find the answer.

Another place to look is Windows Mobile :cool:

You need to create a connection just like on any other computer or mobile phone etc. so that the next time, it knows exactly what to do, to establish your required connection.

:wave:

scotty

I have done this with an IPAQ 4150 and as you say it is not straight forward. I don't have access to gear just now but from memory you have to set two options to Work (as opposed to Home).

What have you managed to do so far? Is wired Active Sync working? Is wireless Active Sync working? Can you access the Internet when wired to pc?

I will try and check settings later but here are a couple of links which describe setting up wireless ActiveSync:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/expert/bowman_september24.mspx

http://www.wifizard.com/tutorialsXP/sync/index.htm

http://theillustratednetwork.mvps.org/WM2003/ActiveSync/WM2003ActiveSyncConfiguration.html

pealy

Thanks for the advice/links I'm at work right now so don't have the PDA to hand. I'm going to have another bash tonight so if I'm still struggling I'll try to post more info.

Fraserca

I also have the IPaq 4700 and i thought that it was straightforward to set up.


When you switch on the wireless it should detect the Wireless router.

If you have previously detected the router it will already have setting which are probably wrong - delete them.

Let the Pocket PC find the wireless router. It will ask you if you want to connect to the internet or Work. Select Internet. If you have an encrypted router it will ask you for the encryption key. enter that and it should just work.
Green light will come on and Internet Explorer should work.

If you think you have a connection and IE still doesn't work then its probably the Wireless key thats wrong. Try disabling WEP on your router temporarily and see if it works then.

pealy

Fraserca wrote:

I also have the IPaq 4700 and i thought that it was straightforward to set up.
When you switch on the wireless it should detect the Wireless router.
If you have previously detected the router it will already have setting which are probably wrong - delete them.
Let the Pocket PC find the wireless router. It will ask you if you want to connect to the internet or Work. Select Internet. If you have an encrypted router it will ask you for the encryption key. enter that and it should just work.
Green light will come on and Internet Explorer should work.
If you think you have a connection and IE still doesn't work then its probably the Wireless key thats wrong. Try disabling WEP on your router temporarily and see if it works then.

Thanks Fraserca, good to know someone with the same iPaq has managed to get it working.

I let it connect automatically and it detects the router okay.
The key is correct (but I'll try turning it off to see if it helps)
The "IpAq Wireless" utility shows a green button for Wireless (bluetooth is switched off) which I think indicates all is well..

Problem is, IE either sits there with a spinning logo for ages or the little wireless icon on the top bar tells me I haven't setup any connection.. If I try to setup a connection the options include modems but there's no network/wireless option.

Fraserca

Forget the modem option as thats a red hering. Probably best if you delete all your wireless settings and start from scratch again.

Is the router set for DHCP - ie. set to allocate an address automatically. If not then that may be the problem.

Also try a soft reset after changing the settings ( Recessed button near the battery catch ) - reset the router too just in case.


Should leave all you data OK but best to backup important stuff first just in case.

ted_2

hi,

i seem to have joined this conversation late in the day, but you are right about this being a lot more difficult than anyone realises.

to check the connection on the pc side, you need to check that the router has assigned an i.p. address to the ipaq.

open your browser, and get the router screen as per usual.... type 192.168.1.1 (usually) and give it a password. on most routers you need to check the DCHP Clients list.

if it has identified the ipaq, do a soft reset on the ipaq and try again....

i suppose you have checked the encryption code?

most importantly, you need to use the 64bit encryption, as the 128 just doesn't work on my dell, not sure about the ipaq.

good luck

pealy

thanks everyone, i removed the wep key, deleted the previous settings and started again. now its fine but i have an unsecure network. not ideal but it will be okay for now.

scotty

Go to Start|Settings|Connections. Select Connections then Advanced then Network Card. In the Wireless tab you should see the connection to your network listed. Select the network then the Network Key tab. This is where you input the WEP key.

These instructions are for 2003 (not 2003 SE) but should be similar.

The IPAQ 4150 only supports WEP, nor WPA. The WEP 128 key is 13 hex digit pairs long - take care typing it in!

Now that you have the IPAQ working wirelessly, you can use it to stream music from your computer to your hifi or use it as an MP3 player around the house. I use a free program called TCPMP on the IPAQ to do this.

http://tcpmp.corecodec.org/about