New 5450 - wireless problems

[Venturello]

Just got a gift from my father, a 5450 with wireless and bluetooth. Installed all 2002 updates from compaq, not the 2003 since I am short of cash and will get it in a few weeks. Funny, it feels slower in many parts than my old 3600 - should the new OS fix this?

Anyway, I try to connect to my local wireless network and it is not working. I set up the Gateway, Subnet, DNS, SSID and WEP key same as my laptop and give it a unique IP on the network, using the iPaq WLAN 'wizard'. This in my own profile which I created. If course the WLAN adapter is turn on, and I see the red LED blinking.

Signal strength appears as 0%, and when I go into status->advanced it finds my access point but indicates no signal nor channel. When on status it shows ip 0.0.0.0 and exploring->autenticating. And it stays there. Software version is 4.0.1.36, Driver 3.2.2.84 and firmware 0.100.5.39.

I have tried other WLAN aware software as netstumbler and they give an error.

Any ideas on what I should try to get this working? Would be very nice to have it.

Thanks!

Juan

[dhettel]

Hmm is this your home WLAN, or a school system?

If it is your home system I would try turning off WEP and see if you can connect.

If it is a school system or some other type of system that you do not control, then may may need to register with them and give them you MAC address to get connected.

David

[Jereboam]

Ok - first of all you have definitely updated the wifi firmware? Without it your wifi is effectively crippled.

Next, try taking out the battery of your iPaq for 30 seconds or so...this allows the wifi to somehow "reset" itself and it may well start working. Trust me...I had to drill down in the HP forums to find that piece of advice and blow me if it didn't work. Incidentally, if you get errors installing the wifi firmware then you have to do the same thing.

And I highly recommend abandoning WEP until you have established your new connection. If nothing else, it eliminates one thing from your list, and it can be temperamental.

I had my wifi working superbly under 2002, and just fine under 2003 (although I'm not convinced it's any better).

The 5450 is great, just was initially a complete mess. Good luck.

Oh, and yes - if they are secure-ish networks you will have to have your MAC address on the system. Otherwise no dice.

J'bm

[Venturello]

Thanks for replies. I did install the WAN upgrade, as evidenced by the version number of the firmware. It is my home network, but I rather not turn WEP off. I will try turning it off just to try, but I'd rather not leave it like that all the time. Call me paranoid, but I know how easy it is to get into someone's network like that (done it).

Took battery off over a minute, it didn't help. Still, no signal shown. Anything else I might try before trying turning off WEP? Since it shows in the status screen 'autenticating' (in spanish) then I guess this could be wep related...

The 5450 is quite cool, love the screen and having a 128Mb card. Performance is SLOW at times!! I feel it is not as fast as my very old 3600. wFrom what I have read, the new OS when I get it will make things better.

Pd. questions:

1.is there any software that will take advantage of the fingerprint sensor to encrypt files? Right now using pocketlock with a password, a finger scan would be VERY cool.
2. how do I make software install in the memory card?
3. It vibretes when activesync starts and ends. It annoys me. In notification for activesync start and end the vibrate checkbox is unselected. Why is it doing this?

Thanks!!

Juan

[Jereboam]

Disable WEP to elminate it as a cause (or not) of the problem. Then put it back in place.

WM2003 will give you certain enhancements in performance, but nothing earth-shattering. Stability is much improved, however.

As to your other questions, the fingerprint scanner is IMHO seriously underestimated as a means of securing files/passwords/PINs etc. The reliability of it as a serious security device is not 100%, I think somebody ran a bunch of tests and came up with that out of every 100 attempts, 2-3 would get through (by a person not you, obviously)...you wouldn't want to secure nuclear launch codes with it but for casual PDA use I feel it's perfect.

Installing software on memory cards is hit and miss. I try and install most apps in main memory, there's plenty of space really, especially if you use the iPaq file store for ebooks etc...I keep games installed on the memory card - nothing critical. I saw a list of apps that were happy on memory cards a while back, but can't remember where...

NiceStart, by the way, will use your fingerprint scanner. It's basically a password app, looks nicer than the standard one.

J'bm