Problems with TMobile and Netgear 802.11b CF card

[stephen68]

I have a Dell Axim and a NetGear MA701 CF card. I subscribed to a TMobile account so I could access the internet at Starbucks near my job. I can never connect to the service. The SSID is set to "tmobile" but no luck. I also have problems logging in on the rare occasion I do connect. I always get bumped off.

What should my connection settings be?

Is there some trick to connecting to Tmobile in particular?

Thanks in advance from a wireless newbie!

[stephen68]

I have a Dell Axim and a NetGear MA701 CF card. I subscribed to a TMobile account so I could access the internet at Starbucks near my job. I can never connect to the service. The SSID is set to "tmobile" but no luck. I also have problems logging in on the rare occasion I do connect. I always get bumped off.

What should my connection settings be?

Is there some trick to connecting to Tmobile in particular?

Thanks in advance from a wireless newbie!

[Jorgen]

No tricks are necessary. It should be set up as follows:

1. Encryption disabled
2. Infrastructure ticked (as opposed to ad-hoc)
3. Set the SSID to "tmobile" (without the quotes) or let your card autodetect it

It should connect after at most a minute or so; then a menu should come up asking you to type in your details (as far as I remember - it is still free here in the UK so I have only done it once).

If that doesn't work, try "t-mobile" (we used to write it like that).

It should be very stable and fast too! At least in the UK where very few people use Wi-fi.

Jorgen

[Jorgen]

Just a thought: make sure your Settings -> Connections -> Network Adapters -> whatevercardyouhave is set to Setver assigned IP address.

While you are there, check that you don't have anything in the WINS address under Name Servers.

If you often connect to other WLANs, you should get the free PocketDHCP. This makes it easy to release and renew a dynamic IP address like the one you will be given at Starbucks.

Jorgen

[daS]

Originally Posted by stephen68

I also have problems logging in on the rare occasion I do connect. I always get bumped off.

It's not you - it's T-Mobile. They have a bug in the way they deal with the lease on the wireless network when you use a Pocket PC.

I've been working with someone at T-Mobile about this problem and they say that the problem will be fixed some time this month.

In the meantime, if you call customer support while you're at the Hotspot they will extend the lease time for you at that particular location and that session.

Not the best "solution" but if you let them know you're not happy about it, they might just add a little credit to your account. :wink: