Wireless G Backwards compatibility issues with Ipaq H5450

[juan_chiriboga]

I have a 802.11b router and my ipaq works fine. I also have a wireless G router, however my Ipaq will not connect to it.
anyone aware of any issues.?

thanks

[that_kid]

Yeah the issue is that 802.11g is not a finished standard and it doesn't interoperate with things the way that it should. Google it and you'll see.

[mscdex]

Wireless-G IS a working standard, BUT the Wireless-G PCMCIA card is Cardbus, which means it'll only work in laptops, not your iPaq. Also, you'd need a Wireless-G router as well as a Wireless-G PCMCIA card. Wireless-G is a fairly new "protocol", and expensive nonetheless. So I'd say wait until we know for sure if there will be a CF W-G card or not.

[bobkatt]

Who makes your wireless 802.11g router?

There should be away to make it work since 802.11g is suppose to have a component that's 802.11b compatible. 802.11g is not a true standard yet. Companies that have products right now are basically guessing at what the standard minimums might be and creating their own working 802.11g.

Not sure at this stage on if the 802.11b in your router has a fully functional 802.11b protocol support chip or is part of the 802.11g chip.

By checking the actual manufacturer we can get a better idea.
If your router has only an 802.11g chip then this could be a flawed implimentation and not compatible to all 802.11b networking cards like the one you are using with your IPAQ

Good luck

[juan_chiriboga]

my toshiba e740 connects just fine to the wireless G router. However the h5450 doesn not.
my router is a linksys router

[Pony99CA]

my toshiba e740 connects just fine to the wireless G router. However the h5450 doesn not.
my router is a linksys router
There's a known issue with the iPAQ 5450 not working with Linksys Wireless G routers. With luck, a firmware update will fix that.

Steve

[mscdex]

my toshiba e740 connects just fine to the wireless G router. However the h5450 doesn not.
my router is a linksys router

Linksys.... yuck. :roll:

[One-eYe]

It's rather funny...
When the Linksys 802.11G router came to market, we tried linking up the the iPAQ 5455. Needless to say it was a no go :( So we called HP support, they had no clue 802.11G was even out. So then we called Linksys...clueless as well. MOre or less it was another, "G's out already?" HAHAH, go figure. I'm beating on teh fact Linksys released the router earlier than expected to beat its' competitors to the market place. Hopefully a fix will come.

[bobkatt]

From what I understand, the fix may not be coming if it's related to the iPAQ 5000 series. The reason I say this is Linksys will mostly not devote any resources to solve an isilated issue thats make and model specific.

Again, HP will not devote resources that manufacturer and model specific in regards to a Linksys 802.11g router.

Also, I am not specifically familiar with the chip in the Linksys but if this chip is embedded firmware, this will mean replacing the chip with a version of 802.11g which is more standardlized and generically compatible.

If the iPAQ 5000 series is the only PocketPC with connection issues then I cannot see Linksys replacing this chip . :-(
Just my 2 cents on the marketplace.

My recommendation is if connecting to the iPAQ 5000 series is of utmost importance, I would replace the router with one that is more compatible.
One option though more expensive is to take a look at symbol.
available at http://www.symbol.com/products/wireless/products.html

Bob

[Pony99CA]

Also, I am not specifically familiar with the chip in the Linksys but if this chip is embedded firmware, this will mean replacing the chip with a version of 802.11g which is more standardlized and generically compatible.

I'm not sure what you mean here. As far as I know, most of these WiFi routers allow firmware updates without having to replace any chips. As 802.11g isn't standardized yet, this will be especially important.

If the iPAQ 5000 series is the only PocketPC with connection issues then I cannot see Linksys replacing this chip . :-(
Just my 2 cents on the marketplace.

But how sure are you that the iPAQ 5450 is the only device that's not compatible? One of the main selling points of 802.11g is backward compatibility with 802.11b. If the iPAQ 5450 is a standard-compliant 802.11b device, I'd think Linksys would have to fix its router; if the iPAQ 5450 is a non-standard 802.11b device, I'd think HP would have to fix that. Given that 802.11b has been around well before the 5450, I'm betting the problem is with Linksys, not HP.

Steve

[bobkatt]

Regardless of which manufacturer may have the faulty device if only one router or one PocketPC is involved then cost to R & D a solution maybe beyond the scope of either manufacturer.

I'm not sure what you mean here. As far as I know, most of these WiFi routers allow firmware updates without having to replace any chips

In regards to the upgrade, What you are referring to is the support firmware on the Flash ROM support for the 802.11b and 802.11g chipset and I am refferring to the actual chipsets themselves.
These chipsets are fixed as far as I understand.

Like I said earlier I am not certain of the chipset being used. If the Linksys has an 802.11b chipset and an 802.11g chipset then this will be most compatible to 802.11b then an 802.11g chipset with it's own version of 802.11b compatiblity built in.

Linksys could provide a fix if like you said more PDA's beyond just the iPAQ 5000 series are affected and if the upgradability is based on the intermediate support flash ROM.

Bob

[Pony99CA]

Regardless of which manufacturer may have the faulty device if only one router or one PocketPC is involved then cost to R & D a solution maybe beyond the scope of either manufacturer.
Remember that this isn't really about one device; it's about one model. There are thousands of iPAQ 5450s out there, I bet. You may think Linksys doesn't care about upsetting users who have bought their routers or about losing sales to iPAQ 5450 users, but I'm not so sanguine about that.

Steve

[bobkatt]

Without going off topic.

All I am saying is unless a fix is currently in the worked on by Linksys or HP, the original poster maybe better off getting a different 802.11g router that does work out of the box with his iPAQ 5000 and his Toshiba.

No guarantees that a fix will be available in the short term.

Bob