Activesync via WiFi or Bluetooth?

[ktakeda]

I'm just waiting delivery for an ipaq 2210 :)

I'm wondering if it is easier to synch using Wifi or Bluetooth?

I have WiFi networks at home and work, and will be synching with my work PC and laptop (with WiFi).

I do not have bluetooth on my work or laptop PCs. But a bluetooth USB dongle is only 15 quid, so is a cheap possibllity. My other option is to buy a CF WiFi card (45 quid) and use that. I already have a 256mb CF storage card for music, so a CF WiFi card will require me to chop and change a bit.

Any advice on ease of use and reliability of WiFi vs Bluetooth?

Many thanks,
Kenji

[Pat Logsdon]

Wifi is miles better, in my humble opinion. It's faster, easier, and more reliable. With AS over WiFi, you just need to make sure that you sync first via the cradle/USB cable, and then you should be good to go when you plug in your CF card.

BT works ok, but I could not for the life of me get programs to install over a BT AS connection, although files sync fine FROM the PPC (but not from the PC to the PPC).

[axe]

I have been fighting with BT on my PC for a while... First off, I would recommend against the bottom of the barrel USB dongle. I bought a cheap one, and my co-worker bought a D-link. He was up and running (with a little help) within about 20 mins, whereas I had some problems. One of those "you get what you pay for".
It's all working now for both of us though. You can get name-brand BT USB dongles that go much further than the standard 10m (30+ feet).

I have not experienced the sync problem at all. Once you have the devices paired (where they know how to connect to each other) all you need to do is configure AS to sync via the newly installed BT Com port (4,5,6,7,etc) and it does the job quite nicely. The initial sync with the new device I agree should be wired, but after that wireless, Baby :mrgreen: It appears to be faster than even the Wired connection...

Wifi: With your 22xx machine you should be about to get an alternate media for the WiFi card. It has both CF & SDIO. Why not get a SDIO wifi card? a little more expensive yes, but you wouldn't have to sacrifice you device. The other thing to think about is the battery drain... Though I haven't plugged in a wifi card of either flavour to benchmark that, I know that I was BT connected for about 5 hours solid w/o interruptions last week on battery. My understanding is that would be almost impossible with wifi.

my suggestion for your home use:
1) buy a name brand BT usb device, preferably with longer than average range.
2) Use BT, because once you get it configured (make take some time initally) the iPaq utilizes the battery much better than what I have heard about from wifi. It's also much easier to secure, since you are prompted by both the PC &/or the iPaq should a rogue connection attempt to be established, though unlikely due to range.

my 2c
AXE

[Pat Logsdon]

As far as my setup goes, I think I could probably get it working, but not without more blood sweat and tears than I care to expend. To me, that's the main problem with BT - you're pretty much at the mercy of whoever makes the drivers, and they are NOT all created equal.

I have an AmbiCom CF card in a PC card converter, and the software is...touchy, to put it mildly.

That being the case, I totally agree with Axe - go with a (big) brand name (like D-link, TDK, etc.) if you decide to go with BT. :wink:

[ktakeda]

Hi, thanks for the advice so far. Yeah, I've looked at SDIO WiFi, but they're still a little pricey (100 quid). I was considering the Linksys WCF12 as it's only 40 quid exc VAT now. Costs about the same as a BT USB dongle!

I think I need to think about overall usage profile. I'll probably use my cradle at work for keeping my iPaq charged anyway, so could use BT with the laptop. I've seen MSI BT dongles for good price, but the D-Link ones are not much more (on Dabs) so I'll take your advice on that one if I go the BT route.

More thoughts still welcome :)

Many thanks y'all.
Kenji
www.soton.ac.uk/~ktakeda

[Mark_Venture]

Any bluetooth dongle or card for the PC that uses the Widcomm drivers is easy to setup and get working. Its also the easiest to find help for. Belkin, MSI, and TDK are all brands that use the Widcomm drivers for the majority of their USB dongles.

Ambicom's USB dongles and CF card used their own bluetooth drivers on the PC. They are horrible. Recent Ambicom USB dongles use the Widcomm drivers on the PC and are a breeze. See Ambicom's support/download page to tell old vs new style, via serial numbers and photos.

The Widcomm drivers are licensed to hardware configs, so you can't just take the Widcomm drivers and use them with any BT hardware device... i.e. if you have a Belkin device, you must use the Widcomm drivers from Belkin or they wont work.

I use Wi-Fi to sync with my desktop at home. At work, I sync via bluetooth wth my laptop.

Wi-Fi is much easier to setup. Once setup up however, Bluetooth isn't bad either.

As for battery, Wi-Fi does drain my iPAQs battery faster.

Being new to bluetooth, I needed help to get the PC configured. I found the guides at GeekZone ( http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?contentid=449 ) very helpful once I had a USB dongle that used the Widcomm drivers.