Activesync over Wifi? Or Bluetooth?

[famousdavis]

So I've got my first Wifi-enabled PPC (Axim X50v) now. It accesses the Internet just fine over my home wireless network.

Do folks somehow use ActiveSync over WiFi to sync wirelessly?

Or do you do that via Bluetooth somehow? And if via Bluetooth, there is some gizmo I must buy for my desktop, right (is that what a Bluetooth dongle is?)?

How does one use ActiveSync over a wireless connection?

[Steven Cedrone]

I use both. There should be a bunch of threads here about it. Here is a tutorial as well:

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

You will need a dongle for your PC to do the Bluetooth sync...

Steve

[famousdavis]

I use both. There should be a bunch of threads here about it. Here is a tutorial as well:

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

You will need a dongle for your PC to do the Bluetooth sync...

Steve

I did try searching using "ActiveSync" and "WiFi" and the results were a little overwhelming, so I posted here instead. :wink:

Thanks for pointing me to the tutorial, Steve. I clicked through it from work and am anxious to give it a whirl tonight. The English spelling and grammar on the tutorial is pretty rough, but I think it has the gist of what I need to know. I'll post later to give you results! :)

[famousdavis]

I gave it a whirl, but no dice. Interestingly, I don't think there was anything different about my existing PC and PPC configurations that I had to change after going through the tutorial. But still, my ActiveSync connection doesn't take place.

I've opened a support ticket with Dell, and they said they'll send me an email on how to wireless use ActiveSync with my Axim. I'm not overly optimistic that their email is going to resolve the problem. There is probably something particular about my desktop that is causing a problem.

I might try loading ActiveSync on my laptop, and see if I might have any better luck with that.

Or, I could just eat the last piece of apple cobbler while my wife is out grocery shopping. Hmmmmm.... ;-)

[Darius Wey]

In what ways is it not working? Do you get an error message on your PC or Pocket PC, or does it just not want to connect?

[famousdavis]

In what ways is it not working? Do you get an error message on your PC or Pocket PC, or does it just not want to connect?

The error message isn't in front of me, but it says, basically, that it can't connect.

Dell's tech support hasn't sent me the promised email detailing how to setup wireless sync'ing, so I'll probably have to work with Dell again tonight. :evil:

[famousdavis]

Okay, here's what I'm getting:

"Cannot start communications with the desktop computer. Reconnect your device. If the problem persists, see Microsoft ActiveSync Help."

Doing a Google has taken me down some unfruitful paths. I am using the "Work" instead of "The Internet" for my network setting. Interestingly, my Internet connection still works under this setting.

Thoughts, anyone?

[famousdavis]

After reading this Microsoft Knowledgebase article (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;818199) on setting up a wireless sync with ActiveSync and a PPC, I am re-thinking the urgency of getting my ActiveSync to work wirelessly in my network environment. Can it be any more complicated? Would it be easier to hit the Lotto than to get all the steps down correctly?

I've lived 18 months with my iPAQ 1910 doing sync's via a USB cable (not even a cradle!), so maybe I'll be content with the progress I've made thus far....and hope that ActiveSync 4.0 with Windows Longhorn and WM2005 will make this a whole lot easier in the future. :cry:

[Darius Wey]

Okay, here's what I'm getting:

"Cannot start communications with the desktop computer. Reconnect your device. If the problem persists, see Microsoft ActiveSync Help."

Doing a Google has taken me down some unfruitful paths. I am using the "Work" instead of "The Internet" for my network setting. Interestingly, my Internet connection still works under this setting.

Thoughts, anyone?

Open up ActiveSync on the Pocket PC and tap Tools > Options. From there, select the computer name you wish to synchronise with and tap the Options button. Ensure the appropriate connection interface is selected in the drop-down menu.

[famousdavis]

More progress....

Tonight I loaded ActiveSync onto my laptop and established a partnership with my X50v -- now I have two partnerships, one with my desktop, one with my laptop. So far, so good.

After using the USB cradle to establish the initial partnership with my laptop, I then tried starting ActiveSync on my X50v and seeing whether I could sync wirelessly over my WLAN.

SHAAAZAM! It worked! 8O

So, I conclude that there is something amiss with my desktop environment, since I can't sync wirelessly on my desktop. My desktop is about 3 years old, and my laptop is just 6 months old. My desktop runs XP SP-2, and my laptop I've got XP SP-1 (both Home Edition). Both computers run Norton Internet Security 2004 (though I've tried disabling NIS on my desktop, and it still won't sync wirelessly).

My non-techie wife sat near me this evening and I explained to her what I was doing. She laughed at one point and said something mocking, like, "Heaven forbid you get off your duff to put that thing in its cradle!" I had to explain to her the W?BIC! concept... :roll:

So, I can either quit now and be satisfied with all I've accomplished -- which is a LOT -- or keep at it until I either resolve my desktop set-up issue (or replace the thing with a whole NEW desktop...Hmmmmmm.....)

[Pat Logsdon]

After using the USB cradle to establish the initial partnership with my laptop, I then tried starting ActiveSync on my X50v and seeing whether I could sync wirelessly over my WLAN.

SHAAAZAM! It worked! 8O
Yeah, that's a known issue with wireless ActiveSync - you HAVE to establish a USB connection first.

So, I can either quit now and be satisfied with all I've accomplished -- which is a LOT -- or keep at it until I either resolve my desktop set-up issue (or replace the thing with a whole NEW desktop...Hmmmmmm.....)
One thing you might want to check (after you finish the cobbler, of course) is your connection settings. While connected to your problematic network, tap Start > Settings > Connections> Advanced Tab > Network Card. If you've got a connection with your home network, you should see the Configure Wireless Networks page. Tap the name of your home connection, and make sure that "Work" is selected in the "Connects to" drop-down box. Tap ok, and then try to establish an ActiveSync connection from your PPC. And like Darius said, make sure you've got the right computer selected in Tools>Options. It should work. Hopefully. :mrgreen:

[NewiPAQUser]

I know my English is bad but if you had read my Tutorial not only looked at the screen shots :D you probably could find it a bit faster. At http://www.wifizard.com/tutorialsXP/sync/sync-11.htm i said “ComputerPart II After you made all this we have to setup a partner ship with the PDA. It is composer to do it over a conventional type of connection (IR, Serial or USB)
* I haven’t found a way to bypass this step yet.”
Any way I’m happy you have you solution.
Cheers, Ivan

[mbabischkin]

The good news is that in my experience getting ActiveSync to work via Bluetooth is relatively painless.

It'll cost you about $35 for the dongle (one with a 10 foot range is fine), and once you pair your devices you configure the service in the Bluetooth utility.

I've used the D-Link and Belkin with good success.

[famousdavis]

The good news is that in my experience getting ActiveSync to work via Bluetooth is relatively painless.

It'll cost you about $35 for the dongle...

Well, at this point, I'm not interested in spending $35 to get an ActiveSync process working wirelessly when, as my wife put it so bluntly, I can achieve the same thing by getting off my duff and slipping my PPC into its cradle. It would be handy to do wirelessly when my wife is on the desktop computer and I'm wanting to sync (ummmm....I could add some double entendre right now, but I'll avoid doing so because this is a family-friendly forum).

My next idea is to compare the network settings between my desktop and laptop, and hope that something, somewhere pops out at me as an unusual disparity between these two devices. Failing that, I'll await a new desktop computer after Longhorn is, eventually, released to the masses.

[famousdavis]

One thing you might want to check (after you finish the cobbler, of course) is your connection settings. While connected to your problematic network, tap Start > Settings > Connections> Advanced Tab > Network Card. If you've got a connection with your home network, you should see the Configure Wireless Networks page. Tap the name of your home connection, and make sure that "Work" is selected in the "Connects to" drop-down box. Tap ok, and then try to establish an ActiveSync connection from your PPC. And like Darius said, make sure you've got the right computer selected in Tools>Options. It should work. Hopefully. :mrgreen:

I'm set-up as Work on my Network Card, so that's covered. I still have a problem with my desktop connection, though.

What I don't get is why ActiveSync can't "see" my desktop, yet navigating my desktop's harddrive using Resco Explorer on my X50v causes me no trouble at all. There is connectivity between these devices, but there's something that ActiveSync wants that my desktop isn't setup for.

This is why I'm a software IT guy, not a hardware or infrastructure IT guy.

[mbabischkin]

Well, at this point, I'm not interested in spending $35 to get an ActiveSync process working wirelessly when, as my wife put it so bluntly, I can achieve the same thing by getting off my duff and slipping my PPC into its cradle. It would be handy to do wirelessly when my wife is on the desktop computer and I'm wanting to sync (ummmm....I could add some double entendre right now, but I'll avoid doing so because this is a family-friendly forum).

:wink: I don't blame you... I picked up the dongle because I do routinely sync my Ipaq 4150 on two different machines, a desktop that has the cradle connected to it and a laptop. Since the dongle was on sale at the time, and the USB sync cable was on an indefinate backorder back then, I decided to play with the Bluetooth :mrgreen:

My preference is to drop it in the cradle though, that way it charges...