Wifi only works in cradle

[froesei]

Hi,

I am only able to access internet via wifi when my ipaq rx3115 is in the cradle. As soon as I take it out of the cradle I get the message "page cannot be found". Anyone else have this problem? Thanks

[Darius Wey]

Ok, how are you attempting to access the internet via Wi-Fi. If it's in the cradle, it would most probably be working over a USB ActiveSync connection allowing your device to gain access to the internet. Accessing the internet by Wi-Fi does not completely involve a flick of the wireless switch. You need to create a network or a Wi-Fi ActiveSync connection to enable access. Have you done this?

[froesei]

Yes, sorry, I guess I just thought that was assumed. I have the adapter configured to use the server assigned ip address, and I have the correct proxy server set up.

[Darius Wey]

Interesting. Have you tried setting up a Wi-Fi ActiveSync connection and setting the Pass-Through connection as "The Internet"?

Also, you don't have any firewalls running that may be blocking access, do you?

[froesei]

The Wifi activesync isn't really an option, as the access point is not on my desktop pc. As for a firewall, I believe the machine hosting the access point has zone alarm installed. However, I also tried the connection at a coffee shop featuring a hot spot, and realized the same results.

[froesei]

Sorry to state the obvious, but I'm definitely sharing the connection on my laptop when in the cradle. Is there a way to reset the networking settings to default? It seems I've tried so many different options I've lost my reference point!

Or, if someone could post the basic settings for an access point, it might help. Thanks!

[Darius Wey]

Try opening the Connections applet in Settings and see if you can configure your network adapter. I'm not 100% sure what your Wi-Fi adapter would be listed as, but if you tap on it, you should be able to pre-configure your IP address to be server-assigned or specifically allocated and you should also be able to assign DNS/WINS addresses as well. I'm guessing that if your firewall is not restricting access, that the IP address allocated to the device may be invalid which is otherwise preventing you from maintaining a proper network connection to allow for sharing. See if you can pre-configure your device with a set IP address and allow your computers to recognise it.

Just out of interest, are you able to detect shared folders on other computers from your Pocket PC over the Wi-Fi connection?

[froesei]

Thanks, I will try that. As for the file sharing, I was able to set up a network with my laptop at home using a wifi card in my laptop. In that instance I did us a set IP address, and that worked fine, so it would seem that my adapter does "work". But I will try the manual ip address and see if that helps.

In other situations, however, such as using a public hotspot, should I not be able to have it set to aquire one from the server automatically? Thanks.

[Darius Wey]

In other situations, however, such as using a public hotspot, should I not be able to have it set to aquire one from the server automatically? Thanks.

Yes. In most cases, your device should be able to pick up its own IP address as allocated from the server (as long as you've specified for it to be assigned an IP address from the server and to obtain the DNS server address automatically). In these sort of cases, it should be able to pick up the signal, but if you need to login with a secure account, you may need to know the hostname or IP address of the server you're attempting to connect to, as well as your username/password. As to why it failed to work before, it may all come down to some misconfigured settings, but we'll have to see.

I doubt it's hardware-related since you were able to set up a network fine. I think it's all settings-based as far as I can tell.

[froesei]

Just thought I'd let you know I fixed the problem. I deleted all my previous settings and connections and started from scratch. Thanks for all your help.

[Darius Wey]

Just thought I'd let you know I fixed the problem. I deleted all my previous settings and connections and started from scratch. Thanks for all your help.

Great! Glad to see it's all worked out. ;)