Big Problems Connecting with WiFi

[tanko]

I just cant seem to connect anymore. Ok so i have the 8125 and out of the box for some reason i was able to connect to my 802.11g Linksys router and i was really happy :) . However, a couple days goes by I can still connect, but i cant surf through web pages. I'm upset but i just regard my ability to do so earlier as a fluke and begin working on a solution. I change the registry on my phone using these instructions
• Use Total Commander to navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\COMM\TNETWLN1\PARMS
• Assign a value of 1 to dot11SupportedRateMask
• Assign a value of 8 to dot11SupportedRateMaskG
• Perform a soft reset
but it still wont work, oh and did i mention i havent even been able to connect now? So, i change the registry back, do a soft reset, and this time i try and fix the problem using a CAB file on the XDA Developers Forum, and it installs correctly and i soft reset my phone, but i still cannot connect! What is going on guys? im really confused and starting to get desperate. I would appreciate ANY help.

[Nurhisham Hussein]

Changing the registry for something like this is rather extreme - more likely something has changed your network connection settings. That's the primary cause of connection problems with wireless. Can you verify what you have in both the wireless connection manager, and the network connection manager?

[tanko]

Yeah absoultely, but i am new to PPC as this is my first one so where exactly would i check these things?

[Nurhisham Hussein]

I'm not sure what the exact terminology it is in WM5, but in WM2003SE, the wireless connection manager is here:

Start Menu->Settings->Connections tab->Network cards (you need to have wifi turned on to access the wireless settings)

The network connection manager is here:

Start Menu->Settings->Connections tab->Connections

[tanko]

wireless connection manager it says "configure wireless networks: Add new...linksys available
2wire810 (it has a lock on it) available
under the network adapters tab it says "my network card connects to work" should this be changed to internet? when i click on linksys it says that it connects to the internet.

The network connections manager says "connections: Media net...add a new modem connections, set up my proxy server, manage existing connections
My Work Network....Add a new modem connection, Add a new VPN server connection, set up my proxy server"

[Nurhisham Hussein]

wireless connection manager it says "configure wireless networks: Add new...linksys available
2wire810 (it has a lock on it) available

Are you telling me your router has no security set? Shame on you :lol:


under the network adapters tab it says "my network card connects to work" should this be changed to internet? when i click on linksys it says that it connects to the internet.

Nope. Actually that's where a lot of the trouble lies - Microsoft made the assumption that you've basically got two connection configurations and that these don't change. Of course, this assumption goes down the tubes with a PPC Phone edition as you've got wifi, GPRS/EDGE/EVDO/UMTS, and USB at the very least, and they almost all require different network settings - or if you're someone like me who has five different distinct networks I connect to on a regular basis, all of which have different proxies, dial-up options etc, etc. The OS tries to help as much as possible, switching where possible automatically, but sometimes forgets to switch back. Thus you may be trying to establish a wifi network connection, and the OS is trying to use your GPRS settings, which of course won't work.


The network connections manager says "connections: Media net...add a new modem connections, set up my proxy server, manage existing connections
My Work Network....Add a new modem connection, Add a new VPN server connection, set up my proxy server"

I'm making some assumptions here so bear with me, as I'm not really familiar with WM5 screens - there should be an advanced tab which you should click on, then you need to click on "select networks". This takes you to the network configuration page where there ought to be two drop down boxes. The first sets your "Internet" connection, the second your "Work network" connection.

Basically what these connection configurations do is to tell the OS to use the configuration settings under the "Internet" connection type when connecting to the internet e.g. when you fire up Pocket IE, and the settings under "Work" for everything else e.g. activesync.

I'm assuming here that "Media Net" is the configuration that has been defaulted for "Internet" connections - you'll need to change this. What I've done with my PDAs is to name my settings based on where I am - so I always create a seperate configuration for each area/type so there's no chance of misuse (e.g. "Home", "Hotspot", "IrDA" etc). In this case, rather than selecting one of the preexisting configurations (which may or may not be the cause of your problem):

1. Click on new (doesn't matter under which section);
2. Put in a name for this connection (Linksys is good);
3. Under proxy settings, check the box for "This network connects to the Internet"
4. Click ok, then make sure your newly created configuration is selected in BOTH drop down boxes.
5. Check and see if you can connect to the internet now.

Now there are two problems with this brute-force method - first, your problem may not be the network configuration at all, in which case we can move on OR it works, but you're now faced with the problem of having to manually configure your network settings depending on the connection you're trying to make e.g. accessing GPRS won't work this way; you'll need to know what each and every network configuration setting you have is for which connection type/method, and you'll need to make sure before connecting that the correct network setting is selected. There is a shortcut to doing this, but it involves a bit of work with a registry editor and a program launcher like iLauncher or SPB Pocket Plus - it can wait until we've verified where the problem lies.

[tanko]

I'm assuming here that "Media Net" is the configuration that has been defaulted for "Internet" connections - you'll need to change this. What I've done with my PDAs is to name my settings based on where I am - so I always create a seperate configuration for each area/type so there's no chance of misuse (e.g. "Home", "Hotspot", "IrDA" etc). In this case, rather than selecting one of the preexisting configurations (which may or may not be the cause of your problem):

1. Click on new (doesn't matter under which section);
2. Put in a name for this connection (Linksys is good);
3. Under proxy settings, check the box for "This network connects to the Internet"
4. Click ok, then make sure your newly created configuration is selected in BOTH drop down boxes.
5. Check and see if you can connect to the internet now.

Still can't connect. I was at my school today and i was able to connect there, but was still unable to surf the internet. I had no idea getting internet on my 8125 was going to be so tough, thanks for the help, what should i do now?

[tanko]

I'm assuming here that "Media Net" is the configuration that has been defaulted for "Internet" connections - you'll need to change this. What I've done with my PDAs is to name my settings based on where I am - so I always create a seperate configuration for each area/type so there's no chance of misuse (e.g. "Home", "Hotspot", "IrDA" etc). In this case, rather than selecting one of the preexisting configurations (which may or may not be the cause of your problem):

1. Click on new (doesn't matter under which section);
2. Put in a name for this connection (Linksys is good);
3. Under proxy settings, check the box for "This network connects to the Internet"
4. Click ok, then make sure your newly created configuration is selected in BOTH drop down boxes.
5. Check and see if you can connect to the internet now.

Still can't connect. I was at my school today and i was able to connect there, but was still unable to surf the internet. I had no idea getting internet on my 8125 was going to be so tough, thanks for the help, what should i do now?

P.S after it fails to connect it gives me this message "Unable to obtain a server assigned IP address. Try again later or enter an IP adress in Network settings"

[Nurhisham Hussein]

Can you tell me what exactly the cab you installed from xda developers was supposed to do? or post a link alternatively.

Regarding your original registry changes - unless your router can only operate in "g" mode, changing the registry to "g" compatibility was completely unneccessary. I rather think that all the changes you've made since your initial failure to connect to the internet might have screwed something up.

One thing to be aware of - just because your PDA says it's connected via wifi does not mean a working connection has been established. To wit:

I was at my school today and i was able to connect there, but was still unable to surf the internet.

Were you ever able to surf through the net here before? To my knowledge, most schools/universities operate closed networks (either WEP/WPA keys required or digital certificates) before you can actually access the network. The fact that you're connected is not proof that you can actually access the network. I hope I'm getting my point across clearly here.

[tanko]

Yeah i understand what your saying. Here is the link http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=38898

[Nurhisham Hussein]

That's a fascinating thread - apparently you aren't the only one having the same problem. Basically DHCP is not working unless you have a very strong signal. I really don't know what to suggest now - there are so many variables involved it's hard to know where to start:

1. If your ROM is not the latest, try upgrading it.
2. Make sure that WLAN power is set for performance and not for power-saving.
3. Play around with your router configuration (backup first if you can!)
-Check if MAC filtering is enabled, add your 8125's MAC if necessary
-Check to see if DHCP is enabled
-You can try serving a fixed IP instead of a range of IPs
-Check the transmission mode, and run through all of them to see if that works (b only, b/g, g only)

Those are some of the options I can think of at the moment. In the end, it might actually be a hardware problem with your phone - in which case a call to your provider would be in order.

[plain fan]

tanko,
I just got the 8125 as well but I've never been able to get b or g access to work. The phone recognizes the network but when I try to view a page I get an error stating the connection had been lost. What versions are stored on your phone? Maybe we can divide and conquer?

UPDATE:
I found this on the Cingular site:
http://supportcingular.atgnow.com/cng/documentDisplay.do?page=http%3A%2F%2Fsupportcingular.atgnow.com%2Fcng%2Fknowledgebase%2FKB58099.html&result=30&responseid=194f808068ab42cc%3A1381e7%3A10ae6a3a94e%3A61c3&groupid=1&contextid=15789%3A0.0&clusterName=CingularCluster&doctype=1000&excerpt=%28KB58099%29+Configuring+the+Wi-Fi+client+within+the+Cingular+8100+and+8125.+Cingular+8100+Cingular+8125+Windows+Mobile+5.0+Error%3A+%22Page+Cannot+be+Displayed%22+when+trying+to+browse+the+internet+using+the+Wi-Fi+client+on+the+Cingular+8100+or+8125.+Wi-Fi+To+reso#http%253A%252F%252Fsupportcingular.atgnow.com%252Fcng%252Fknowledgebase%252FKB58099.html

I followed the instructions and now my wifi works!

[Nurhisham Hussein]

Hope this tip works for you as well tanko.