wifi and active sync

  • Thread starter Thread starter merco
  • Start date Start date
M

merco

hi have few questions...
1) why when i connect my device with active sync, i lost my wifi
connection ?
Is there any workaround to avoid this ?

2) how can i simply detect with OpenNETCF.Net if there is a wifi
connection available ?
... and open RF if is not available ?
 
Hi,
At first question, when connect with your PC throug ActiveSync, this one
works as proxy. Then, according to your activesync configuration it begin to
use works connections. Using Wifi it uses internet connections. See your
activesync options, on rules tabs, Pass through section.

regards
 
1) "my wifi connection" The host's WiFi connection or the WiFi connection
the Pocket PC device? The former could be a problem that's known and, in
all cases so far, associated with using WPA-PSK encryption and Intel
wireless drivers. The latter is just the way things work and I've never
seen a way to work around it.

2) Sure. Look at all of the adapters in your adapter collection and see if
one of them is a wireless adapter. Look at that one and see if it has an
associated SSID value. If so, it's connected; if not, it's not. I don't
know what you mean by "open RF if is not available". If the adapter is not
associated with an access point, that's because there either is not one in
range which is one the preferred list or RF is disabled (as in case 1
above).

Paul T.
 
Enable or disable has been discussed before. Have you searched the
archives? If you literally mean to enable or disable it, that's done via a
setting in the registry and, in the case of disable, unbinding the adapter,
or enable, binding the adapter. Binding and unbinding are provided by
OpenNETCF. The registry setting you'll have to set yourself.

Paul T.
 
What? You mean to tell me that WM5 is incapable of maintaining two "network
connections" at the same time? I've been looking all over for th reason why
my axim x50v now can't stay connected to wifi when i cradle it. This used to
work just fine in my WM2003. Perhaps someone at microsoft got a little too
self-impressed when they thought up making a virtual ethernet connection for
active synch and they went and screwed up everything else. I've got to say
I'm hands down dissapointed in windows mobile 5.
 
It's not incapable of it (I often run Windows CE devices with at least two
network connections). It was decided that running them at the same time as
an AS connection was not a good idea. It's a security issue...

Paul T.
 
Hmm... let me clarify, I want to run all my axim's internet access through my
wifi connection when my wifi is turned on. When I plug my axim into it's base
station in WM5, wifi automatically drops it's connection and active sync
starts making it's own connection. Once active sync has made it's connection
the wifi continues to blink and be "active" but not connected. I don't want
active sync to use my wifi. I want active sync to connect to pc and do the
syncing and leave my wifi on for my axim's network applications such as AIM
CE, IE, streaming media, etc, but right now this is impossible and I believe
that AS has some sort of proxy-like situation whereby some of my apps will
not function or I would have to reconfigure them each time I plug axim in or
take it out in order to use it. Obviously the steps involved are far too
lengthy and annoying to be acceptable for a daily, sometimes more often
procedure that should be plug and play.

I do appreciate your reply. What I would really appreciate is someone
telling me that there's a registry key somewhere I can change to stop this
rediculous behaviour that has nothing to do with security.
 
Yes, that's the way it works. Another security change made by MS (won't
remain connected to WiFi while connected to AS with USB). No, there's no
registry key that I've ever heard of.

Paul T.
 
Bummer, the removal of features or enforcement of security that could cause
problems especially when it inhibits users at this level should always be
configurable.
 
I've been looking around for 6months for the solutions for this issue. I find
it really stupid and ridiculous when I plug my O2 Exec (WM5) to my laptop,
the whole (YES, WHOLE) wifi network is down. Everyone (YES, EVERYONE) connect
to that network lost the connection. So, I dare not plug in my PPC to my
laptop at work. At home, I have to wait until everyone stop using their
computers before I can install a new software, do synchronisation and after
that, I have to reboot my laptop and my wifi router.

If this is a security method, then why it only occur when using WPA and
Intel chip? It really make no sense.

CAN MICROSOFT NOT FIX THIS ISSUE?
 
OK, you're talking about two different issues.

Issue #1 is that, when you plug your WM5 device into USB on the PC, the WM5
device will no longer be able to make a WiFi connection. This *is* a
security thing to prevent accidental bridging of whatever WiFi network the
device is hooked to with the PC, which is naturally trusting of the device,
since it's hard-wired via USB. This is something that MS wants the device
to do and has nothing to do with Intel hardware.

Issue #2 is that, when connecting a WM5 device to a PC running Intel WiFi
hardware and with WPA enabled, the PC will drop off of the WPA network. In
some cases, the WPA connection won't be reestablished until the PC is
rebooted, regardless of whether the WM5 device is disconnected or not. The
current thinking is that the Intel driver is responsible for causing the
local machine to drop off of the WPA network when an unsecured network, like
the one created when you plug your device in, is connected. There may be
some other side-effects of using the Intel WiFi manager application, too,
but in all cases reported so far, it's Intel hardware/software that is
responsible. No, Microsoft can't magically change what Intel's code does.
We're assuming that this operation is intentional by Intel and that they are
doing it to secure the WPA network, but we don't know that for a fact. In
any case, it *doesn't* happen on any other devices, clearly pointing at
Intel as the culprit.

Paul T.
 
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