Newbie Does Not Understand How ActiveSync Works

instant000 · 05-01-07, 04:39 PM

Good afternoon.

I am a newbie.

A user has a PDA (Axiv X51V) setup with Windows Mobile 5.0 and it synchs
the Outlook information through ActiveSync 4.1 on the PC.

I want to be able to wirelessly sync the E-mail information (through a wireless
connection that I configure myself) BUT ... I do not want to lose the ability to
synch the files onto the PC. (maybe that is not what I mean. I want to be able
to sync e-mail from the Exchange server to the PDA using wireless, and I also
want to synch to the PDA when I dock it to a workstation to connect to the network.)

I am pretty sure that this is not an abnormal request, and there has to be some
sort of "offline files" configuration that I can do to get this to work as expected.

The PDA is often in the hands of a mobile user, who may be away from the home
PC for stretches of several days at a time. (During this time, they could obtain a
WIFI connection, but still not be able to synch any e-mail due to not being
able to communicate with the server directly.)

I was trying to configure the mobile device activesync, and there was a portion in
there to configure it to sync with the Exchange Server, BUT ... if I wanted to do
that, it told me that I had to first delete my sync relationship with the PC.

Is this what I need to do?

Could I still connect it to the PC, and use the PC's connection to connect through
it to get to the Exchange Server after configuring the PDA to get all of my
calender, inbox, etc. directly from the Exchange Server?

I want to make sure prior to configuring this, as I do not like running into duplicate
items or just having stuff stop working altogether.

Thanks to anyone who replies!

**breley** · 05-01-07, 05:52 PM

Welcome to Aximsite! Nobody's yet answered, so I'll take a stab...:)

If I understand your question correctly, it sounds like your Axim already may already have a sync relationship to the desktop PC where it syncs files, but you'd like to sync both files and email from an exchange server when the axim is docked on the workstation or also when connecting wirelessly.

Yes, this can be done. In my case, I have a "Work" profile on my system where I can sync email, tasks, notes, etc. from the exchange server when I'm docked. I also can simultaneously sync files from a sync files folder that was created in My Documents.

When I'm at home, my Axim will sync files to my home PC via my Axim's "Home" profile when docked, but will also try to sync to my work exchange server. If I'm not connected to work via a vpn from my desktop, the sync for exchange fails, but continues on to the PC. If I am connected via my work vpn, the Axim will sync to the exchange server and still sync local files to the home desktop. The downside for this is that when I want to synch to the exchange server from a desktop system, I have to go into the advanced connection settings I described above and delete the *.*. (Anyone out there have a superior routine for automating this or doing it differently?)

For wireless email syncing, it's a little different for me, and maybe someone cleverer than I can suggest a simple solution. I can create a vpn connection to work within the Axim's (X51v/WM 5) Connection settings (Start-->Settings-->Connections-->Connections, click the Advanced tab, then click Exceptions-->Add new url..., and enter something like *.*, then click OK. What this enables me to do is if I have wireless enabled and a VPN connection configured, I can click the Activesync button and I can sync wirelessly to the exchange server. Activesync 4.x does not allow wireless syncing to desktops though.

Hope this helps.

05-01-07, 07:46 PM

Can't really give a most direct answer as it sound a wee bit complex even for my tastes.

For Syncing PIM/E-Mail through Wi-Fi see EMOZE Push E-Mail.
It is free. I manage my Outlook through it effortlessly & I think you might find more use out of it than I can ever hope for. :p