rebecker

I am an OLD PPC/WM user, back to the first Compac 3600. A friend just gave me a T-Mobile MDA to try in Costa Rica. I'm using a Costa Rican GSM chip in the phone. So far, all is pretty much the same as my iPAQ 4705, except for the screen quality (QVGA versus VGA), memory (the MDA seems to be short about 10MB for really hardcore use) and a more complicated Wi-Fi setup system.

I have an open wireless network in my house that works fine with the MDA. However, a friend has a password secured system that I cannot get into. Withe the 4705 I simply choose his system, open the browser, which goes to a screen requesting a password, and enter the password. With the MDA opening the browser only results in an error message that the browser cannot open my homepage. If I go to the wireless network settings, under "Enroll", I'm asked for:

User:
Password:
Server:

All three must be filled in even though with the 4705 I only needed the password. Can anyone tell me what needs to be tweaked so I can use passworded Wi-Fi sites?

I also has an odd thing pop up every now and then on the MDA screen:

Pocket PC Networking
Unable to obtain a server-assigned IP address. Try again later or enter an IP address in network settings.

This message is often there in the morning when I turn on the MDA after several hours charging (not hooked to a computer).

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

-Bob-

Elrendhel

The error message you are receiving is likely a left-over from when you were trying to connect to your friends network.

Ask your friend if he is using any kind of encryption. You'll likely need to find out if he's using WEP or WPA (or WPA2), and what the encryption key is. Only your friend can provide this info. Once you have obtained a proper IP Address from his DHCP server (the part of his router that assigns an IP Address to you and anyone else who properly accesses his router), I'm guessing that you will not be asked to enter a username, password, or server.

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Elrendhel
Mobilitysite Administrator, Moderator, & Product Reviewer.

rebecker

Thanks for your reply. Where do I enter the WEP, WPA or WPA2 settings on my MDA? Is this info going to be necessary every time I come across a password protected wireless network? I don't remember ever dealing with this issue on any of my other PDAs. It seems that each time I accessed a wireless system in a hotel, for instance, I simply opened my browser and was sent to the sign-in page for that particular wireless system. My 4705 does exactly that when I try to access my friends wireless network.

Again, thanks for your reply. Sorry I'm so slow on the uptake

-Bob-

Elrendhel

Normally, when you *first* connect to a network, you are required to provide a few details about the pending connection. This is where you would specify the kind of Authentication (WPA, WPA-PSK, WPA2, etc), the encryption type (TKIP, WEP, etc), as well as the encryption key itself..

So, for your friends location, just delete the existing profile for that connection that already exists on your MDA. When your re-attempt to log in to it, your MDA should ask you to fill-in the blanks on a new profile for that SSID.

Regarding retail hotspots (cafes, coffee shops, etc), these typically do NOT utilize encryption and are fully open for anyone to access (and get an IP address). But you are usually unable to go further than that until you enter a username and password to access the internet.

I doubt your friend is setup the same way, as home (consumer) based routers do not allow for tracking a user database.

__________________
Elrendhel
Mobilitysite Administrator, Moderator, & Product Reviewer.