WM5: No More Fake Server for ActiveSync!

i don't get it. i have the same password request box over and over, seems like i've tried a million different combinations to get this working.

one poster mentioned the problem and said that to remedy it you need to change your username to username_mail2 -- i tried that, and username_mail2web and username_mail2web.com and millions of others. it just doesn't work.

he also said to log into the control panel and click on e-mail settings to see the username you're supposed to do. i logged on the control panel without a problem, but then there is no options, preferences, or anything. there is an e-mail button, however. this button seems to not have any configuration options in it at all though.

i guess i'm missing something big here? :'( please help.

everything works great logging in on the comp. can't sync in the cradle, it just keeps asking for my password. i have tried changing to mixed caps, all lowercase, etc etc.

Kamel,

The solution is to make your username no longer than 20 characters. If your username is longer than 20 characters, remove the extra characters at the end.

[rkopper]

Thanks again Solsie! Truly a rising star when it comes to pocket pc's! I read your blog and always read your posts. Always informative! :nw: :nw: :nw:

[Dell Axim v51]

because a picture says more as thousand words:



Thanks for Russell Branden who put me on the right track!. :approve:

BTW: when synchronising: it takes a long long time, so be patient !!.

[SolSie]

Thanks again Solsie! Truly a rising star when it comes to pocket pc's! I read your blog and always read your posts. Always informative! :nw: :nw: :nw:

Thanks rkopper for your kind words..:approve:

Here is more information about Exchange server synchronization:

From the conception of WM5, Microsoft was thinking about taking the PIM beyond the traditional approach, which has been using a mail server sending email to an email client such Outlook. Outlook uses standard POP3 or IMAP4 protocols. User also maintains its Calendar entries, Contacts, Tasks, etc. locally on the Outlook client.

The same concept extends to the PDA, where PIM information (Email, Contacts, Calendar entries can be synchronized between the PDA and Outlook for portability but the PDA still needs to be tethered to the PC for information synchronization.

With the latest crop of wireless capable handheld devices. User can basically connect over the Internet wirelessly (CDMA, ED-VO, GSM, Edge, WiFi, Bluetooth, etc.) to get email and in general wireless carrier offers some capabilities to send/receive email (semi-automatically by using SMS to trigger the sync process)

The convergeance devices have the capabillity to be always on due to theire voice cellular requirements, the need of having email to be pushed or pulled automatically has become very popular especially with device such RIM Blackberry

Microsoft recently offers this capability with their Exchange 2003 SP2 server. If the handheld device is upgraded to SKU2 level then the mail server can connect directly to the Windows Mobile Devices in real time using a heart beat mechanism (for cellular capable devices). This real time syncronization not only works for email but PIM information as well.

When you start using this capability then you will realize that you have less need Outlook on the PC to keep the information up to date, especially when you are on the road. Not talking about the collaboration benefits as well. Any calendar, contact, email can be sync'ed at real time to a central Exchange server and can be shared with your collaborators in real time in that situation, The Outlook client can become just a front end to view and to manage the PIM information reside on the Exchange server (MAPI protocol) or optionally the PIM information can be cached to the local PC for offline use.

Until now, Exchange server was reserved to corporate users, due to the complexity and cost to maintain such infrastructure.

For personal users, thanksfully there are few Exchange Service Hosting such 4smartphone.com, Mail2Web.com that offer very affordable monthly service subscription (in general from 0$ to less than $10). The thread here can explain aan easy way to start using this concept....

Ironically, One of a hack to improve performance on a WM5 has been to create a "fake" Exchange Server with AcitveSync just to stop ActiveSync from waking up avery 5 minutes (ActiveSync thinks you are using a smartphone device) to sync with an Exchange server?

So when you want to use the real Exchange server sync'ing then there is no need to fake this server anymore...Just use it. However, I think the sync interval still need to set at manual to avoid some other known issues such CF disappearing...

BTW, personally I am looking toward moving to Web 2.0 adoption. And use Mail2web Outlook Web Access as part of it...Hopefully I will have time to write an article about Web 2.0 apps soon.

[Kamel]

because a picture says more as thousand words:



Thanks for Russell Branden who put me on the right track!. :approve:

BTW: when synchronising: it takes a long long time, so be patient !!.

yay, your picture did say a thousand words, and fixed all of my problems. thanks a ton! :D

the problem was, i wasn't in the free services tab at all, i was in the e-mail tab *doh* lol.

for those curious, it was actually Kamel_mail2web.com -- i guess mine was short enough that i was able to use the whole thing. i did try this, but now that i think about it, i think i just tried lowercase kamel (it seems to be case sensitive sometimes).

[rrypma]

I really don't see much value in this unless desktop Outlook can be synced directly w/ the server. If you have tried this service and like the taste of mobile syncs, then you should head over to 4smartphone's 30 day Pro trial which does exactly that. It is $6.99/mo after the end of the trial. However, for 2 bucks more per month, it seems Mail2Web's Pro package offers sharing not only of Outlook's main folders, but also other folders and files that can be made "public". Additionally, POP3/SMTP access is a nice touch, but shouldn't be a deal maker.

I'm still trying to make sense of what Company Address Book and Shared Calendar and Company Distribution Lists are all about in M2W's Pro pack. I think this involves the "delegation" features in Outlook, which would be a very powerful solution for those who want to give other family members access to, say, the calendar and contacts for editing while not allowing them to see email. Imagine having your S.O. be able to make changes to the calendar and having the changes immediately show up on your device upon syncing, or, when the push update is provided, immediately!

[peeps]

has anyone figured out how to change the reply to address with the free account?

Beside Tasks, my other PIM information are sync'ed perfectly between my Axim and Mail2Web including contacts. You might want to check on your ActiveSync settings (Advance) for Exchange server where you can indicate the direction of sync.

The only setting I see in Settings for Exchange Server - Advanced is "If there is a conflict" and the choices are "Replace the item on my device" of "Keep the item on my device". Is this the setting you mean? I had it set to "Keep the item on my device".

Also, are you using the free account?
Thanks, Jim

has anyone figured out how to change the reply to address with the free account?

I dont' believe you can with the free account. The reply address will always be:(youraccountname)@mail2web.com.

[jtg77]

After using mail2web, I wasn't able to sync with my cradle anymore and my gps / iguidance stopped working. Any body else having this problem? I did a hard reset to fix the problem. Not using mail2web after hard reset, until there is a solution for this problem. If anyone can help it will be greatly appreciated.

[intravino]

Hello Gang,


Can someone please tell me what are the plans and what are the options ?


I cannot find a page on their website that explains the different plans with montly fees and options.


Thanks

After working with mail2web, I also tried www.4smartphone.com. From what I could tell they offer the ability to sync everything (contacts, calendar, email, tasks and even added folders) to the exchange server for less money than mail2web. You can also keep your existing email address and send mail the will use that address as the reply to address.

[btillison]

Hell, I'd be happy if I could just get my x51V to sync w/ my Dell D80 laptop at work! I've tried everything I can think of, to no avail. The Axim syncs great with my desktopat home, but gets nowhere with the laptop. Plug in the PDA and the connection is reognized by WinXP, but ActiveSync cannot see the Axim.

Oh, well, guess I just needed to rant (and hoping someone has an idea).

[leontancfa]

hello! thank you for answering my question!
but I tried setup as your instroction, it doen’t work
I set:
ActiveSync/Menu/configure server
Server address: mobile.exchange.mail2web.com
User name: leontancfa_mail2web
Pasword: …my password..
Domain: ad2
Select: email, Calendar, task, contact …

but when I sync with the exchange server, it kept asking me the password again and again, even I input the correct password (I believe). did you find sth that I did wrong? thank you!

[SolSie]

Leotan: Please contact their support. I don't see anything wrong if you enter the right password. Sorry!