PCMCIA NIC, Drivers, and Connectivity with Win2K

[acravero]

Does anyone have a 770/780/750 that they connect through their home network using a NIC card? If so, what type of card do you have, and did you have to specifically find one with drivers for CE 2.11, or was it "plug and pray?"

If you do have one connected, can ActiveSync see the device over a network?

I don't have the serial connect cable, and NICs are actually cheaper by about $30-$40 than the serial cables.

Thanks,
Anthony

[terryrudy]

At least on my mobilepro 800, to install the drivers for the NIC (I used a Socket LPE) I had to sync up first, which of course requires some sort of current connection to a computer being available - the cable. :( And if your system ever gets hosed, you gotta go back to the cable anyway, so its a good idea to get a cable, even if its only used 1 or 2 times a year. :(
-terry

[acravero]

Terryrudy,

My wife has a laptop (w/IrDa), I'm going to try to load the drivers that way before I succumb and buy the cable! :-)

Have you ever hooked up via Infrared? Is it easy?

Thanks,
Anthony

[terryrudy]

Excellent. Hopefully that should do it. Never tried irda myself. Post results, I am interested to hear about speed, reliability, etc.
thanks
-terry

[Pilot]

I do not think you will be able to sync thru activesync without connecting with the serial cable first. At least that has been my experience. I don't even think you can connect through irda as a substitute for that first serial cable connection. Could be wrong though. You might be better off financially (if you don't really want to synchronize) to just by a CF card and USB card reader to copy files over to your MobilePro via the CF card.

FYI, I use a LinkSys EthernetCard 10mbit NIC in my MP750c (with the CE 2.11 upgrade and 32mb upgrade). No, it's not 100mbit, but it's still AMAZINGLY fast when compared to other types of connections for sync'ing. The key issues with NICs in CE devices is that it either must come with a CE driver (or have one available on the manufacturer's website), or be true NE2000 compatible. With the newer, faster NICs, you will have a hard time finding a NE2000 compatible one since its an older NIC standard and most new hardware relies on specific software drivers for compatibility. However, don't shy away from an older, slower NIC because like I said, it's still very fast and you probably wouldn't notice the difference between a 10mbit and 100mbit NIC in a CE device anyway. An older 10mbit card will be a lot cheaper too, usually about 1/2 the price. Many years ago I picked up my 10mbit Linksys card for around $25 (if I remember correctly), which was a phenomenal price then and probably way overpriced now. You should be able to pick up a NE2000 compatible 10mbit PCMCIA NIC card for $15 now.

I would keep checking eBay for a serial cable. They always come available in spurts, and usually are not that expensive. I definitely don't recommend paying the honker $ for one directly from NEC or any of its designated stores!

[Guyturf]

I have a 780 and a generic ne2000 nic but have been unable to connect to windows xp. Any ideas on how to connect or where a walkthrough might be available would be appreciated!!!

That being said, I had it working under win 98 and Pilot is right that the speed with a 10mps nic card is AMAZING!!!

I'm sure more people would like this info, so if anyone has a suggestion?????

Thanks
Guyturf

[Pilot]

Well, as coincidence would have it, I just recently purchased a new desktop PC running XP and had some problems with getting my MP750c connected to it via a network connection. However, I figured out that by unchecking the Internet Connection Firewall option, I was able to connect just fine. This appears to be a default option when installing a network connection. It was also stopping me from being able to see the XP desktop from my old desktop when I was also attempting a network connection to transfer my old files over. Seemed like a good idea to leave it checked since the kids will be using my internet connection through the XP box to surf the web from my old desktop (now theirs), but either I don't have something else configured right or this is a buggy feature.

FYI, to get to the firewall option mentioned above, go to Control Panel, Network Connections, right-click on Local Area Network Connection, choose properties, and then click on the Advanced tab.

Worked for me!

[acravero]

Chris,

Thanks for the advice! My card should be in this week, and I'll give it a shot then!

Thanks,
Anthony

[Guyturf]

Yay!!!
Thanks Pilot, it's working now!!

Guyturf

[chivy]

I have a Mobilepro 780 (just bought used - awesome) that I cannot seem to find a pcmcia nic that it likes. I have tried 3 now. The current one is a 3COM 3CXE589ET, MP780 recognizes it as a NIC, but cannot get it configured. In fact, I have no lights on the end of it (I think there are suppose to be LED's on the end to at least show a good link).

I found a winCE 2.11 driver for it, but upon trying to install - it asked for my winCE OS disk to be available in the CD rom of the synced desktop. I don't have a winCE CD, should I. I thought the OS was hard coded into ROM, so a hard reset was effectively a "format c and re install". ?? I don't know, I'm new to this mobile computer world.

Anyway, I'm pretty handy with my home network and the one I run at work, but I'm stumped on this nic problem. Could anyone suggest a brand of NIC they know will work, or what I might be doing wrong. I have searched high and low and find very little info on winCE or MP780 and Jornada like devices.

Thank you for your help.

[Pilot]

Here's a list (might be a little old):
http://cewindows.net/peripherals/pccardethernet.htm

I use a Linksys EC2T card and it works great and is VERY inexpensive. I tried a LOT of 3COM cards because I was a network engineer having access to a lot of them, but could not get a single one to work even the one listed on the above list. 3COM's official stance is that they do not support WindowsCE. Gee, I wonder if this is why the H/PC platform is considered orphanned?

Here's a CE network FAQ that might help you, even if you know a lot about networks:
http://cewindows.net/wce/20/ethernet.htm