Tungsten and 802.11 PWE1130

[symonty]

I have one of these from before, physically seems to fit, but has a spastic attack when it connects and tries to do the hoopy auto install under palm os 5..

Any ideas or comments on 802.11 for my T.

[sleuth255]

Intel says they won't update the drivers to allow that sled to run on the TT. I feel your pain; mine doesn't work either.

In intel's defense: the sled is too big for the TT when it's retracted. The sled sticks up about a half inch or so.

Sychip (http://www.sychip.com) is planning on releasing a WiFi SDIO card. Availability should be 1Q03. I'm torn between it and a sled solution because as we both know from using the Xircom sled, WiFi sucks batteries. It was nice that the sled had it's own. The advantage of the SD solution is that it fits the Palm case for the TT so you can easily whip it out and plug in when you're at a WiFi hotspot.

Sychip seems to be considering the battery issue though as their new SDIO card will feature very low standby power consumption.

[symonty]

802.11 is not very PDA friendly, as far as battery requirements for RF.

Oh well I will sell my m515 with bluetooth card and keyboard and 802.11 Sled and wait I suppose.

[sleuth255]

I'm using bluetooth for my internet connectivity and I couldn't be happier. Here:

GPRS access anywhere at 56K using bluetooth to my ericsson t68i. This speed is great for emails and pda friendly websites.

High Speed (T1 equivalent) bluetooth based access using a PicoBlue access point here at work. Website access and email is every bit as fast as it was with my sled on my M515. Plus the range is 300 feet as well since the PicoBlue access point is a class 1 bluetooth device.

Can't afford $500 for a PicoBlue accesspoint? Try any one of a number of class 1 bluetooth USB dongles or pci cards. This will be my solution at home. Stick a class 1 dongle in my home PC and I'll have the same coverage with bluetooth as I currently have there with WiFi. My PC becomes my bluetooth - WiFi gateway. Price is less than $100.

Bluetooth doesn't suck batteries either since on my TT the power requirements are so low. I haven't noticed bluetooth having any affect on my batteries yet (unlike the backlight which sucks power when its at full brightness).

The only thing I'll be missing is WiFi access at public hotspots. Not sure how that will play out. I didn't try them with my M515 either. That's why I might be needing a sychip SD card someday....

[astra357]

Sleuth,

Are you saying that with your bluetooth card in your pc, you are able to surf the web with your TT ?

If so how do you configure this?

Thanks for your reply .

[sleuth255]

Here's a link to the info that discusses how to do this:

Bluetooth Help Documents (http://www.palmgoddess.com/news/20021127_2100_Bluetooth_help.htm)

As you can see, a freeware PPP server is required which currently limits bluetooth thruput to 120KB/s or so as opposed to 800 KB/s that's provided by a true gateway. What's missing here is software that allows bridging between bluetooth and IP networks as the Bluetooth access points do today. Given Microsoft's current embrace of Bluetooth, I expect to see this real soon in an upcoming XP service pack.

[astra357]

Sleuth,

Many thanks for your reply.

I have a few questions:

1) I read the artical on the link you gave me. They talk about mocha PPP. Do I need this ? Why can I not simply connect to my router via a new network connection? I can establish a cannection between the BT card and my palm but when I ask for a page in the Web browesr PRO, I get this error:

WEB Pro
communications error.
Please check coverage, check that the host address in preferences is correct, and try again.

I open the menu in the web pro and proceed to :

Options, preferences, advanced and here I have a host address.

2) What should the host address be ?

I thought it was the DNS so I put that in there. That gave me an error. Then I put my PC ip address. That didn't work either. Then I put my gateway address (Router address). That failed also.

Any idea ?

I am using Win 2000 with an MSI bluetooth card adapter that came with my mother board.

I have already hotsync'd via BT without any problems.

I also have a DSL connection.

All the help you can give is welcome.

Many thanks.

[sleuth255]

Yeah, you'd think using the router would work, but there's bugs... nobody's been able to get it to work like that yet. I'll try it when my Belkin USB adaptor comes in.

however... you're not using USB so the serial situation might not apply to you. Everybody's been using the (free) mocha PPP software to get a serial connection via the USB adaptor. That limits connection speed to 115KB/s Your case is different. I don't have personal XP using your hardware but that has the best potential IMO to get the best peformance between bluetooth and your DSL connection.

The issue is that all bluetooth connections work via PPP since bluetooth is a point-to-point network service, so you have to have some sort of Point to Point Protocol server running on your PC. The trick will be to get a PPP server that works with your bluetooth card. Then you set up DNS etc.. acording to your DSL provider's specs.

MocaPPP is a service that bridges PPP connections onto an IP network such as your DSL connection. MocaPPP for sure works with serial devices like the USB bluetooth dongle. Your challenge is to find something that works with your card. That is where the Microsoft upgrades are required IMO. They need to add PPP server functions to the OS to provide bluetooth connectivity.

...I might be way out in left field here too... anyone else want to chime in?

[sleuth255]

btw that address is the address of the proxy that webpro must use for all transactions. Don't change that; it's set for Palm's servers.