Wednesday, February 4, 2004
Windows Mobile 2003: Dysfunctional Networking Tools
Posted by Jason Dunn in "THOUGHT" @ 12:00 PM
Ever since getting my iPAQ 4150, I've become a total WiFi junkie - I use the 4150 to access data over WiFi several times a day. So you can imagine my frustration when it just stopped working one day...no explanation given. I've always known the networking tools in Windows Mobile 2003 were a little weak, but I didn't realize how weak until I started to try and fix this problem. The issue is that while I can get a connection, I can't get out onto the Web or check my email.
First up, there's the complete lack of information about my connection. What's my IP? Is the DHCP server even giving me an IP address? How do I release/renew it? There are no tools to do it. Then there's the WiFi access point listing - there are entries in there that I want to remove, but when I select REMOVE, they usually don't go away. Or, if they do, they come back right away. What I really want to do is to remove the entry for the network I'm on now, but that doesn't seem to be possible. Tapping and holding on the entry when it's connected gives me one option: Remove. I've clicked that several times this morning, and nothing happens - the network listing stays there. I tried it again just now, and it actually worked - but now the connection manager shows me connected to an access point that's 10 KM away from me - yeah, right. :roll:
After removing the WAP listing (and that took several attempts), it came back into the listing. Why doesn't a new access point being detected trigger the Zero Config pop-up window where you can enter the WEP key? All in all, very frustrating...but I managed to get it working by removing the "bad" network, letting it find it again, then going into the settings for that network and entering the WEP key again. What a hassle! But the good news is that now everything seems to be working - but I'm left wondering what happened to cause this problem in the first place.
Anyone else had struggles with this? I'm reminded of how much I like the wireless software tools on the Dell Axim X3i - Microsoft should just buy them and bundle them with the OS. ;-)
First up, there's the complete lack of information about my connection. What's my IP? Is the DHCP server even giving me an IP address? How do I release/renew it? There are no tools to do it. Then there's the WiFi access point listing - there are entries in there that I want to remove, but when I select REMOVE, they usually don't go away. Or, if they do, they come back right away. What I really want to do is to remove the entry for the network I'm on now, but that doesn't seem to be possible. Tapping and holding on the entry when it's connected gives me one option: Remove. I've clicked that several times this morning, and nothing happens - the network listing stays there. I tried it again just now, and it actually worked - but now the connection manager shows me connected to an access point that's 10 KM away from me - yeah, right. :roll:
After removing the WAP listing (and that took several attempts), it came back into the listing. Why doesn't a new access point being detected trigger the Zero Config pop-up window where you can enter the WEP key? All in all, very frustrating...but I managed to get it working by removing the "bad" network, letting it find it again, then going into the settings for that network and entering the WEP key again. What a hassle! But the good news is that now everything seems to be working - but I'm left wondering what happened to cause this problem in the first place.
Anyone else had struggles with this? I'm reminded of how much I like the wireless software tools on the Dell Axim X3i - Microsoft should just buy them and bundle them with the OS. ;-)
