Guest gtwibell Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 OK. Here's a thing.... Even before getting my O2 XDA Exec I was reading everywhere that Activesync over WiFi was hobbled for reasons of security. So I never ever bothered to try, instead synching with my Exchange server over USB when at home and GPRS/3G when mobile. After doing the recent O2 firmware upgrade (UI improvements/error logging disabled) I was idly playing with WiFi on my home network - to which the Exchange server is connected - and found I could sync. So I enabled flight mode - which presumably turns off the GPRS/3G radio in the Exec - double checked that the the USB cable was out (it was), and lo and behold could still make Activesync work, and at lightning speed too. Dismissing it as a quirk of common local network/shared DNS, I never gave it another thought. Until today that is. We were out with the dog on a walk that takes in a local pub. Over beer I got curious and turned on the Exec's WiFi, scanned for a network, and found an open access point (thanks belkin54g in Goring whoever you are). Fuelled by the confidence that only comes from good beer I again selected flight mode, ran activesync, and hit the sync button expecting nothing to happen. But it did. There was an almost immediate connection to my Exchange server - obviously over the Internet this time - and very rapid syncing of folders. Even got two new email messages in my Exec's inbox. I've just repeated the experiment at home with WiFi turned off and with flight mode selected to see if by some sneaky means the GPRS/3G bit of the Exec was being turned turned on for the duration of the sync. But nothing. No connection. No sync. And a warning that flight mode was selected. I also tried it with WiFi on, GPRS/3G off, and my wireless access point turned off just to see if there was something funny happening over GPRS/3G with only WiFi enabled, but again nothing. Just the warning about being in flight mode again. And come to think of it I also have an option in Activesync on the Exec to sync when new items arrive, which works by sending a text message to the Exec. In other words push email. Don't know whether this was there before the upgrade or not. I should add that Bluetooth was not enabled and no Bluetooth devices were anywhere near the Exec during any of the tests. What's going on here? GeoffT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mthomas50 Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 ActiveSync does not work when syncing directly with a PC however if you sync with an exchange, this can be completed with just access to the internet (which could be via wifi, 3G, GPRS or even while using the pass-thru option when connected to a desktop PC) You will find that when syncing over wi-fi only your exchange items will sync and not the PC items (i.e. on mine, I have my contacts, email and calender set to sync over an exhange server - these can be synced from anywhere. Howver I also sync my favourites, Tasks and notes locally with my desktop PC - these only sync when I am connected physically) Hope this makes sense - its been a long day! M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gtwibell Posted January 9, 2006 Report Share Posted January 9, 2006 Many thanks for that. I had begun to think I was seeing things when sync was working over WiFi. And of course you're right about not syncing with a PC, just with Exchange. So all the whinges about failure to sync over WiFi must be from non-Exchange organisations. Now it all begins to make sense. Or rather it doesn't if you haven't got Exchange. GeoffT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MadProf Posted January 15, 2006 Report Share Posted January 15, 2006 Many thanks for that. I had begun to think I was seeing things when sync was working over WiFi. And of course you're right about not syncing with a PC, just with Exchange. So all the whinges about failure to sync over WiFi must be from non-Exchange organisations. Now it all begins to make sense. Or rather it doesn't if you haven't got Exchange. GeoffT. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Thanks for this report... most interesting... Could you say what settings are enabled on your Exchange Server... this same wifi sync procedure does not work for me when connected via VPN from home on my Vodafone Universal. For example, is Outlook Web Access enabled on your Exchange server... When I try I get an error 'Synchronisation could not be completed. Try again later' with support code 0x80070002 Needless to say, at my desk at work it works perfectly with my XP PC MadProf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MadProf Posted January 25, 2006 Report Share Posted January 25, 2006 Thanks for this report... most interesting... Could you say what settings are enabled on your Exchange Server... this same wifi sync procedure does not work for me when connected via VPN from home on my Vodafone Universal. For example, is Outlook Web Access enabled on your Exchange server... When I try I get an error 'Synchronisation could not be completed. Try again later' with support code 0x80070002 Needless to say, at my desk at work it works perfectly with my XP PC MadProf <{POST_SNAPBACK}> OK... I have sorted this out now. As is so often the case the answer was quite simple- it was my server setup (server address) and not any limitation on wifi and ActiveSync. So it works for me too! Incidentally we do have Outlook Web Access enabled on our Exchange server and that's the mechanism I'm using to get in. However, I *can* sync with my Windows XP PC as well as via 3G and wifi- I just change the tick boxes under 'Server setup' in ActiveSync on the PDA. Thanks for the encouragement to make it work. Now if Vodafone actually had some support pages and anybody who can talk to customers about this I could have saved myself a bunch of time... MadProf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MadProf Posted January 25, 2006 Report Share Posted January 25, 2006 OK... I have sorted this out now. As is so often the case the answer was quite simple- it was my server setup (server address) and not any limitation on wifi and ActiveSync. So it works for me too! Incidentally we do have Outlook Web Access enabled on our Exchange server and that's the mechanism I'm using to get in. However, I *can* sync with my Windows XP PC as well as via 3G and wifi- I just change the tick boxes under 'Server setup' in ActiveSync on the PDA. Thanks for the encouragement to make it work. Now if Vodafone actually had some support pages and anybody who can talk to customers about this I could have saved myself a bunch of time... MadProf <{POST_SNAPBACK}> PS I am still using ActiveSync 4.0- don't upgrade to 4.1 if you want to wirelessly sync- wait until 4.2 when MS release the 'Messaging and Security Pack' for Exchange. MadProf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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