Microsoft® has been moving toward zero configuration with wireless on handheld devices. At the same time, most Pocket PC manufacturers are incorporating wireless adapters into their hardware and including their own utilities into the operating system for the device. Dell™ is no exception. Their upper end X3 (the X3i, which uses Windows Mobile™ 2003), X30's and X50's each have built-in wireless and the Dell WLAN utility (although the utility is a little different between the various models). In many cases, if you have your home WiFi router/access point set up and broadcasting, the PPC will report that a new network was found when you activate the wireless.

Dell Axim™ Pocket PCs with built-in wireless have a hardware button, or you can turn it on through the WLAN utility (Start, Settings, Connections (tab), select the Dell WLAN Utility). In the X30, select Tools, Enable Radio (Figure WM03SE -1); in the X50, tap” Turn On” on the Main tab (blue arrow on Figure WM03SE-2). Once activated and within range of a wireless network, the PPC will ask you for the type of connection (Figure WM03SE-3). Typically, you should select Work for a home network, then tap Connect and you will be automatically connected. (Note the power level icon (circled) in the lower right corner of the screen in Figure WM03SE-3. This indicates that the wireless is turned on. Tapping the icon will also open the WLAN utility as an alternative to going through the Start Menu.)

If you have WEP security set up on your router, it will ask you for the key (Figure WM03SE-4). This should be entered in hexadecimal format – 10 characters for 64-bit (may be called 40-bit on some routers) or 26 characters for 128-bit encryption (a.k.a.104-bit). Also, if more than one wireless network is within range, you will be asked to which one you want to connect (Figure WM03SE-5).

This may be the only configuration you need, although you may need to tweak the settings depending on how your network is setup but there have been some issues described on AximSite that occur under certain situations.

If you have MAC filtering enabled on your router, you will need to enter the PPC's MAC address into its settings. To find the MAC on your X30, open the WLAN utility, select Advanced from the bottom toolbar, Network Troubleshooting... from the menu and tap on Advanced. This will open a page like WM03SE-6 with the MAC address. On the X50, open the WLAN and select the Advanced tab. The MAC address is listed as shown in Figure WM03SE-7.

Troubleshooting

If your PPC does not find your home network, but you are certain it is transmitting, check the following settings on your router:

• If you have an 802.11g or 802.11g enhanced/extended wireless router, make sure it is set to either mixed (B+G) or B-only mode. The enhanced features (allowing transfer rates over 100mbps) in particular may cause problems connecting with an 802.11b device such as most PPCs.


• Check the manufacturer's web site for upgrades to the router's firmware.


• Try connecting with the SSID being broadcast.


• If you have an X50 that is not finding a network, check this solution below

If your PPC finds your home network and appears to be connected, but does not obtain a valid IP (as found in the Network Troubleshooting...[reached from Start, Settings, Connections (tab), Dell WLAN, Advanced on the X30; Figure WM03SE-8] or on the Advanced (tab) page of the WLAN on the X50; Figure WM03SE-9):

• Try connecting without any security enabled on your router. Again, broadcast the SSID, turn off WEP/WPA security, and MAC filtering. The easiest way to do this is to reset your router (usually by pressing a reset button on the back for 10 seconds). Just do this during your initial setup. All of these features are a good idea to protect your privacy so they should be enabled one at a time if you connect successfully while disabled.
  
• Several users at AximSite have found they could not connect with their PPCs until the SSID was broadcast, but once the connection was successful, they could then disable the broadcast and continue to make connections.
  
• If you use WEP, you should realize only 64-bit and 128-bit are currently supported on the Axims (as well as the other PPCs with built-in wireless with which I am familar). Do not set the router to 258-bit WEP. Additionally, the main flaw with WEP is with the initiation vector which is transmitted between router and device. This problem means for all practical purposes, 64-bit WEP is just as secure as 128-bit. Since 64-bit just uses 10-character hexidecimal keys (compared to 26-character keys for 128-bit), it will be easier to correctly enter the key on your PPC if you use 64-bit. When entering the key, use the hexidecimal version (usually shown in the router settings if you've used a passphrase to create the keys) since the passphrase may not create the same key on the PPC as it does on the router.
  
• WPA-PSK is also supported in Windows Mobile 2003 SE and has fewer potential security problems but may not be supported on your router. You should use a passphrase of at least 16-20 characters for a good level of security.

Dell Axim X30

You can use the Dell WLAN utility to futher configure your networks. This is particularly useful if certain errors occur. If your wireless is not active, turn it on with either the hardware button or software control. Tap the Powerbar icon in the lower right of your Today screen to open the Dell WLAN utility. That will result in a screen like Figure WM03SE-10. Select Edit Wireless Profiles to arrive at the Configure Wireless Networks page (Figure WM03SE-11). Continue the setup as described in the WM03 section.

Page not found error

• If your PPC seems to associate and connect with your router, but attempting to access website results in a "Page not found" error or if web pages load very slow, the Power management function is likely at fault. Access your WLAN utility, select Tools (Figure X30-1), then Power Management (Figure X30-2) and set it to off.
  
  

  

  
  

  Early versions of the X30 ROM would not allow the Power management to be disabled. SilentKnight, a moderator at AximSite wrote a small application that corrects this problem: PowerSave off. Alternatively, you can download the latest ROM for the X30 from Dell's download site.

  
  

Unable to connect with current settings

• If you receive an "Unable to connect with current settings" message or you are prompted to configure a VPN connection when trying to network your PPC, this is usually caused by having "My ISP" or "The Internet" selected instead of Work in connection settings when you are not using a proxy. This issue occurs frequently with the X30 after performing the upgrade to the A05 ROM. I suspect this is a result of different default settings with that particular release of the operating system. To correct this:
  1. Select Start, Settings, Connections (tab), Connections, "Set up my proxy server"

     

     
     
  2. Check the top box ("This network connects to the Internet"), but leave everything else on this page blank. OK.

     

     
     
  3. Advanced (tab), Select Networks, Chose "My Work Network" from both drop down lists. OK.

     

     
     
  4. OK your way back to the Today page and soft reset.

Dell Axim X50

The default settings work for most home wireless networks once you've selected "Work" when the network is initially found and you've entered the encryption key (if applicable). There are some additional settings you can reach by selecting Settings on the Main page of the WLAN utility (figure WM03SE-15) to arrive at the Configure Wireless Networks page (Figure WM03SE-16)[see the Note below if you do not see the WM03SE-15 page]. Of particular interest on this page is the Automatically connect to non-preferred networks check box. If you have other networks available (like the one named NETGEAR in figure WM03SE-16. These also may commonly be called Linksys or Default), these are probably wireless networks set up by your neighbors. Unchecking the "Automatically connect..." box will stop your Pocket PC from trying to connect to these networks although you should also hold your stylus on the name(s) and select "Remove Settings" to delete them from the list since by being on this page, they have already been assigned "Preferred network" status. Other options for tweaking your settings can be found in the setup described in the WM03 section.

No Configure Wireless Networks page: tapping on Settings may take you to the "Configure Network Adapters" page (Fig WM03SE-17) instead of the "Configure Wireless Networks" page. This happens when wireless is not active (solved by tapping Turn on in the WLAN utility) and also has been known to occur when the Odyssey client is active. Try turning off this application and the wireless adapter, do a soft reset, then reactivate WiFi.

CANNOT CONNECT
Unable to connect: You have no modem entries created and no network card present

• In the past, this error was typically related to not having "My Work Network" selected along with not having the "This network connects to the Internet" box checked in those settings (as described above for the X30). However, it seems as though some other issue has developed in association with the later ROM upgrades for the X50. The error also seems related to only certain models of home wireless routers and the most consistently successful solution is a firmware upgrade on the router. If one exist for your router, you will find it on the manufacturer's website. Be sure to download the appropriate one for your model (and in some cases a specific hardware version). Failure to use the correct upgrade can make your router non-functional.

Slow connection

• While the Power Save function on the X50 does not seem to completely disable the connection like it seems to do on the X30, disabling the function apparently dramatically increases transfer rates with some routers. To disable the function, go to the main page of the the WLAN utility (Figure WM03SE-18).

Unrecognized Card

• If you have an Axim X50v and an error message "Unrecognized Card" is displayed asking for the name of the device driver for this card when you activate the wireless, several third party applications have been implicated. At least some users have discovered it is caused by a lack of main memory when wireless is started. This would suggest Today plug-ins in particular could cause the error, since many of them are loaded at startup. Try starting the wireless immediately after a soft reset, before loading other programs. Users have indicated they can then start the other programs as long as the wireless is started first. If this doesn't work, you may need to uninstall any Today plugins (Journal Bar, Pocket Plus, PocketBreeze, Battery Pack, etc.).

Lost (or not found) connection

• If you are sure there is an active wireless network, but you are not getting an active Internet connection:
  1. Go to the Dell WLAN Utility, select the Config Tab to see page WM03SE-19 and see if there is any indication of a signal on the "Signal Quality" indicator.
     
     

     

     
     
  2. If not, turn off all wireless via the Wireless On/Off button on the left of the X50v (see p. 17 of manual). You will get a dialogue box "Disabling Wireless" (it also turns off your Bluetooth).

  3. Do a "Soft" reset of the X50v (quickly press the "Reset" button as indicated on p. 19 of the manual).

  4. When the system has rebooted and you are at the Today screen, turn on the Wireless On/Off button. You will see a dialogue box "Enabling Wireless".
     Wait a couple of minutes, check again the Config tab of the WLAN Utility for signal strength. If it is there, then go to the Advanced tab to see the IP address, which in default configurations of various routers will be 192.168.(1 or 2).1xx where xx depends on the actual address assigned by the router/AP's DHCP server.
  
  While this does not totally resolve the problem, it does allow a quick resolution that lasts for a few days without having to do a "hard" reset with all that implies.

Problem router?

• D-Link DI-514 router: Several members at AximSite have had difficulty getting their X50s to work with this D-Link model. One of them has been told by Dell customer service that there is a conflict between these devices as well. I haven't seen a definitive solution, but you should make sure you have the latest firmware for the router.

Odyssey Client

Dell has included Funk Software's Odyssey® Client since an early ROM upgrade on the X30 and since the original release on the X50. I am unclear from the discussions thus far on AximSite why some users have found it immensely helpful for home network use while others have been unable to use it and think the WLAN is better.

The Client is particularly useful on corporate and some university sites that use "Enterprise-Level Security" such as EAP-TTLS, PEAP, EAP-TLS, Cisco’s LEAP, and EAP-MD5 since these are not supported by the WLAN utility.