Windows Mobile WiFi Fussiness

Windows Mobile WiFi stability seems to have hit its peak with Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition. My Dell Axim X51 could connect to pretty much any unsecure or WEP wireless access point (WAP). It did not support WPA. My Windows Mobile 5 devices seemed a bit fussier about which WAPs they would connect to. Older WAPs seemed to cause the most issues. Windows Mobile 6 devices (all of mine are upgraded devices, I don’t have any native WM6 boxes) supports WPA. And, connecting to WAPs seems like a real hit-or-miss proposition here. It again looks like older WAPs (even with the latest firmware for the model) cause the most problems. But, it seems like my iPod touch doesn’t have the same problems I’m having with my Windows Mobile devices. It is pretty frustrating to see the SSID for a WAP and then watch my WiMo devices flail about trying to connect and fail most of the time. Some WiMo boxes are better than others. But, I’ve never quite figured out which ones work best under what conditions.

Comments

One response to “Windows Mobile WiFi Fussiness”

  1. Steven Avatar
    Steven

    phew, its not just me that is feeling the pain. We have 3 Dopod 838 equivalents – 2 838Pros and a JASJAM, the WiMo 5 had no problems connecting, WiMo 6 upgrades were flaky, and WiMo 6.1 just doesn’t like any but one of our access points (a Dlink DI524 (802.11b/g) with a partially broken antenna) even when sitting right next to them.

    3 access points, all using WEP (yeah yeah). The netgear (802.11b/g) and linksys WAP11 (802.11b) have the strongest signals, but simply will not connect. The PSP and Nintendo DS have no issues and love them all equally.