Wednesday, April 21, 2004
"Wanted: Support for Dynamic Connectivity"
(or "Why is GPRS so difficult?")
I used to have a Nokia 6310 and an iPaq, and I could dial up the internet from the train, using Bluetooth and GPRS. it wasn't that easy to set up, but I found a configuration guide on the internet, and plugged in the relevant settings. it then worked fine, except when I was in a tunnel.
now, I still have a Nokia 6310 and an iPaq, and I can't get it to work. what's changed?
well, the phone is slightly newer (I drowned the last one) and it has a new firmware version. the iPaq is also new, but I tried this new phone with the old iPaq as well and that didn't work either. I had just about learned how to navigate through the different screens under Pocket PC 2000 to change between Bluetooth, WLAN at work, and WLAN at home. now, under Pocket PC 2003, I'm still struggling, and I can't get GPRS to work (several google searches related to my problem suggest it's to do with the modem initialisation string used by the iPaq, but no solution has worked for me so far - GPRSManager has been recommended).
But my intention is not simply to moan. There are some real problems to do with supporting users as they move from one method of connecting to another - taking my iPaq from the office WLAN to my network at home really isn't such an odd thing to do, but the process of telling the iPaq what's happened is far from intuitive. I'm sure there are 3rd party solutions that help with this kind of thing, but it shouldn't be this hard - if the device has built-in support for WLAN then it should support roaming between networks. To get to the relevant choices, I have to go into the 'Advanced' menu - but this really isn't an advanced thing to want to do. as we move into the Connected Age, connectivity is not about static settings and configurations - supporting the user and keeping the device online is a dynamic process. Current interfaces don't support this kind of working.
Time to stop moaning and head for the train - sadly without GPRS internet. But AvantGo helps, and it's cheaper.
(or "Why is GPRS so difficult?")
I used to have a Nokia 6310 and an iPaq, and I could dial up the internet from the train, using Bluetooth and GPRS. it wasn't that easy to set up, but I found a configuration guide on the internet, and plugged in the relevant settings. it then worked fine, except when I was in a tunnel.
now, I still have a Nokia 6310 and an iPaq, and I can't get it to work. what's changed?
well, the phone is slightly newer (I drowned the last one) and it has a new firmware version. the iPaq is also new, but I tried this new phone with the old iPaq as well and that didn't work either. I had just about learned how to navigate through the different screens under Pocket PC 2000 to change between Bluetooth, WLAN at work, and WLAN at home. now, under Pocket PC 2003, I'm still struggling, and I can't get GPRS to work (several google searches related to my problem suggest it's to do with the modem initialisation string used by the iPaq, but no solution has worked for me so far - GPRSManager has been recommended).
But my intention is not simply to moan. There are some real problems to do with supporting users as they move from one method of connecting to another - taking my iPaq from the office WLAN to my network at home really isn't such an odd thing to do, but the process of telling the iPaq what's happened is far from intuitive. I'm sure there are 3rd party solutions that help with this kind of thing, but it shouldn't be this hard - if the device has built-in support for WLAN then it should support roaming between networks. To get to the relevant choices, I have to go into the 'Advanced' menu - but this really isn't an advanced thing to want to do. as we move into the Connected Age, connectivity is not about static settings and configurations - supporting the user and keeping the device online is a dynamic process. Current interfaces don't support this kind of working.
Time to stop moaning and head for the train - sadly without GPRS internet. But AvantGo helps, and it's cheaper.
(c) 2003-2005 Russell Beale
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