Trash Your Pocket PC Synchronization Cable and Go Wireless Instead!
After buying a Pocket PC with a built-in wireless card, I found it quite annoying that I still had to find my synchronization cable in order to synchronize with my PC. I thought to myself, isn't the whole point of the wireless card to get rid of wires? Unbeknownst to many (and to me, at one point in time), you can synchronize your wirelessly-enabled Pocket PC with your PC—over your wireless network. In this article, I'll show you how to do just that. So get ready to lose your synchronization cable! You'll also learn how to synchronize your Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, and other information types via Microsoft ActiveSync.
Gathering the Ingredients
I am assuming that you already have a wireless network set up and that both the computer you are trying to synchronize with, as with as well as your Pocket PC, are both connected to the wireless network. The way connect to your wireless network varies for different Pocket PC models, so I suggest referencing your Pocket PC manual for that. I am also going to assume that you have Microsoft ActiveSync Version 3.8 installed on the PC that you are trying to synchronize your Pocket PC with. The following diagram is a representation of the setup we are going to create.
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Figure 1 The Set Up
Before You Cut the Wires
You can't set up your Pocket PC to wirelessly synchronize with your desktop PC, without first connecting them using either a wired USB or serial connection. The reason for this is to establish a partnership between the two. If you have already established a partnership, you can move on to the next section.
If you are establishing the partnership between your Pocket PC and PC for the first time, go ahead and choose the Standard partnership option on your PC, as shown below.
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Figure 2 Setting Up a Partnership
In the next screen, specify that you will be synchronizing to your desktop computer.
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Figure 3 Specifying Synchronization with a Desktop
You will then be asked to name your device. I called mine "ToshibaE740" to reflect the Pocket PC model that I own.
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Figure 4 Specifying a Device Name
When presented with the Select Synchronization Settings window, you need to go through the list of available options and check off which things you want synchronized between your PC and Pocket PC.
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Figure 5 Selecting Synchronization Settings
And that's it for setting up the device partnership.
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Figure 6 Completing the Partnership Setup
I would suggest verifying that your synchronization works via your synchronization cable before moving on to trying to get the synchronization working wirelessly.
Preparing Your PC
By default, your PC isn't enabled to allow wireless synchronization. So, in order to enable your PC, open up ActiveSync and then go to File--> Connection Settings. In the subsequent Connection Settings screen, check the "Allow network (Ethernet) and Remote Access Service (RAS) server connection with this desktop computer" option as shown below.
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Figure 7 Preparing the PC for a Network Sync
Preparing Your Pocket PC
Next, start up ActiveSync on your Pocket PC and then choose the Tools-->Options. In the subsequent screen, make sure the "Include PC when synchronizing remotely and connect to" option is checked and that the name of your PC is in the box under it as shown below (in the example below, the name of my desktop PC is THINKT41P).
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Figure 8 Including your PC in the Pocket PC's Synchronization Settings
Next, go to your Pocket PC's Start menu and choose the Settings option and then the Connections tab as shown below. Next, click the Connections icon.
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Figure 9 Choosing the Connections Option
In the subsequent Connections window, under the "When needed, automatically connect to Work using these settings:" section, make sure the "Work Settings" option is chosen and click the "Modify..." button.
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Figure 10 Modifying Your Work Settings Connection
From the next screen, choose the VPN tab and then click the "New..." option. In the subsequent "Make New Connection" screen, specify a name for your connection and then the hostname/IP address of your desktop PC. When you have this information entered, click OK.
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Figure 11 Specifying Connection Your PC Connection Information
Sync Away!
We are now ready to start synchronizing remotely! Simply open ActiveSync on your Pocket PC and then click the Sync button. You should now be presented with a screen asking you to log onto your desktop PC.
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Figure 12 Specifying Credentials During a Synchronization Operation
Go ahead and enter your Windows user name and password, as well as domain information (if applicable) and then click OK.
After doing this, you should see your Pocket PC synchronizing with your desktop PC just as if it were connected via your USB cable!
Synchronizing Over the Internet
Believe it or not, it doesn't take much to change the setup described in this article in order to allow your Pocket PC to synchronize over the Internet. All you have to do is make sure the TCP ports 990, 999, 678, and 5679 on your wireless/wired router are forwarded to the local IP address of your desktop machine. Rather than establishing your connection to an internal IP address, as described in this article, you can specify your external WAN IP address (or if you have registered a domain name that you have pointed at your static IP address, you can specify that). Doing this will allow you to synchronize both your Pocket PC and your desktop machine back home.
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Figure 13 Synchronizing Over the Internet
Another Step Towards Freedom From Wires
Considering all of the electronic gizmos that I own, I'm always eager to learn new ways to be able to rid myself of extra cables. Unfortunately, you can't charge your Pocket PC wirelessly, so you can't really get rid of your synchronization cable altogether—you'll still need it to charge your Pocket PC.
If your Pocket PC didn't ship with built-in Wi-Fi, you might want to check and see if you Pocket PC allows for an aftermarket card to be plugged in like a Sandisk SDIO Wi-Fi card.
After learning how to wirelessly synchronize my Pocket PC I found myself synchronizing much more frequently than I did when I had to use my synchronization cable.
Just think: by using this technology you're one step closer to life with no strings attached.