Wirelessly Networking a PDA

Wirelessly Networking a PDA

So, now that you're working with a wireless network, why not consider cutting cables with your PDA as well? You can toss your USB or (much) more awkward serial cable connection and connect your PDA's address book, e-mail, and appointments wirelessly to your PC.

Despite a famous commercial's promise of faxing and sending e-mail from the beach , most PDAs do not wirelessly connect to the Internet. For that you'll need to purchase a wireless modem (or connect a serial cable to your PDA and cell phone).

All PDAs running the Palm or PocketPC operating systems have the ability to synch data. That means you can click a button on a stand called a cradle (or select an option using software) to replicate the data on your PC to your PDA and vice versa. That way, all your data is current no matter whether it's entered on your desktop or your PDA.

Most PDAs have some wireless capability for transferring data over short distances, but here's the catch (and it's a pretty big one). Your handheld might use an infrared standard that is different from the one found on most laptop computers. And, most desktops do not have infrared capability. That wireless capability on your PDA is mostly good for transferring data between PDAs since two PDAs of the same type will use the same infrared standard.

So, how do you network your PDA wirelessly? Here's where 802.11b comes in handy again. You can buy an 802.11b add-in card for your PDA for about $90 (Figure 5.1).

Figure 5.1. You can use a compact flash network card to add your PDA to your wireless network.

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For example, you can purchase an adapter for your PDA from Netgear, D-Link, SMC, and others. Once you do, follow these three steps to connect to your wireless network:

  1. Install the drivers for your network adapter.

  2. Plug in the wireless network adapter in your PDA.

  3. Start your PDA and follow the instructions for your network adapter to connect to your network.

As soon as you walk in your wireless network's range, you'll be ready to go. In addition to synching up wirelessly, some PDAs will allow you to surf the Web and get e-mail (capabilities vary widely by model). You can download Web pages and e-mail to view later, when you don't have an Internet connection. All in all, 802.11b can be a handy and elegant solution for getting more use out of your PDA.



Complete Home Wireless Networking. Windows XP Edition
Complete Home Wireless Networking. Windows XP Edition
ISBN: N/A
EAN: N/A
Year: 2002
Pages: 118

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