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Wireless Hotsync- Possible?


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Topic: Wireless Hotsync- Possible?

prismenvy
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Registered: Jan 2001
Location:
Posts: 58

Forgive my ignorance, but is a wireless hotsync with home computer possible? I have static IP Cable internet access on home computer (always on). It is firewalled but I can selectively open it up for outside access. Is it possible to Hotsync from afar using the wireless internet through Yada Yada? How do I set it up. I've got all the IPs etc. I need, but it doesn't seem to work.

Thanks

01-11-2001 10:53 PM

PropellerHead
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Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 38

I'd like information on this too.

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PropellerHead

01-11-2001 11:13 PM

wforde
Member

Registered: Dec 2000
Location: NJ,US
Posts: 94

I have yy, and have been able to sync wirelessly. It works
but is too slow for my taste. I have a cable modem with
a fix ip also. You need to setup the "Primary PC Setup"
option in "HotSync" to point to you machine. You also
need to enable the network option in the hotsync manager
on your pc.

01-12-2001 12:01 AM

wforde
Member

Registered: Dec 2000
Location: NJ,US
Posts: 94

If your using a firewall, make sure port 14238 is open.

01-12-2001 12:05 AM

BEN
Member

Registered: Feb 2000
Location:
Posts: 638

Well, I've been looking into this also, and I havn't made much sucess. One thing that I have found out is that in the network HotSync screen, the 00 in the phone number box means that the Palm should directly access the Serial port (the site that I read didn't have any reference to USB, but I assume that it's the same). I think that this is the default setting because the Mistrey modem on the Palm V is connected to the serial port, but not on the Visor. Perhaps the springboard slot has the same reference numbers, but I'm not sure.
Hope this is a good start.
BEN

01-12-2001 12:13 AM

wforde
Member

Registered: Dec 2000
Location: NJ,US
Posts: 94

This is how i got it to work.

on palm
goto "Hotsync"
select "Modem"
goto option "Modem Sync Perfs"
select "Network"
goto option "Lansync Perf"
select "Local Hotsync"
goto optiob "Primary Pc Setup"
in "Primary PC Name"
enter your the hostname of you pc, including domain
in "Primary PC Address"
enter your ip address
you can leave Subnet blank.

on pc
make sure the hotsync manager has "Network" enable.

you should be able to hotsync now.

01-12-2001 04:33 AM

christo1970
Member

Registered: Nov 2000
Location: Austin, Texas
Posts: 40

Changing IP addresses?

I notice the previous posts mention a cable modem connection, which would seem to always have the same IP address. I've noticed when trying to play with WinVNC, everytime I re-connect to my dial up ISP, I have a different IP number. Do I need to have cable/dsl to get a constant address? Is VNC or wireless HotSync not worthwhile if I have to dial up?

02-12-2001 01:05 AM

jschaff
Member

Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 62

wforde's instructions will work if you are not behind a firewall, with just a static IP to one computer.

I also have the IP behind a firewall situation and have found no way yet to get it to work. I opened ports 14237-8 to my Primary PC. I loaded "Network Hotsync 3.0" from the palm website and spent a long time trying to figure out how to configure it for my situation. I even called Palm yesterday, and the lady in support was totally confused and tried multiple times to get rid of me when she could not get it. I had to explain to her that it was HER software that I was trying to use. Eventually she hung up on me (I am sure it was an accident) and I went on my way. This is going to be a more pervasive problem since the techies that have minstrel modems and wireless access also will have high speed access at home behind firewall routers.

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Jeff Schaffer
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02-13-2001 05:55 PM

jschaff
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Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 62

Re: Changing IP addresses?

quote:
Originally posted by christo1970
I notice the previous posts mention a cable modem connection, which would seem to always have the same IP address. I've noticed when trying to play with WinVNC, everytime I re-connect to my dial up ISP, I have a different IP number. Do I need to have cable/dsl to get a constant address? Is VNC or wireless HotSync not worthwhile if I have to dial up?

Try just keeping your computer on all the time to keep the same IP address. They will change it every so often but not as often as when you turn on and off the connection regularly.

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Jeff Schaffer
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02-13-2001 05:57 PM

Bret Snyder
Member

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: Hacienda Heights, Ca
Posts: 302

quote:
Originally posted by jschaff
wforde's instructions will work if you are not behind a firewall, with just a static IP to one computer.

I also have the IP behind a firewall situation and have found no way yet to get it to work. I opened ports 14237-8 to my Primary PC...

I initially had a problem until I opened UDP ports 14237/14238 with the TCP ports.

(I connect with YY/minstrel to my home system with ZoneAlarm Pro installed)

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Bret Snyder If you don't know where you're going, You'll probably end up somewhere else.

02-14-2001 12:15 AM

jschaff
Member

Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 62

Go to this webpage for instructions on remote hotsync. It still does not answer the question of wireless hotsync though.

http://www.geocities.com/daveinfopa...nethotsync.html

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Jeff Schaffer
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02-14-2001 11:07 PM

Matthew Nichols
Member

Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 714

Re: Changing IP addresses?

quote:
Originally posted by christo1970
Do I need to have cable/dsl to get a constant address?

Some ISPs, as mine does, will allow you to pay extra for a static IP address. My local ISP charges $9.99 with a $15 setup fee for such a "service".

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Matt Nichols
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02-15-2001 05:14 AM

jschaff
Member

Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 62

quote:
Originally posted by Bret Snyder

I initially had a problem until I opened UDP ports 14237/14238 with the TCP ports.

(I connect with YY/minstrel to my home system with ZoneAlarm Pro installed)

This is not the same as having a router. Zone alarm does not treat your computer as if it is within a LAN. It just blocks access to your computer from the outside.

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Jeff Schaffer
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02-16-2001 07:43 AM

Bret Snyder
Member

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: Hacienda Heights, Ca
Posts: 302

quote:
Originally posted by jschaff
wforde's instructions will work if you are not behind a firewall, with just a static IP to one computer.

I also have the IP behind a firewall situation and have found no way yet to get it to work...

I posted this question in Newsgroups: comp.sys.palmtops.pilot.

Subject: Re: Network HotSync to a NAT'ed PC Address?

I received this reply and gave it a try. It actually works!! I am able to Hotsync through a Cisco Pix to a Nat'ed address (which I wasn't able to until I put "!!" in the "Primary PC Name:" field).

quote:
Here's my recipe for hotsyncing to a PC behind a DSL router doing NAT. It fixes one problem with the recipe suggested by James Smith:

- Assign a private static IP address to the PC (e.g.192.168.1.2).
- Configure the router to forward TCP/UDP ports 14237 and 14238 to the static IP address.
- On the Palm, in Hotsync | Primary PC Setup, enter "!!" into the Primary PC Name and enter the router's external IP into Primary PC Address.

If you don't use "!!" as the Primary PC Name, then every time you Hotsync the Primary PC Name will get overwritten with the DNS or Windows name of your PC and the Primary PC Address will get overwritten with the private IP address of the PC.
(see http://205.141.210.149/SRVS/CGI-BIN...,Case=obj(3369) for that piece of undocumented magic).

If you're into the gory technical details, here's what I learned about how the Palm finds the PC, based on two articles I found:

http://www.networkcomputing.com/912/912sp4.html
http://www.globnet.com.ar/web%20Ingles/productos.htm

The Palm uses the Palm Name Resolution Protocol to locate the primary PC. PNRP starts by sending a UDP packet to the Primary PC Address. The PC responds with a UDP reply containing the IP address of the PC (but in a NAT environment, that will be the PC's private, unroutable IP address). The Palm will then try to open a Hotsync TCP connection to that address.

If the Palm doesn't receive a UDP reply or the TCP connection fails, the Palm will send a "directed UDP broadcast" to the subnet (which is why the subnet mask is important in the configuration), containing the DNS or Windows name of the computer. If the PC recieves that, it will respond with the UDP reply containing the PC's IP address (the private IP address in a NAT environment), and the Palm will again try to open a TCP connection to it.

If that fails, the Palm will then try to use DNS to resolve the Primary PC Name and open a TCP connection directly to that IP address.

If that fails, the Palm will then try to use directed UDP broadcasts to "common subnets".

As I described above, if you enter the address of your router as the Primary PC Name, then the first Hotsync will succeed, but it will overwrite the Primary PC Name with the DNS or Windows name of your computer, and the next Hotsync will fail. You can prevent that by entering "!!" as the Primary PC Name, and it appears that in addition to not overwriting the Primary PC Name and Address, the Palm skips the UDP portion of the PNRP and just tries to directly open a TCP connection to the Primary PC Address (this is my observation based on packet sniffing).

Before I found the undocumented "!!" hack, I tried configuring the loopback adapter on my Windows 2000 PC to have the external IP address of the router. On my PC in Hotsync Setup | Network | TCP/IP Settings, I could then select which IP address to use -- the private IP address or the external IP address of the router. But even when I selected the external address, the Hotsync PRNP was still sending the private IP address in the UDP reply.

Hope this helps,

John R. Ellis

__________________
Bret Snyder If you don't know where you're going, You'll probably end up somewhere else.

02-26-2001 04:17 PM

jschaff
Member

Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 62

YEAH, it works. This is a problem that I have tried to find a solution to for three weeks. As usual, there always is something simple that makes the difference. I tried to understand the PNRP business and DHCP stuff, but I guess my mind quit processing.

Granted, it is slow, but I now feel better and can move on to another project with the Minstrel modem and Yadayada.

Again, thanks.

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Jeff Schaffer
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02-27-2001 04:23 AM

Bret Snyder
Member

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: Hacienda Heights, Ca
Posts: 302

Another thing to note, these settings are not just for "wireless". A "network" hotsync works even better when you sync through a secondary pc across the internet into your main system.

If both of your systems have broadband connections the sync time is very fast.

__________________
Bret Snyder If you don't know where you're going, You'll probably end up somewhere else.

03-03-2001 04:15 PM

Don Hoang
Member

Registered: Mar 2001
Location:
Posts: 15

Wireless sync works wonders for me. I just make sure I turn off syncing with the larger apps and just the datebook, todos, memos, address books etc instead. Speed is decent on Omnisky.

Thanks guys for posting this. Its extremely helpful

Don

03-20-2001 04:55 PM

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