Please, don't kill my WiFi!

Hi John, try this link
http://www.airscanner.com/downloads/airfix/airfix.html, they have an
application that can let you sync and still have your internet access and
it's for free. I have not tried this myself.

I can see Paul point, but when MS removed the items that home/single user
wanted and where using and which made this worth using it just show that they
do not care what personal user are doing, and this in turns has the phone
companies complain they are lossing sales because people do not want the new
items taht do not have these functions, which then stops them wanting improve
there devices. This is just like the iPhone but in reverse, great user phone
but does not work with must companies polices, its a shame these large
copmines do not read the forums more oftern as this would reslove 90% of
people issues and get people back into beliving that they do understand what
is want, not just what they are going to do.

Plus as the above links shows there where enough people who want this that
someone have taken the time to fix the issue that MS did not want to do.


"John" wrote:

> Hi,
> How to stop ActiveSync from disconnecting WiFi on WM5?
>
> I know, this question was asked 1 year ago
> http://www.microsoft.com/communities...=en-us&m=1&p=1
> but there were no answer.
>
> I am so frustrated! I wasted the whole day troubleshooting this strange
> WiFi disconnection problem. I contacted HP support, my WiFi router
> support, tried all kind of settings, read tons of similar complains on the
> Web (all without any solution). Some people even suggested
> that my iPaq is defective and I should ask HP for a replacement!
>
> Finally I decided that my iPaq is simply incompatible with my router,
> so I decided to throw it away (at least put it away for now).
> Then, in process of throwing it away, I disconnected ActiveSync
> and WiFi started working! Connected it back - WiFi killed again.
>
> Shame to Microsoft for making this behavior behind my back
> without saying a word.
>
> Still, the question is: how to disable it? Anything in the registry?
> I really must have ActiveSync and WiFi connected at the same time.
>
> Thank you
> John
>

That's why MS allowed OEMs to put it back in WM6, I would guess. However,
for *most* of the Windows Mobile users, who I think MS visualizes as an
Enterprise user, it's not a big deal. In the same way, given that you can't
program an iPhone, Apple doesn't seem to care about the Enterprise market.
You're dead on as to what the problem is...

Paul T.

"Doubledare0511" <> wrote in message
news:EBF2A11E-01B4-43DC-AE17-...
> Hi John, try this link
> http://www.airscanner.com/downloads/airfix/airfix.html, they have an
> application that can let you sync and still have your internet access and
> it's for free. I have not tried this myself.
>
> I can see Paul point, but when MS removed the items that home/single user
> wanted and where using and which made this worth using it just show that
> they
> do not care what personal user are doing, and this in turns has the phone
> companies complain they are lossing sales because people do not want the
> new
> items taht do not have these functions, which then stops them wanting
> improve
> there devices. This is just like the iPhone but in reverse, great user
> phone
> but does not work with must companies polices, its a shame these large
> copmines do not read the forums more oftern as this would reslove 90% of
> people issues and get people back into beliving that they do understand
> what
> is want, not just what they are going to do.
>
> Plus as the above links shows there where enough people who want this that
> someone have taken the time to fix the issue that MS did not want to do.
>
>
> "John" wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>> How to stop ActiveSync from disconnecting WiFi on WM5?
>>
>> I know, this question was asked 1 year ago
>> http://www.microsoft.com/communities...=en-us&m=1&p=1
>> but there were no answer.
>>
>> I am so frustrated! I wasted the whole day troubleshooting this strange
>> WiFi disconnection problem. I contacted HP support, my WiFi router
>> support, tried all kind of settings, read tons of similar complains on
>> the
>> Web (all without any solution). Some people even suggested
>> that my iPaq is defective and I should ask HP for a replacement!
>>
>> Finally I decided that my iPaq is simply incompatible with my router,
>> so I decided to throw it away (at least put it away for now).
>> Then, in process of throwing it away, I disconnected ActiveSync
>> and WiFi started working! Connected it back - WiFi killed again.
>>
>> Shame to Microsoft for making this behavior behind my back
>> without saying a word.
>>
>> Still, the question is: how to disable it? Anything in the registry?
>> I really must have ActiveSync and WiFi connected at the same time.
>>
>> Thank you
>> John
>>

> Hi John, try this link
> http://www.airscanner.com/downloads/airfix/airfix.html, they have an
> application that can let you sync and still have your internet access and
> it's for free. I have not tried this myself.

Thank you.
Unfortunately, this came a bit late.
I didn't try airfix yet, but
I already found few ways to fix the problem myself.
I see (and tested) the following 3 ways:

1. Completely disable CurrentDTPTNetwork provider.
Simply rename value "CSPNET.DLL" under
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{f792e23c-dc19-4668-9be4-f8688b4c18d6}\InprocServer32]
using your favorite registry editor, then reboot.
Now you have ActiveSync and WiFi at the same time,
Pros: this is the simplest approach, no programming is needed.
Cons: you cannot browse Internet from your Pocket PC using ActiveSync
pass-through.

2. Write a short program, which registers for Unbind notifications using
IOCTL_NDISUIO_REQUEST_NOTIFICATION,
then re-binds the adapter.
Pros: simple application.
Cons: the adapter is actually get's unbound and all connections are lost
before you get a chance to re-bind it. Then it will take time
to re-establish connection, get new DHCP address, etc.

3. Write a short driver, which wraps around NDS (ndis.dll)
and passes all calls down to the original ndis.dll except for
IOCTL_NDIS_UNBIND_ADAPTER call. Once it gets
IOCTL_NDIS_UNBIND_ADAPTER it displays an optional
message box asking whether the user wants to unbind or not.
I will stick with the latter approach for now.
I don't see any drawbacks yet.

Now I will need to find some bridge or proxy software
to allow me connect to Internet through Pocket PC WiFi.
Did anybody see anything like that?

> This is just like the iPhone but in reverse

Yes, I wanted to make the same point myself.
I read some iPhone reviews recently, which also compare iPhone
with older Smartphones such as Windows Mobile, Symbian and others.
The overall message seems to be "Why we were forced to sufer for so long?"
People were cursing these half-functioning Smartphones for years,
but they had no choice and no feedback (as Paul explained).
But now they can compare and choose and I am afraid
for the future of Windows Mobile.
Microsoft will, probably, not even notice if this tiny
fraction of their market will disappear,
but for us, who made investment into this platform
it's demise will be very unfortunate.


Thank you
John

> > Hi John, try this link
> > http://www.airscanner.com/downloads/airfix/airfix.html, they have an
> > application that can let you sync and still have your internet access and
> > it's for free. I have not tried this myself.

OK, I looked at their page and see that they suggest kiling process
connmghr.exe, which is even more brutal approach than
my method #1 to kill only cspnet.dll.
Killing connmghr.exe is likely to have multiple side effects,
so I would not even try it.

John

If you're doing option #3, you'll have a significant amount of work to do
when Windows Mobile is based on Windows CE 6, presumably in the next version
after WM6. You won't be able to do any UI stuff from inside the driver
because it will be in kernel mode. No other problems that come immediately
to mind, though.

I like solution #2. As long as AS isn't persistent about unbinding the
adapter over and over, this scheme requires no low-level access to anything,
uses all documented interfaces, and should work.

Paul T.

"John" <> wrote in message
news:F6BBF3E2-1372-4EA1-B9D3-...
>
>> Hi John, try this link
>> http://www.airscanner.com/downloads/airfix/airfix.html, they have an
>> application that can let you sync and still have your internet access and
>> it's for free. I have not tried this myself.
>
> Thank you.
> Unfortunately, this came a bit late.
> I didn't try airfix yet, but
> I already found few ways to fix the problem myself.
> I see (and tested) the following 3 ways:
>
> 1. Completely disable CurrentDTPTNetwork provider.
> Simply rename value "CSPNET.DLL" under
> [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{f792e23c-dc19-4668-9be4-f8688b4c18d6}\InprocServer32]
> using your favorite registry editor, then reboot.
> Now you have ActiveSync and WiFi at the same time,
> Pros: this is the simplest approach, no programming is needed.
> Cons: you cannot browse Internet from your Pocket PC using ActiveSync
> pass-through.
>
> 2. Write a short program, which registers for Unbind notifications using
> IOCTL_NDISUIO_REQUEST_NOTIFICATION,
> then re-binds the adapter.
> Pros: simple application.
> Cons: the adapter is actually get's unbound and all connections are lost
> before you get a chance to re-bind it. Then it will take time
> to re-establish connection, get new DHCP address, etc.
>
> 3. Write a short driver, which wraps around NDS (ndis.dll)
> and passes all calls down to the original ndis.dll except for
> IOCTL_NDIS_UNBIND_ADAPTER call. Once it gets
> IOCTL_NDIS_UNBIND_ADAPTER it displays an optional
> message box asking whether the user wants to unbind or not.
> I will stick with the latter approach for now.
> I don't see any drawbacks yet.
>
> Now I will need to find some bridge or proxy software
> to allow me connect to Internet through Pocket PC WiFi.
> Did anybody see anything like that?
>
>> This is just like the iPhone but in reverse
>
> Yes, I wanted to make the same point myself.
> I read some iPhone reviews recently, which also compare iPhone
> with older Smartphones such as Windows Mobile, Symbian and others.
> The overall message seems to be "Why we were forced to sufer for so long?"
> People were cursing these half-functioning Smartphones for years,
> but they had no choice and no feedback (as Paul explained).
> But now they can compare and choose and I am afraid
> for the future of Windows Mobile.
> Microsoft will, probably, not even notice if this tiny
> fraction of their market will disappear,
> but for us, who made investment into this platform
> it's demise will be very unfortunate.
>
>
> Thank you
> John
>

> If you're doing option #3, you'll have a significant amount of work to do
> when Windows Mobile is based on Windows CE 6, presumably in the next version
> after WM6. You won't be able to do any UI stuff from inside the driver
> because it will be in kernel mode. No other problems that come immediately
> to mind, though.

Yes, I know about CE 6 changes.
But, hopefully I will not need to port this solution to WM 7 because you said
that the problem was solved in WM 6.
Anyway, my goal is to use my old WM 2005 Pocket PC as a WiFi bridge.
If it will work, then I will be able to use it for years to come and will
not need an upgrade.

> I like solution #2. As long as AS isn't persistent about unbinding the
> adapter over and over, this scheme requires no low-level access to anything,
> uses all documented interfaces, and should work.

Yes. CSPNET.DLL does unbind when you plug in AS, after
the adapter is enabled (this explains why WiFi actually works for a second
after setup, then breaks, as I explained in my ninitial post),
after suspend/resume cycle, may be some other occasions, which I haven't
seen yet.
So, the message box certainly should have an option "Don't show it anymore",
otherwise it is too annoying.

But, method #2 re-binds adapters few seconds after they are unbound,
so all active connections will be broken, DHCP lease will have to be
re-established, you may get a different IP address, etc.

So, I will stick with a driver approach.

John

> If you're doing option #3, you'll have a significant amount of work to do
> when Windows Mobile is based on Windows CE 6, presumably in the next version
> after WM6. You won't be able to do any UI stuff from inside the driver
> because it will be in kernel mode. No other problems that come immediately
> to mind, though.

Yes, I know about CE 6 changes.
But, hopefully I will not need to port this solution to WM 7 because you said
that the problem was solved in WM 6.
Anyway, my goal is to use my old WM 2005 Pocket PC as a WiFi bridge.
If it will work, then I will be able to use it for years to come and will
not need an upgrade.

> I like solution #2. As long as AS isn't persistent about unbinding the
> adapter over and over, this scheme requires no low-level access to anything,
> uses all documented interfaces, and should work.

Yes. CSPNET.DLL does unbind when you plug in AS, after
the adapter is enabled (this explains why WiFi actually works for a second
after setup, then breaks, as I explained in my ninitial post),
after suspend/resume cycle, may be some other occasions, which I haven't
seen yet.
So, the message box certainly should have an option "Don't show it anymore",
otherwise it is too annoying.

But, method #2 re-binds adapters few seconds after they are unbound,
so all active connections will be broken, DHCP lease will have to be
re-established, you may get a different IP address, etc.

So, I will stick with a driver approach.

John

Microsoft allows it to be fixed, is how I understand it. The OEM still has
substantial control over what they actually expose that the system supports,
if you see what I mean. Fingers crossed, of course.

If you rebind the adapter, it's *very* unlikely that you'll get a different
IP address; very unlikely. The DHCP server is going to keep you in a cache
for a while after you go away (in fact, it probably won't even know that
you've gone away, as there's no ongoing communication between client and
DHCP server, until the lease is getting old). So, when the same Ethernet
address comes in and asks the DHCP server for another IP, it's virtually
certain that it will get the same one as last time. I'm constantly
rebooting our devices while under development and they will *forever* get
the same IP from our DHCP server, unless the server runs out of DHCP
addresses to assign and a new Enet address comes in and wants an IP...

Paul T.

"John" <> wrote in message
news:7446D188-8A3F-4A76-B322-...
>> If you're doing option #3, you'll have a significant amount of work to do
>> when Windows Mobile is based on Windows CE 6, presumably in the next
>> version
>> after WM6. You won't be able to do any UI stuff from inside the driver
>> because it will be in kernel mode. No other problems that come
>> immediately
>> to mind, though.
>
> Yes, I know about CE 6 changes.
> But, hopefully I will not need to port this solution to WM 7 because you
> said
> that the problem was solved in WM 6.
> Anyway, my goal is to use my old WM 2005 Pocket PC as a WiFi bridge.
> If it will work, then I will be able to use it for years to come and will
> not need an upgrade.
>
>> I like solution #2. As long as AS isn't persistent about unbinding the
>> adapter over and over, this scheme requires no low-level access to
>> anything,
>> uses all documented interfaces, and should work.
>
> Yes. CSPNET.DLL does unbind when you plug in AS, after
> the adapter is enabled (this explains why WiFi actually works for a second
> after setup, then breaks, as I explained in my ninitial post),
> after suspend/resume cycle, may be some other occasions, which I haven't
> seen yet.
> So, the message box certainly should have an option "Don't show it
> anymore",
> otherwise it is too annoying.
>
> But, method #2 re-binds adapters few seconds after they are unbound,
> so all active connections will be broken, DHCP lease will have to be
> re-established, you may get a different IP address, etc.
>
> So, I will stick with a driver approach.
>
> John
>

> Microsoft allows it to be fixed, is how I understand it. The OEM still has
> substantial control over what they actually expose that the system supports,
> if you see what I mean. Fingers crossed, of course.

Luckily, they simply don't have any control once the device is in our hand.
Do they *allow* to kill connmgr.exe, as airfix does?
I guess not. But can they stop us from doing it? No.
This confirms my earlier point that too restrictive and too cumbersome
security is actually less secure because it forces users to
find work around or disable it completely.

> If you rebind the adapter, it's *very* unlikely that you'll get a different
> IP address; very unlikely.

At my home, yes, of course. I have only two clients and they always get the
same address.
But in a large office addresses do change sometimes.
Also if WiFi connection is not very reliable, as it often is, then I am
likely to get
several DHCP retries and sometimes a failure message box. Therefore, I prefer
not to re-initialize IP stack if possible.