Speed Up Connectivity: Connecting an H/PC to a LAN
By Chris De Herrera When you're ready for the ultimate in communications speed, try connecting your handheld PC to your office LAN or the Internet using an Ethernet card. Data transfer rates of up to 10 mb/s are possible. Compare that to 19,200 Kbps via a serial cable connection and you begin to see why this connectivity solution is attractive. Faster Ethernet cards, with 100 mb/s transfer rates are available, but software drivers for Windows CE haven't been written for them yet. Once connected via Ethernet card, you can do anything you can do with the serial connection, only much faster. Use ActiveSync to synchronize with your desktop; backup your data (4 MB system takes less than 5 minutes!); copy software and documents back and forth; and install programs on your H/PC. You can also access a variety of Internet services, including Web browsing and e-mail, FTP, Telnet, IRC (Internet Relay Chat). Accessing Newsgroups is possible with additional software from Ruksun Software (www.ruksun.com/) and bSQUARE (www.bsquare.com/). Socket Communications has provided Ping and IP Address, a utility to assist users with configuring their Socket LP-E PC Ethernet Card (see "Troubleshooting" below). [Note: If you are using Windows NT please review the Ethernet FAQ on my Website at www.cewindows.net] Not for Beginners!This description assumes a moderate level of experience with networks and their configuration. If you're a novice in this area, seek the assistance of your network administrator. Even users experienced with networks may need such assistance. Also, please refer to the troubleshooting section if you are having problems. Below, I describe briefly how to connect your H/PC to a Windows 95 PC on a LAN using an Ethernet card. You will need: 1. A PCMCIA Ethernet card for your H/PC. Both the LP Ethernet card (35 mA) or the Ethernet I/O card from Socket Communications (www.socketcom.com/) are certified by Microsoft to be compatible with the H/PC. I have used other Ethernet cards, and still more are reported to work. For more on this, visit my Website at: www.cewindows.net. 2. An Ethernet card for your desktop, or laptop PC. This should already be configured with the Client for Microsoft Networks and TCP/IP. If this is not already done, please install it now. This is done from the Control Panel > Network icon (for further assistance, click Start > Help > How To "Use a Network" and follow instructions). 3. An Ethernet hub. If you are working in an office, you may want two outlets to do this -- one for your desktop PC and the other for your Handheld PC. Before we get started, you must have installed Windows CE Services on your PC and connect your H/PC to your PC via the connectivity cable that came with the H/PC. If you attempt an Ethernet connection without doing this, the "Connect To" name on the Handheld PC will not list your PC's name and the connection will not work. Note: Microsoft assumed that you would not be synchronizing your H/PC with more than two PCs (e.g., your office and home PC). Therefore, they designed your H/PC so that it can only store configurations for 2 ActiveSync connections. If you attempt to connect to a new host PC, the Handheld PC will ask you to delete one of the existing ActiveSync connections. Both of these connections can be an Ethernet connection. If you need to configure two different Ethernet connections and don't want to go through the hassle of deleting and reconfiguring connections, check out a program called HPC NetProfile 1.0 (Phatware, www.phatware.com). It lets you change these connections easily by selecting a profile from a list. This is a great benefit to Network Administrators that have multiple offices or configurations. The shareware version of this utility is available on my Website (www.cewindows.net) or on the Handheld PC Magazine 1999 CE InfoBase. [Note to developers: Remote debugging is not supported over Ethernet. All other developer services, including the code transfer, database viewer, memory viewer, registry viewer, screen capture and spy work over Ethernet are supported. Also, Windows CE does not provide some of the common tools for configuring and diagnosing network problems such as arp, finger, hosts, traceroute, etc.] Installation and Configuration1. Connect your Handheld PC to your desktop PC via ActiveSync. I recommend that you perform a backup before proceeding. Then insert the Socket LP-E Ethernet driver diskette in your PC and use Start - Run a:\setup to install the Ethernet drivers on your Handheld PC. You must then press the reset button on your Handheld PC. 2. Confirm the configuration of your desktop IP address and the Client for Microsoft Networks. This is done on the desktop PC by clicking on Start > Settings > Control Panel > Network (see Screen 1). You should see a listing for the Client for Microsoft Networks as well as TCP/IP. Double click on the TCP/IP for your Ethernet card and verify that the IP Address is set to 192.168.1.1 and the Subnet Mask to 255.255.255.0. (Screen 1). 3. Now we need to set the IP address of the Handheld PC. This is done from the H/PC by tapping on Start > Settings > Control Panel > Network. You should see the NE200 Compatible Ethernet Driver listed. Click on Properties. Select the "Specify an IP Address" button and enter the indicated addresses: IP Address - 192.168.1.2, Subnet 255.255.255.0, Default Gateway 192.168.2.1 (Screen 2). 4. Then click on the tab labeled Name Servers. You need to enter 192.168.1.1 as the Primary WINS Server. All the rest of the fields are left blank (Screen 3). Now click OK to accept the changes. A screen will remind you that you need to remove the Ethernet card if you have already inserted it in order for the changes to take effect. 5. Insert the Ethernet card into your Handheld PC. Then select Start > Programs > Communication > ActiveSync. In the dialog box you should see your Method of Connection as "Network Connection" and the Connect To as your desktop PC's name. If you do not, then you need to review the steps listed above for errors. On your desktop PC click on Connect to connect to your Handheld PC via Ethernet and then you can choose to synchronize from the Handheld PC by clicking on the Sync Now button. Once the connection is made the Mobile Devices icon comes up on your desktop PC and you can access the H/PC's files as normal. If the connection fails, ActiveSync closes without a dialog box, indicating that the connection was not completed. I hope this helps explain a little more about what Windows CE is capable of with Ethernet. I talk about the H/PC and Ethernet, but soon you will be able to use Ethernet with the Palm-size PC. Socket Communications is releasing their Low Power Ethernet CompactFlash Card, which provides the same capabilities to use Ethernet for the Palm-size PC as the Handheld PC has. You can reach Socket Communications at www.socketcom.com. My Website has more information on setting up communications with Windows CE, including FAQs text files on Ethernet, Remote ActiveSync, IrDA, ActiveSync, etc. Also, I have detailed comparisons, pictures and screen shots of Windows CE 2.0 Handheld PCs, Palm-size PCs and embedded systems. There are links to the latest news on Windows CE as well as Windows CE related newsgroups and Websites to keep you up to date. Visit me at: members.aol.com/pdcchrisd. If you have any questions or comments on this article, or have additional information or tips about the subject, feel free to email me at: mailto:Chris@CEWindows.NET.
Screen 1: From your desktop PCs Control Panel, select the Network icon, click on the TCP/IP tab for your Ethernet card and verify the IP Address and Subnet Mask. Screen 2: From your H/PC's Control Panel, select the Network icon. Tap on Properties, select the "Specify an IP Address" button and enter the IP Address and Subnet Mask. Although this screen does not show it, enter the Default Gateway as 192.168.2.1.
Screen 3: After step 3, select tab labeled Name Servers and enter address for the Primary WINS Server.
TroubleshootingIf you have problems, follow these steps:1. Confirm that the Ethernet drivers are installed and the hardware is connected correctly. Try to "ping" the Handheld PC 's IP address from the DOS/Command prompt. The command is PING 192.168.1.2. It should answer back with 4 responses indicating how long it took to get there. Mine averages about 10 milliseconds. If this does not work, you need to check the connection to the hub and the Ethernet ports of both machines. Also confirm that you have configured the IP address of the desktop PC as well as the Handheld PC. 2. If you are unable to connect and all the settings are correct, don't forget to remove and reinsert the Ethernet card to make the Handheld PC's TCP/IP settings take effect. NOTE: The Ping and IP Address utility provided courtesy of Socket Communications is available on my website (www.cewindows.net) or on the Handheld PC Magazine PowerCD. I have confirmed that it is compatible with the Socket LP-E PC Ethernet Card. Please read the README.TXT file for details on how to use these utilities.
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By Chris De Herrera,