People have asked us about different ways to connect their companies Pocket PC or Window Mobile device to the internet. The questions have been in regards to convenience and pricing. So I have put together some different options to consider in setting up your Windows Mobile devices for Enterprise use to the internet for software such as our Trakker Lite HVAC and Scheduling software.
Use the devices built in phone
1- If your windows mobile device has a GPRS, CDMA radio for AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, or t-Mobile you can subscribe to their monthly services.
Use WiFi hotspots
2- If you do not need internet access throughout the day
- You can use the WiFi built into most Windows Mobile devices and configure it to connect to the office as well as perhaps the handheld user’s home WiFi network if they have one, or a public WiFi connection such as many restaurants and some hotels offer.
- You can use ActiveSync through a desktop/laptop computer that has internet access.
Make your own WiFi Hot Spot
3- If the user will also be carrying a cellular phone that can sometimes be used as a WiFi ‘hotspot’ that the device running Trakker Lite on can connect to for internet access.
To make option 3 work the cell phone would need to be some form of a smart phone/PDA such as another Windows Mobile phone, iPhone, Blackberry, or Android phone. That phone would have to subscribe to internet service from the cellular provider. Then a WiFi software would need to be purchased and installed on the phone.
- PDANet at http://www.junefabrics.com/index.php claims to work on Palm, Windows Mobile, Blackberry, Andriod, and the IPhone.
- For Windows Mobile http://www.wmwifirouter.com works on many devices (I use this one)
Option #3 can be a nice solution to lower cell phone costs, and keep your cell phone as a seperate device from the Trakker Lite device so that the user can make a phone call while doing data entry. Though it is a little less convenient having to turn on and off the ‘tethering’ software each time you want to do a synchronize.
Have you tried any of these, or had another creative solution to getting your internet access?