I'm still trying to figure out why I use so much more data than I did with the Treo. I installed SPB GPRS monitor, and found that my T-Mobile MDA uses *way* too much data checking email. I have it set to download 4K maximum. Downloading two messages generally uses 50K and sometimes 100K. The record is 200K, when there were about 10 messages, which should have taken 40K.
Uploads are uniform at about 1K or 2K, all the data flow is downloads.
I'm not sure why, but my current theory is that if there are messages that are on the server that have been deleted from inbox but not deleted from the server, the entire 4K is downloaded for each of these messages, but then doesn't appear because once downloaded Inbox realizes these messages are in the deleted folder. But I'm not sure that is the reason and am still testing.
I wish snappermail was available for WM5.
A month of monitoring
I used SPB GPRS Monitor to keep track of the data use on my wizard. I have my device set to download a maximum of 4K. The results are quite peculiar. First, even when the server is empty, there is a variable amount of data used, ranging from 5K to 50K. Second, when there are messages that are already downloaded, they are apparently downloaded again, because even with no new downloads, data use is high and proportional to the number of messages on the server. Third, I'm averaging 50K of data use per message downloaded. Remember that I'm only getting 4K of the message and that feature works, in the sense that the message is truncated. Fourth, it is not downloading very large messages; it is number, not the size, of messages on the server that seems to determine data use.
I've turned off messaging (tmail) and am now experimenting with qmail. It is too early to tell for sure but it appears to be a solution -- data use appears much more moderate (after 24 hours of testing, however).
This is pretty important for those of us who roam overseas.
Related
I use my XDA II to check my work emails which are in a POP3 account (connecting over GPRS when I'm out and about). This works ok, but...
What I find strange is that at each connection it seems to go through every single message on the server regardless of whether (1) the message is already downloaded or (2) it is several days old.
This is incredibly slow and expensive when you are getting about 300 messages a day.
(To expand on this, assuiming I get 300 messages a day and set the email to download messages only from the last 3 days, and only to download the first 3kb of each message - on each connection the mail client still works its way through all messages on the server, which could be about 1500, taking about 1 second for each one. Using GPRS monitor I see I use something like 700kb - 1Mb on each connection. Crazy! :shock: )
I notice other email clients, such as nPOP are able to simply check and download new messages on each connection. (using about 15kb or so a time) So why cant the inbuilt email program do this?? (I don't want to use nPop for various reasons).
Any hints or ideas would be much appreciated. :?:
I feel your pain. I tried setting up my yahoo mail using the internal pop account as well. It would always have to refresh over 1500 mail messages which would take up to a couple hours. I haven't been able to find much of a workaround for this either. Any suggestions?
Yes!
I have started a couple of threads on this topic, with no response. I found I got hit with over $500 in data roaming charges in Europe, doing email that with the palm operating system (snappermail) would cost me less than $50.
I think there are two solutions. One is qmail. Qmail can easily handle this problem -- you just tell it not to check mail over x days old. That is a simple program. But I favor the second solution, npop. Npop permits the same filter (I think).
I have tried these against poutlook, with phenomenal improvement. When there are 30 already downloaded messages on the server, poutlook may take 100KB just to check mail, while qmail takes 3KB and npop 1KB. The main disadvantages are
hard to use one-handed
no multipart html support in npop
can't reliably wake the wizard up to check mail automatically
but not only do these run lean, they also run 100% on the minisd card.
What won't help is flexmail -- it seems to just be a wrapper on poutlook.
I had this problem with my previous Pocket PC phones but never found a fix for it. My inbox (aka Messaging) is set to 'Connect and check for messages every 60 minutes'. Unfortunately, it does not check every hour but maybe once every few hours.
I am using SPB Pocket Plus and set the Messaging to exept from closing - so the Messaging is always up and running.
Anyone have some ideas or fix to this? My old Treo 600 was extremely reliable when it came to checking for emails every hour.
Also, does anyone know if I can change the interval from 60 minutes to 90 instead?
Thanks.
I 've noticed that too. The fact is, that if you have more then one accounts in the messaging, and you always do in fact, since ActiveSnc and SMS is always there. The software only checks email in certain interval when the appropriate account is active. So, for exmple if you have sent SMS to someone and this profile is active when you close or minimize Messaging, it will NOT check another email account
Can I just use one of these "exchange hosting" things? Or do you need both? The idea of push email appeals to me, but installing Server and Exchange or whatever on a PC doesn't.
So can I get push email for a fiver or month or whatever it costs?
Yes, of cuz! Mine is hostet by 1&1 e.g.
Given the amount of data push mail uses (typically 15-20mb per month or higher) you'd probably be just as well setting your email to check for messages at whatever frequency you require.
I don't know if anyone has done some comparisons but if you just download message headers the data load wouldn't be any higher probably, with no need of exchange server. Of course you would not have the remote device reset function, but do you need that?
not necessary. Push mail consume less than a Kb every few minutes.
A single 3G connection consume 3Kb, plus the actual check.
A normal sized box with say 20 messages a day would give 10 Mb a month with push mail.
Push mail is not necessary consuming more, and it can be enabled and disabled at will.
point taken, but he was looking to not use exchange server.
you can try with a live.mail2web.com account. You will get your own idea
I was travelling internationally and got hit with 2MB/day roaming charges. I have mail set to download only the first 4K of emails and this is pretty small. The only thing that seems like it could account for it is SPB Weather, which, now that I look, is downloading over 100K every time it connects, which was set for hourly updates. I had read that a 5 day forecase was only 400 bytes, but instead it is taking 30 times that for a 7 day forecast.
Has anyone noticed an excessive data use from SPB weather?
i have it set to manual update, and auto when sync'd
that way i can make sure it doesnt use too much!
Hey everyone. I got rid of my Jasjar and bought a hw6945 which I'm much happier with. Even though it has a smaller keyboard and smaller resolution screen, it still does exactly what I need it to do in a much smaller and less complicated package than the Jasjar. I was also getting sick of the battery issue. Alas, this section is for the "Sable" and so I'll stick to talking about that and not bashing the Universal.
A lot of times as I'm writing text messages or e-mails, it'll pop up a random "BUSY" icon even though there's no other program running in the background - not even any connections using any of the radios. Why does it do that? The jasjar didn't. Anybody?
In ActiveSync, set the PPC to sync every 30 minutes and every hour during off hours. If you leave it set at "when items arrive" it will maintain a gprs or edge data connection all the time and that kills the battery.
I get 4 days of standby and light use now. I used to get 24 hours.
If you are using microsoft push to deliver messages then I think you have to leave the setting as "when items arrive".
We are using push at work, but I find I certainly don't need my new messages faster then 30 minute intervals.
Hey, thanks for the post. I actually just figured it out myself last night as I was playing with activesync. : )
Since I'm not a push user, I really have no need for automatic sync. By default, it keeps trying to sync when there isn't even a server there. What I had to do was open up activeysnc from the HP, create a fake server and fill in the fields with dummy info, go to the schedule options which are only available when you have a push server (hence the creation of a fake one), pick manual for everything, and then delete the dummy server. That's it. I have't gotten my initial problem since. I also think this might be a common issue for ALL WM5 devices?
Anyway, thanks for the reply. : )
Ya, I read that about the fake dummy account so you can access the manual activesync settings.
The battery life is now "livable" which it was not before. I am going to get the 25% larger capacity battery for it.
Wish someone would do some development on this model. It is actually very nice and if someone would create/modify some of the software for it and make it better, it would be amazing!