Database Users

I love my Wiz now, but why is it so lame 'out of the box'?

I love my MDA more and more now. But after my first week or two i was begining to think i had made a mistake buying it. Thanks to the kind and helpful folk around here and other forums, i now have it doing everything i wanted it to do and in the way i want it to do it.
I use it for TomTom, playing DIXed DVD's, music, podcasts, games, the usual email/web duties and more. And thanks to the great WiFi 'G' reg hack i can now stream my large lossles FLAC files (with the help of fantasitc Conduits Pocket Player) right into my Hifi system, just like my Squeezebox 3 media player. It's actually much better than an ipod (albeit with less storage when out of the house - although i could access my music at home from a hotspot). A fully fledged media streaming device for free! (well, a small fee for Pocket Player and a 2.5mm to 3.5mm jack adaptor).
Not only does this hack also enable 'g' speeds, but i can confirm that it also massively increases performance on 'b' speed networks too (which mine is limited to due to being an 'adhok' network).
Sure, a faster proc, better camera and maybe even 3G would be nice. But i have no wish to ever make video calls or use Skype (i'm the geek of the group and no-one else i know uses it).
I understand there will always be better third party software (Media Player is an utter waste of space for example) but why should we have to make techy and annoying tweaks to the registry, just to get the best from the unit? Why the hell do we need to hack the reg just to make a basic settings change, such as hiding SIM contacts (which is an option in just about every mobile from the last 5 years).
Is it just bad planning? Poor thinking on the manufactures part? or is there just a genuine reason for 'hiding' these settings and not making them accessable from standard menu's?
The older i get, the less time i have to mess around so much. I have better things to do these days to be honest.
Surely they would have more to gain by activating the performance increases themselfs, rather than us more tech savy types to figure out how to alter the registry. Half the things this device has been slated for in reviews can actually be sorted, but the average (make that normal) buyers of this device will be feeling a bit short changed if you ask me.
I guess the only thing left for me to do now is dump the T-Mobile ROM and use a more slimline one. Or maybe i should just figure out who to lose some of the crap from my existing install?
What is it with these companies? Don't they know when they are on to a good thing? Or maybe, just maybe it to keep us coming back for more and upgrading year after year? Hey ho...
/rant over.

Dom
Very interesting topic, well put and one which I'm sure will be relevant to me very soon...y'see my Wizard arrives in two days and it was reading posts such as yours which helped me take the plunge.
I don't mind messing about with PDAs, phones, PCs etc to get the the best performance but (as you rightly point out) we shouldn't have to. However, given the thousand of threads and posts on this (incredibly good) site, I am somewhat confused about what to do first with my Wizard.
So, could you please take a few minutes to post what changes, hacks etc you have done to get yours where you (almost) want it to be?
Many thanks in advance.
Mos

mosgeo said:
So, could you please take a few minutes to post what changes, hacks etc you have done to get yours where you (almost) want it to be?
Many thanks in advance.
Mos
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The first things i would always do after a hard reset (format), after syncing back all my contacts/callender of course...
Reg hacks (main ones, i have forgot a few) -
*Hide SIM contacts (so the dont appear pointlessly twice)
*Enable 'g' speed Wifi
* Disable the annoying 'you are about to go online' message. You will understand when you get yours, VERY VERY annoying - you get it even when you are online and just switch back to PIE.
* There are some good performace tweaks to, which i forgot about.
Essential software i could not be without (some free, some not - unless you are naughty. Don't be naughty now )
*TomTom (Sat Nav)
*Memory Map Pocket Nav + GPS and the O.S. maps i use for walking
*TCPMP - The best video player
* Conduits Pocket Player - the best music player IMO (Streaming, gapless playback and OGG/FLAC support - nice). costs a few beer tokens, but free good alternatives are available.
*Resco File explorer and Reg editor.
*Opera Browser - Renders pages faster than PIE, handles java script etc better and Tabbed browsing makes GPRS speeds much less of a pain.
*Memmaid - for cleaing up temp files, dead registry entries etc.
*Storage tools - for formating and sorting out MiniSD cards - WM5 can't even format a bloody memory card!
*Wififofum - for finding WiFi networks (more for fun than anything).
*OMAPclock - for a bit of overclocking (more for fun again, i rarely feel the need is that great)
*And of course registry wizard for the good people of these forums
Thats about it really for me, but i am finding more cools things everyday to play with but those are my must have ones - i have had to install
A few must have games include, AOE, UFO, 3D pool and Soduko.
Personally i dont use a today plugin. I have not found one i like yet and most have icons etc that are to small on the MDA's small screen or just make clutter rather than really help me. A well organised start menu is enough for me.

Oh, and of course you can flash the ROM. But i have not done this yet. T-Mobiles version does not seem that bad but i hear the O2 version is a real dog and well worth doing. I just worry about lost Wifi and GPRS functionality i have heard about some people having.

Really wasn't expecting a reply so soon, and certainly not such a comprehensive one. Thanks for your time. I may be back with more questions once I actually get my mitts on a Wizard. Cheers!

yes I agree , it is great post, specially for new people like me, I got mine (Qtek 9100) just on Friday, and I am still figuring out its functions.
But I have question - if you have time to answer - I really don't know about WiFi function -which is in the device- , if I want to connect to the internet I should have a wireless router connected to my main PC, is that right ? I have read some of posts in here, that they can connect to the Internet - through their PPC - when they are outside or walking or traveling from area to another, by scanning for the nearby Connection, then they can use it to visit websites, does this cost money when they connect to the Internet using the WiFi ? And how can I do the same if it doesn't cost m money ? Can the "WiFi Fofum" program do this o is it only to scan any available connection nearby ? How can I connect to the internet (through WiFi) when this programm finds connection? And if it is really totally free..
I know this are bunch o Questions But I really want to use this function - if possible - specially that I work outside my city and I have to spend couple of hours travelling almost everyday. I appreciate any comment.

Wireless router at home if you want to use it wirelessly or if you do what I do now and then..... connect via the USB cable to your PC. Out and about you can connect for free if someone has a wireless network within range that has no WEP security enabled
There are wireless spots around the country but you have to pay for the main ones via an account you have to set up (kind of pay as you go) Cloud is one company that runs WiFi hotspots on a PAYG basis.
If you leave your WIFI scanning it will tell you if you are within range of a network, it will also tell you if it is secured or not, if it isn't then 9/10 you can just connect and use it

I have been meaning to make a post just like the OP. You are on the mark, IMO! This situation really begs the question, how can this thing be so feeble out of the box?
Thank you XDA and all of the kind people on this forum. You have been the best!

Thomas1234 said:
if I want to connect to the internet I should have a wireless router connected to my main PC, is that right ? I have read some of posts in here, that they can connect to the Internet - through their PPC - when they are outside or walking or traveling from area to another, by scanning for the nearby Connection, then they can use it to visit websites, does this cost money when they connect to the Internet using the WiFi ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my case, my service provider (Cingular) offers a service called GPRS/EDGE, which lets the Wizard access the Internet through the cell phone connection.
I use the WiFi when I don't have a good connection. Most of the time, for browsing mini-websites and sending e-mails, there isn't much speed difference between WiFi and GPRS. I don't think the Wizard is fast enough to process more than a few 100 kbps of data.
If you don't want to (or can't) pay for a GPRS service, it's possible to "war drive" for access points. The Wizard will find them, although its WiFi reception isn't as powerful as a laptop's.
On my phone, if I enable WiFi, the phone will automatically use WiFi instead of GPRS when WiFi is available. If you don't want to pay GPRS charges, you might want to configure the phone so that it doesn't use GPRS.

can you explain 'wardriving' please? is it just freely using wifi points without paying? bit confused
Thanks

Jamie,
You are correct in your assumption !! You would be amazed at the number of 'unlocked' WiFi routers out there....
Ever tried running Bluetooth detection in a pub and seen how many phones are out there too ?
If you can find an unlocked WiFi router running DHCP - 'Fill your boots' !! Sometimes it's even possible to guess IP addresses of other PC's on the network, access em and leave a kindly note to thank them for their hospitality but warn them of their folly and the potential for disaster......I know I have but then that's me: Mr Altruism

Ok how can I get any internet connection through WiFi ? Should I just enable my WiFi and it'll scan for any available connection nearby ? I did but nothing happened, it wants from me to fill form which I really don't know anything about it... Or do I have to use a program to scan for connection ? And if yes, should my WiFi be enabled ? What is the best program for scaning ? I wish if someone explains me all that and how can start using WiFi to get a connection and an access to the internet but slowly, will be thankful.

Im new to all of this, but what can you do with the registry wizard and how do you install it? I foud a zip file for it, but cant get it to load.
Thanks!

i have a question too if you have the time mate,
I don't exactly want to use the edge since i dont have an unlimited plan or something.how can i delete these settings and do you think any problems will occur?(sending recieving mms)
basicly i don't it to connect to edge(gprs)auto.is there a way to fix this
thanks so much.

Device as WiFi Access Point

Is it possible for any of the current 3G phones with WiFi to act as a WiFi Access Point for other devices?
I currently have a Jasjar with Vodafone IE's unlimited data plan for €40 per month and would love to have the Jasjar acting as a WiFi access point at home, in car etc.
Also with HSPDA now available I don't mind changing to another WM5 device that supports the higher speed and could act as an WiFi access point

I'd like to know the answer to this also as when I get my Vario 2 with unlimited data i thought it would be cool to use this to play on the Nintendo DS WiFi service... wishful thinking maybe.

Currently, it's very hard to do what you ask for as the OS doesn't support connection sharing; it must be done with third-party apps like the commercial version of Toonel or my HTTP proxy.
Please read my latest AKU3-related article (posted a few days ago to the General forum here); in there, I've elaborated on this question a lot.

I'm guessing the AKU3 article is the same one as you posted recently on your Smartphone and PocketPCMag blog.
The link to the proxy is prtty cool and may come in handy in the future when I get the Vario 2 (TyTn) and unlimited data. For now I've installed it all on my Wizard to get an idea of how it all works. Unfortunately theres no PAN support on the wizard but there is on my stand alone PDA.
Anyway thanks for your help, I'm still gonna keep a look out for anything that could possibly make the Pocket PC identify itself as a WiFi Access Point (As the Nintendo DS does not support Ad Hoc and only Ap's) and will continue to read your blog.

Email Attachments

I searched in this forum for my specific answer and I'll be darned if I can find it. So here goes...
I am curious how well email attachments work with the different network settings for PDA's..specifically, the Touch Pro (I'm hoping there won't be a difference between this and the upcoming TP2 I plan on getting).
What's the difference sending and downloading with:
GPRS
EDGE
3G (I know there are different ones, so I suppose if anyone knows that would be helpful to know each)
EVDO (Here I'm a bit confused..I know it's used for CDMA phones, but not sure of the evolution of 2G to 3G).
The reason I ask is I was planning on using a PDA to send files via email to clients I have. I work outside, so having a computer like device in pocket is ideal. With a micro SD card I know the device will hold all the files I need, but how well to they actually send (and I'd like to receive files too) with the different networks. I'm thinking the typical files sizes are going to be anywhere from 150kb up to maybe 2mb.
Much of the time I would be able to get close enough to hook up to wifi, but there will be times that I would really like to use one of the above.
-Are there going to be known issues?
-Does anyone use their pda a lot for this and have an opinion on the network(s) they've used?
-Is there a best network for this type of use?
I really appreciate any advice.
Thank you in advance.

Problems with Telstra HTC HD2

Got a HD2 on a plan with Telstra a few days ago. I see it has potential, but it has been a far from smooth experience.
I got rid of the locked icons on the home screen pronto as per the other thread here.
My remaining problems are as follows:
- I do not want to use the data connection for the internet. I assumed the HD2 was like the iPhone, in that when you turn off access to the internet via 3G, it is actually OFF. This little bastard connects to the internet when it deems necessary, often when I'm on a perfectly good WiFi connection. Is there any definitive method of disabling any other kind of connection to the internet except WiFi??
- I sync music from Songbird. I sync 5 albums, it's ok, I sync 5 more it's still fine. But when I get a good 50 or so albums on there, numerous problems ensue. Not all the albums and artists appear in my albums or artists list, only about 15 do. All the songs appear in the song list however, and it shows they're all correctly labelled so it's not a problem with the metadata, I'm meticulous with that. When I play a song, I get 15 seconds before Audio Manager or something to that effect crashes. In File Manager I can see all the artists/albums/songs nicely arranged in their folders, and they play in WMP fine, but who wants to use that?! What is the smoothest way to sync music?
I would consider flashing a new ROM if it would fix these issues. If I'm going to do that though, is there a copy of the original Telstra ROM anywhere I can reinstall in case of guarantee issues?

laserviking said:
- I do not want to use the data connection for the internet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you bought a phone with a 3G antenna because you don't want to use cellular data.
O...K...
Also: My phone uses WiFi when WiFi is turned on and cellular data otherwise. I don't know that it uses WiFi exclusively, but...
laserviking said:
WMP [...] but who wants to use that?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What's everyone's aversion to WMP?
I love WMP -- both desktop and mobile.
I hate the Sense music player, because you have no control over songs showing up there, it has an iTunes-like feel, and because it doesn't spawn a process that appears in the Task Manager that I can kill without going all the way back to the Music Sense tab.

Spike15 said:
So you bought a phone with a 3G antenna because you don't want to use cellular data.
O...K...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He's talking about the Telstra Next-G release of the HD2. Telstra's HSPA network (they branded it Next-G) offers coverage to like 99% of the population or something in Australia, whereas their 2100MHz 3G and GSM/EDGE networks don't have nearly the same coverage. Also, Telstra only release non-3G phones on their pre-paid services now.
So, in conclusion, down here we live in a 3G utopia, and all we can just about get on Telstra are prettyful 3G phones.

Spike15 said:
So you bought a phone with a 3G antenna because you don't want to use cellular data.
O...K...
Also: My phone uses WiFi when WiFi is turned on and cellular data otherwise. I don't know that it uses WiFi exclusively, but...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought the HD2 because I'm often in WiFi hotspots, and TBQH I enjoy the break from the internets on the train and on the street.
When I am on WiFi, the data connection turns itself on, I assume to send data via that route. I haven't got my first bill yet so we'll see about that.
Spike15 said:
What's everyone's aversion to WMP?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cause it's butt ugly and completely out of keeping with the rest of HTC sense.
In any case, has anyone else experienced problems with loading large amounts of music on their HD2? Though I would hardly call 50 albums 'large' in the grand scheme of things.

HD2 HSDPA/WiFi speedtest slow

My ADSL connection can do 13Mb download & 1Mb upload, all computers achieve (also on wireless) this using either speedtest.bbmax.co.uk or speedtest.net. However my HD2 can only achieve 3.5-4Mb max using the same sites, upload is represented correctly. It seems to fly up very quickly then back down, for upload it takes a few seconds to check the speed for both sites. I used Opera 10 (Flash Lite 3).
Also on HSDPA it can only do ~0.5Mb but when tested in dongle it achieves ~2.5Mb, upload is represented correctly (1Mb) for both Vodafone and O2.
I've also tried the wireless N hack but this hasn't improved things.

otester said:
My ADSL connection can do 13Mb download & 1Mb upload, all computers achieve (also on wireless) this using either speedtest.bbmax.co.uk or speedtest.net. However my HD2 can only achieve 3.5-4Mb max using the same sites, upload is represented correctly. It seems to fly up very quickly then back down, for upload it takes a few seconds to check the speed for both sites. I used Opera 10 (Flash Lite 3).
Also on HSDPA it can only do ~0.5Mb but when tested in dongle it achieves ~2.5Mb, upload is represented correctly (1Mb) for both Vodafone and O2.
I've also tried the wireless N hack but this hasn't improved things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no solution. HD2 performance on WI-FI are just bad. People don't care. The only justification they can give to this is "it's just a phone". Amen.

mjordan79 said:
There is no solution. HD2 performance on WI-FI are just bad. People don't care. The only justification they can give to this is "it's just a phone". Amen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That sucks, my mates Omnia is also pretty bad on WiFi so I assume this is a WinMo problem?
Also I meant just O2 for 0.5/2.5 HSDPA thing, just checked Vodafone and got 3.5Mb / 1Mb.
Also doesn't the "it's just a phone" thing kinda wear off when you cross the £500 mark?

otester said:
That sucks, my mates Omnia is also pretty bad on WiFi so I assume this is a WinMo problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know. Maybe it's WinMo but I don't have other Windows Phones to make comparisons.
Also doesn't the "it's just a phone" thing kinda wear off when you cross the £500 mark?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree but these are the people that appear here when you criticize their toy.

Maybe enabling wifi-n will speed it up. I'd at least give that a try.
Also, I did a test, and I get exactly what I get on my laptop which is 5644kbps

I have been having issues with HSDPA on my HD2 for some time. I am with T-mobile UK... what I have found is that when I hard boot/reflash a new rom... HSDPA is full speed. However something triggers what I can only think is a GPRS only mode, at first I thought I had installed apps that affected networking but I don't believe that is the case now.
Yesterday for example I was in a shielded building and had no reception whatsoever... when I came out I could not connect to T-Mobile data so restarted my HD2 a few times then setup data again.... I am connected now but internet connectivity is really slow, I generally stream music but I can't do this and I may as well forget about YouTube.
I have spoken to T-Mobile about this in the past and they said there are no restrictions on my account. I also know (havng proved it before) that by going through the hassle of a hard reset/new rom flash HSDPA with work again.
I wonder if this is IP related but I am not sure how to check the configuration on Winmo. I also am unsure how/where to do a speedtest (Speedtest.net needs an updated version of flash).

Managed to get it sorted out.... sent the Tmobile settings from the Tmobile website to my phone. Then in my ROM (OMEGA) there is a enable 3G mode.... This seems a bit flaky to be honest... Anyway I selected the new Tmobile internet settings option in Connections, then flicked the 3G setting in connection manager on and off a few times...
In the status bar, rather than "G" and a small "G" with reception meter both show as "H" (this will differ to the rom you have probably).... main thing is streaming is back again

Hello Everybody.
I am new with HTC HD2 1week only. The phone working everything OK, but only the WiFi internet it very slow. I did not configuration any from WiFi yet, just Turn on a wifi and enter ke router home network. When I click open the Opera (V10) display fast but search for another web look like Google.com then it will displaying 1min is it very slow. On my Wife Iphone is it very fast same network router at home.
If someone's to know same as my problem, and how to fixed it please help me. Thank you so much. Have a good day.
Danny

boysanjose said:
Hello Everybody.
I am new with HTC HD2 1week only. The phone working everything OK, but only the WiFi internet it very slow. I did not configuration any from WiFi yet, just Turn on a wifi and enter ke router home network. When I click open the Opera (V10) display fast but search for another web look like Google.com then it will displaying 1min is it very slow. On my Wife Iphone is it very fast same network router at home.
If someone's to know same as my problem, and how to fixed it please help me. Thank you so much. Have a good day.
Danny
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've generally found 3G to be faster than WiFi and even the ping in some situations on WM phones.

my phone also gets around 2 to 3Mbps on the speed test with the wifi.. 700 or so with hspda and 500 or so with 3g.
isnt this the max rate of the memory card? perhaps the phone itself is slowing down the results?

aarons6 said:
my phone also gets around 2 to 3Mbps on the speed test with the wifi.. 700 or so with hspda and 500 or so with 3g.
isnt this the max rate of the memory card? perhaps the phone itself is slowing down the results?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
3G speed depends heavily on the mast tech level and how many people are using it.