OK i'm only putting this here because i did not find any information on how to do it and had to figure it out myself. There may be 1000 other ways to do it, but this is the way that works best for me and prolly the easiest and cheapest to do it.

Section 1: Desktop Setup
1. Open activesync 3.7 or 3.8 on your desktop
2. Click file, then Connection Settings
3. Check Allow Network blah blah blah...
4. If you have a router, forward TCP ports 990, 999, 5678, and 5679 to the machine you activesync to.
-- end desktop setup --

Section 2: PPC Setup
1. Start activesync on your handheld (when not connected)
2. Tap Tools, then Options
3. Set Use this PC to match the name of the PC we setup in section 1
4. Tap Options and set when syncing remotely to whatever your preference is and tap OK
5. Check that you have NO server specified on the Server tab and tap OK to save
6. Download and install Pocket Hosts
7. Run Pockethosts
8. In host name enter the name of the PC we setup in section 1
9. In IP Address enter the ip address of that machine (or its router)
to figure out the ip goto http://www.whatismyip.com from that PC. after you have both fields filled out hit Add
10. Goto Start, Settings, Connections Tab, Connections Icon,
Advanced Tab,
Select Networks Button,
Set programs that automatically connect to a private network... to Sprint (or i whatever your carrier is I assume)
11. Start activesync on your handheld (when not connected)
12. Tap Sync

a normal sync takes 2-5 minutes depending on how much sprints network hates you. You can install programs and/or browse files via this connection, but i wouldnt recommend it 'cause it can be slow.

Also, if you do an over the air sync and forget to stop the sync before putting the device in the cradle activesync will fail to recognize the device.

This should be added to the FAQ. There have been several questions on how to sync Over the Air without an Exchange server.

Great post.

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AT&T Jailbroken Iphone 3G 2.2

Ahh...Dumb question, but I was wondering what are the benefits of "Syncing over the Air"? I don't see how BT can't do the same thing...

__________________
"I think, therefor I am"
-Rene Descartes

bluetooth has a range of at most 60 feet.
Wireless OTA AS has a range of just about anywhere in the entire nation.

OTA AS blows away bluetooth.

__________________
iPhone - AT&T
Past phones:
Samsung i700 -Verizon
XV6600 - Verizon

Be aware that there is a security issue with exposing activesync to the internet, that's why network sync was removed from active sync 4. The best way to do this is to sync over vpn. XP pro can accept vpn connections.

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Eric Hicks, Microsoft MVP, Mobile-Devices
My Devices
Four PPC6600's, One PPC6700, Three PPC6800's,One Treo 700w,One Jas Jar,One Pantec Duo,One T-mobile Dash...Do I have too many devices?

And that's how I do it, via a VPN connection. No additional software needed (as long as you have XP Pro).

Does this mean that VPN sync will still be viable on activesync 4?

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Anything I say is mine. It is neither authorized nor endorsed by my employers or previous employers. Read at your own risk.

Microsoft disabled network sync in activesync 4 until they can secure it so no vpn activesync with AS4 just yet.

__________________
Eric Hicks, Microsoft MVP, Mobile-Devices
My Devices
Four PPC6600's, One PPC6700, Three PPC6800's,One Treo 700w,One Jas Jar,One Pantec Duo,One T-mobile Dash...Do I have too many devices?

Well, crud; I love VPN activesync. Luckily, I don't have to upgrade AS just yet

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Anything I say is mine. It is neither authorized nor endorsed by my employers or previous employers. Read at your own risk.

OK--I did this. However, I must be having some problem with my router or something, because it keeps saying it "can't communicate with pc". Also, it keeps trying to sync even though I ended it as well. I did all the steps that DGT described, but it hasn't worked.

Here is my setup:

I have a wireless network setup via my Linksys router which is connected to my desktop. However, I AS up to my work Laptop, which is the computer I have tried to set it up for.

I put the address for the router (192.168.0.1) in for the IP address, and no luck...even after I forwarded the ports. (I could have messed up port forwarding now that I think about it). I then tried the IP address for my Laptop CPU from the link above-no luck.

I am trying to AS to my Laptop, which connects wirelessly to router.

How do I AS to this via Sprint?

Thanks for your help,
Steve

__________________
"I think, therefor I am"
-Rene Descartes

did you follow step 9? the ip you posted sounds internal to your network. You need the wan ip.

I believe that's where my problem is. I put the IP address of my router in--nothing. Then I put the IP address that I got from the wheresmyaddress.com site. No luck...

Not sure what to do...thanks for the help though.

__________________
"I think, therefor I am"
-Rene Descartes

bit of a bump

for those of use that aren't OS wizards, could you describe how you'd do that [runnning XP-Pro service pack 2]

Uh - google for it. I'll have to confess to having issues right now - but there's a couple of good guides out on the web

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Anything I say is mine. It is neither authorized nor endorsed by my employers or previous employers. Read at your own risk.

Man, you are BRILLIANT sir, just brilliant!

I have been struggling with some very frustrating OMA and Active-Sync-Server headaches that have caused me to lose many minutes of life.

Thanks for such a great bypass of MS Exchange.

__________________
......
Ben

Don't blame me, blame the guys out there who wrote the guides. I didn't even give links...

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Anything I say is mine. It is neither authorized nor endorsed by my employers or previous employers. Read at your own risk.

idont think he was assigning blame. for once someone was being positive and not being sarcastic on this board.

your welcome, beneeball!

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Create DialPad Skins for your 6600 with SkinGen

Sorry 'bout that. I try to be less sarcastic than, say, Ehud, but I was trying to be modest - all I did was tell him to go look on Google, which was where I found my info

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Anything I say is mine. It is neither authorized nor endorsed by my employers or previous employers. Read at your own risk.

OK--

If I have my desktop setup as the "host" computer of the network (it is connected directly to the router), can I still forward ports for my laptop? I am not sure how port forwarding works...or if it works wirelessly...call me a NEWB.

I believe that is the issue...BTW, is there a newer version of Pocket Hosts? It doesn't fit the screen very well...

__________________
"I think, therefor I am"
-Rene Descartes

you want to forward the activesync ports from your router to the pc with the partnership on it. then you need to set up the pda with pocket hosts (i think) so that the pc's name = your wan ip


then set local connections connect to isp in your connections on your pda

when your at home, you cradle. it syncs, when your away, it looks for your local computername, sees the ip, connects to it, the router fwd's the connection request to the computer with the partnership and viola! connection.

So thanks to Disgruntledtech and his is brilliantly obvious solution to my problems, I have been successfully wirelessly syncing for two days now without any problems at all.

However, one observation is that my SmartPhone stays connected after syncing. I have the new Samsung SCH-i730 (and oh boy is she lovely), and the standard battery takes a major hit when my connection to EVDO remains.

I have me phone's ActiveSync configuration set-up to disconnect after syncing when on the remote schedule. However, what I suspect is that the phone doesnt actually know it's on the remote schedule because it thinks its connected to the cradle.

So, has anyone seen this problem and/or have any solutions? Simply put, I need my SmartPhone/ActiveSync to disconnect from the Internet when it's done syncing.

Let me know if you have any ideas.

Thanks!

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......
Ben