WAN communications

[Andy Baker]

We have a VB.NET application that runs on a CE.NET 5 device, and at present
users return to the office to upload and download data by logging into the
main SQL server. We will shortly need to accommodate users accessing the
server remotely (from outside WiFi range) . What possibilities are there for
this? I have looked at literature, and as far as I can see, I have 2
possibilities - GPS and internet. Our handheld device has an optional GPS
module, but is it possible to connect the CE.NET device directly to the
office network using a combination of the existing 802.11b module in the
device, a wireless broadband router and VPN, or use an ftp site to transfer
data. I can see these options being easier to implement and cheaper (which
is the most important) than GPS. What hardware/software would I need for any
of these options? I am completely new to this area, so any help would be
appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Andy Baker

 

[Paul G. Tobey [eMVP]]

No, not quite the right terminology. GPS is the set of satellites which
tell you where you are located on Earth, not a communications method.
Internet is also not a connection method.

I think you mean GPRS, which is a data connection protocol which things like
GSM phones (Cingular/T-Mobile/most, if not all of Europe), provide. If the
device has a *GPRS* module, then you'll need cellular service from a company
which provides GSM/GPRS connections and you'll need some way for connections
from the Internet, which is effectively where the GPRS connection will
'take' the device, into your corporate network. Once you have that, whether
it's a VPN or just an open port of some sort (HTTP, FTP, whatever), you can
send and receive data between your corporate network and the device anywhere
it can get a connection. If the device does not have GPRS capability,
you'll have to figure something else out; GPS won't help.

If you want a recommendation, the best security will be with a VPN
connection, which prevents anyone from listening in on your 'conversations'
between the device and the server and which prevents anyone from
impersonating the valid client and getting access to your network. Your
router may offer VPN connections or you can use any number of different
servers to construct one. You'll have to see what you have, what
capabilities it provides, and read up, if it's not enough, on what you need
to add.

Paul T.

 

[msgroup]

Hi, Andy:

Our SocketPro at www.udaparts.com has a free remote database service,
which supports DIRECT accessing any remote databases from either PocketPC or
smartphone at http://www.udaparts.com/document/articles/dialupdb.htm

There are many database samples available inside the socket pro package.

See a real industrial application written from our SocketPro at
http://www.udaparts.com/groups/viewtopic.php?t=39 and
http://www.wramp.net/wramp.html.

You can ask for more questions at
http://www.udaparts.com/groups/index.php


Cheers.

 

[Andy Baker]

Thanks Paul. I did mean GPRS - the device has an optional GPRS module. I
will look into the possibilities as you suggest. The customer will probably
want the cheapest solution - which from what I have found so far, doesn't
sound like GPRS - the additional cost of the hardware and paying for data
transmission by the MB. Can I set up a VPN connection straight from the CE
device with a router/ASDL modem and my .NET application, or do I need
additional hardware? The router that I have been looking at is the Linksys
WRVS4400N, which says it has VPN capabilities. Thanks for your help.

Andy Baker

"Paul G. Tobey [eMVP]" <p space tobey no spam AT no instrument no spam DOT
com> wrote in message news:[email protected]...

 

[Andy Baker]

Thanks. I need to get the hardware sorted out first, then I will look at
this.

Andy Baker

 

[Paul G. Tobey [eMVP]]

Cingular/AT&T has an unlimited data plan for $20/month over and above
regular voice service. That's what I have on my WM5 phone.

How would you communicate with your router? You have to get on *some*
network. The cellular networks are by far the most-widespread. If the
device might be anywhere, that's basically the only way to go.

Once you are on the Internet, that router should be OK, but, again, you have
to get on some network somewhere...

Paul T.

Thanks Paul. I did mean GPRS - the device has an optional GPRS module. I
will look into the possibilities as you suggest. The customer will
probably want the cheapest solution - which from what I have found so far,
doesn't sound like GPRS - the additional cost of the hardware and paying
for data transmission by the MB. Can I set up a VPN connection straight
from the CE device with a router/ASDL modem and my .NET application, or do
I need additional hardware? The router that I have been looking at is the
Linksys WRVS4400N, which says it has VPN capabilities. Thanks for your
help.

Andy Baker

"Paul G. Tobey [eMVP]" <p space tobey no spam AT no instrument no spam DOT
com> wrote in message news:[email protected]...

No, not quite the right terminology. GPS is the set of satellites which
tell you where you are located on Earth, not a communications method.
Internet is also not a connection method.

I think you mean GPRS, which is a data connection protocol which things
like GSM phones (Cingular/T-Mobile/most, if not all of Europe), provide.
If the device has a *GPRS* module, then you'll need cellular service from
a company which provides GSM/GPRS connections and you'll need some way
for connections from the Internet, which is effectively where the GPRS
connection will 'take' the device, into your corporate network. Once you
have that, whether it's a VPN or just an open port of some sort (HTTP,
FTP, whatever), you can send and receive data between your corporate
network and the device anywhere it can get a connection. If the device
does not have GPRS capability, you'll have to figure something else out;
GPS won't help.

If you want a recommendation, the best security will be with a VPN
connection, which prevents anyone from listening in on your
'conversations' between the device and the server and which prevents
anyone from impersonating the valid client and getting access to your
network. Your router may offer VPN connections or you can use any number
of different servers to construct one. You'll have to see what you have,
what capabilities it provides, and read up, if it's not enough, on what
you need to add.

Paul T.

 

[Andy Baker]

I should have mentioned that I am in the UK - here I think all pricing is by
the MB at the moment. The CE device has an 802.11b WiFi unit built in that I
will use to communicate with the router, and the device will only need to
communicate once the salesperson finishes the day's work, so could plug into
a phone connection at home or at a remote office - probably most of them
have broadband connections at home anyway. I will look into it some more.
Thanks for your help.

Andy Baker

"Paul G. Tobey [eMVP]" <p space tobey no spam AT no instrument no spam DOT
com> wrote in message news:u4f%[email protected]...

Cingular/AT&T has an unlimited data plan for $20/month over and above
regular voice service. That's what I have on my WM5 phone.

How would you communicate with your router? You have to get on *some*
network. The cellular networks are by far the most-widespread. If the
device might be anywhere, that's basically the only way to go.

Once you are on the Internet, that router should be OK, but, again, you
have to get on some network somewhere...

Paul T.

Thanks Paul. I did mean GPRS - the device has an optional GPRS module. I
will look into the possibilities as you suggest. The customer will
probably want the cheapest solution - which from what I have found so
far, doesn't sound like GPRS - the additional cost of the hardware and
paying for data transmission by the MB. Can I set up a VPN connection
straight from the CE device with a router/ASDL modem and my .NET
application, or do I need additional hardware? The router that I have
been looking at is the Linksys WRVS4400N, which says it has VPN
capabilities. Thanks for your help.

Andy Baker

"Paul G. Tobey [eMVP]" <p space tobey no spam AT no instrument no spam
DOT com> wrote in message news:[email protected]...

No, not quite the right terminology. GPS is the set of satellites which
tell you where you are located on Earth, not a communications method.
Internet is also not a connection method.

I think you mean GPRS, which is a data connection protocol which things
like GSM phones (Cingular/T-Mobile/most, if not all of Europe), provide.
If the device has a *GPRS* module, then you'll need cellular service
from a company which provides GSM/GPRS connections and you'll need some
way for connections from the Internet, which is effectively where the
GPRS connection will 'take' the device, into your corporate network.
Once you have that, whether it's a VPN or just an open port of some sort
(HTTP, FTP, whatever), you can send and receive data between your
corporate network and the device anywhere it can get a connection. If
the device does not have GPRS capability, you'll have to figure
something else out; GPS won't help.

If you want a recommendation, the best security will be with a VPN
connection, which prevents anyone from listening in on your
'conversations' between the device and the server and which prevents
anyone from impersonating the valid client and getting access to your
network. Your router may offer VPN connections or you can use any
number of different servers to construct one. You'll have to see what
you have, what capabilities it provides, and read up, if it's not
enough, on what you need to add.

Paul T.

We have a VB.NET application that runs on a CE.NET 5 device, and at
present users return to the office to upload and download data by
logging into the main SQL server. We will shortly need to accommodate
users accessing the server remotely (from outside WiFi range) . What
possibilities are there for this? I have looked at literature, and as
far as I can see, I have 2 possibilities - GPS and internet. Our
handheld device has an optional GPS module, but is it possible to
connect the CE.NET device directly to the office network using a
combination of the existing 802.11b module in the device, a wireless
broadband router and VPN, or use an ftp site to transfer data. I can
see these options being easier to implement and cheaper (which is the
most important) than GPS. What hardware/software would I need for any
of these options? I am completely new to this area, so any help would
be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Andy Baker

 

[Paul G. Tobey [eMVP]]

If WiFi is fine then you can do almost anything, yes.

Paul T.

I should have mentioned that I am in the UK - here I think all pricing is
by the MB at the moment. The CE device has an 802.11b WiFi unit built in
that I will use to communicate with the router, and the device will only
need to communicate once the salesperson finishes the day's work, so could
plug into a phone connection at home or at a remote office - probably most
of them have broadband connections at home anyway. I will look into it some
more. Thanks for your help.

Andy Baker

"Paul G. Tobey [eMVP]" <p space tobey no spam AT no instrument no spam DOT
com> wrote in message news:u4f%[email protected]...

Cingular/AT&T has an unlimited data plan for $20/month over and above
regular voice service. That's what I have on my WM5 phone.

How would you communicate with your router? You have to get on *some*
network. The cellular networks are by far the most-widespread. If the
device might be anywhere, that's basically the only way to go.

Once you are on the Internet, that router should be OK, but, again, you
have to get on some network somewhere...

Paul T.

Thanks Paul. I did mean GPRS - the device has an optional GPRS module. I
will look into the possibilities as you suggest. The customer will
probably want the cheapest solution - which from what I have found so
far, doesn't sound like GPRS - the additional cost of the hardware and
paying for data transmission by the MB. Can I set up a VPN connection
straight from the CE device with a router/ASDL modem and my .NET
application, or do I need additional hardware? The router that I have
been looking at is the Linksys WRVS4400N, which says it has VPN
capabilities. Thanks for your help.

Andy Baker

"Paul G. Tobey [eMVP]" <p space tobey no spam AT no instrument no spam
DOT com> wrote in message No, not quite the right terminology. GPS is the set of satellites
which tell you where you are located on Earth, not a communications
method. Internet is also not a connection method.

I think you mean GPRS, which is a data connection protocol which things
like GSM phones (Cingular/T-Mobile/most, if not all of Europe),
provide. If the device has a *GPRS* module, then you'll need cellular
service from a company which provides GSM/GPRS connections and you'll
need some way for connections from the Internet, which is effectively
where the GPRS connection will 'take' the device, into your corporate
network. Once you have that, whether it's a VPN or just an open port of
some sort (HTTP, FTP, whatever), you can send and receive data between
your corporate network and the device anywhere it can get a connection.
If the device does not have GPRS capability, you'll have to figure
something else out; GPS won't help.

If you want a recommendation, the best security will be with a VPN
connection, which prevents anyone from listening in on your
'conversations' between the device and the server and which prevents
anyone from impersonating the valid client and getting access to your
network. Your router may offer VPN connections or you can use any
number of different servers to construct one. You'll have to see what
you have, what capabilities it provides, and read up, if it's not
enough, on what you need to add.

Paul T.

We have a VB.NET application that runs on a CE.NET 5 device, and at
present users return to the office to upload and download data by
logging into the main SQL server. We will shortly need to accommodate
users accessing the server remotely (from outside WiFi range) . What
possibilities are there for this? I have looked at literature, and as
far as I can see, I have 2 possibilities - GPS and internet. Our
handheld device has an optional GPS module, but is it possible to
connect the CE.NET device directly to the office network using a
combination of the existing 802.11b module in the device, a wireless
broadband router and VPN, or use an ftp site to transfer data. I can
see these options being easier to implement and cheaper (which is the
most important) than GPS. What hardware/software would I need for any
of these options? I am completely new to this area, so any help would
be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Andy Baker