I recently switched to an iPhone hoping to use the personal hotspot to wirelessly connect my Topcon FC-2200 to the internet for a VRS connection. Apparently iPhone hotspots use WPA2 wireless configurations which are not compatible with the FC-2200 or 2500 which use WPA, WPA-PSK etc. Does anyone know a workaround or a trick to make the iphone talk to the FC-2200 via wifi? I've tried bluetooth, got it to pair, but no internet.
I had the same problem. All Topcon needs to do is to update the driver for the wireless card. Maybe if enough people make this request that might hear us.
Your current problems aside, can the iPhone still receive/send calls when operating as a wi-fi hotspot? Or does an incoming call blow out or take precedence over the wi-fi connection to the connected device?
Thanks,
Dale Yawn
Savannah, Ga.
When a call comes in, it will interupt the wifi connection. Once the call is over I just reconnect. It was the same with my prior Palm Pre Plus. I just am unable to use the iPhone with the FC-2200 because the wifi (WPA2-Personal) is not supported on the FC-2200 and the iPhone has no flexibility to accomodate a different setting. I will be reactivating my Palm today. Should have purchased a Droid! I understand the MIFI may be te way to go, but using my current handset alleviates another contract as I can turn the hotspot on and off each month as a feature for about $20 on the iPhone per month and it's actually a free promotion on the Palm. Free is better than a $50 a month, 2 year contract (at times anyway).
Is the droid superior for VRS applications?
That depends on your equipment. If your field controller uses windows mobile then you probably won't see any difference, but I'm running into problems because my current controller uses windows CE and that is not working too well with the iphone. Droid phones generally have more options when it comes to encryption or even the option of leaving the wifi signal open. This flexibility is more friendly to older wifi devices and that kind of flexibility is not to be found with iPhones. At least on the Verizon network. I will be looking for an Android type phone soon for this very reason. I think I will miss the iPhone, but this compatibility thing is a deal breaker for me.
Well you might be able to jailbreak your iphone and use another wifi app which would have different (hopefully) security settings.
I love the iPhone and want one really badly, but Droid's are better in my opinion for what we do. My two complaints with the iPhone are: 1-this thread topic. 2- you can't transfer a file from the iPhone with Bluetooth.
I would have to agree with you. I do like my iPhone, but given all the issues in this post, theres also the internal battery and no memory expansion limitations.
How long does the battery last when using any smart phone as a wi-fi device for a network connection?
2 to 3 hours will generally take a heavy drain on the batteries, but I've never actually drained them completely. I usually will swap batteries or charge between shots if possible. I also use a small external battery to provide additional power when necessary. They're small and fit in a shirt pocket. I believe those batteries are actually made for gaming devices and iPod products.
The iPhone can also share the connection through a USB cable. I have a FC-200 but haven't been able to figure out a way to get Windows CE to accept the network connection through the USB cable. There is an option to use a USB connection when you add a connection in the control panel but it looks like it is only looking for a dial up connection.
You can try the program "PDANET" on your Iphone, which is supposed to bypass the manufacture's Hotspot restrictions. Let us know if you try it and it works. I've heard it works for droid phones that have hotspot restictions, but I'm not sure which encryption PDANET uses..
The FC-200 does not have built in wifi. I would have to connect through USB or bluetooth.
