LEAP feature of WLAN drivers for PocketPC is braindamaged!

[mmo]

The LEAP feature of the Cisco 350 drivers >=V2.0 for PocketPC are absolutely brain-damaged! One has to enter the LEAP user-id and pwd EVERYTIME the device is switched on. Since a PocketPC PDA powers itself off after 1-3 minutes this means I have to enter that darn LEAP id & pwd essentially EVERYTIME I want to access some network resource or want to check for mail or anything else. This is infuriating and makes the network practically unusable. Who came up with this solution???

Will there and when will there finally be a solution that is usable?

Michael

[RayDMays]

The early versions of the iPaq Drivers actually stored the user credentials on the PCMCIA Card so that you didn't have to enter them.

This is very UNSECURE as ANYONE who might steal your iPaq would have access to your network by way of the stored credentials on the card. I know that many Companies (Including mine) asked Cisco to make it more secure and hence you have to log on everytime you power up.

In my business Security is paramount and we accept the fact that we have to log in on power up. One thing you can do is not power down the iPaq. Some of the users at my sight have been able to leave their iPaq's on most of the day, with occasional recharges in the cradle. In so doing, they only have to sign on once in the morning. But if the iPaq is powered down and lost/stolen, the iPaq will not be able to authenticate to the network.

[mmo]

I know about the old driver (v1.50), but - alas - that one doesn't work any longer with our updated base-stations.

The maximum power-off time on the iPAQ is 5 minutes. I don't want to completely uncheck the autopower-off feature, since that would mean, if I don't recharge that thing in time it runs until its batteries are dead (and since that darn thing has no RAM backup-battery that often means complete memory loss: the time between the first low-power warning until its battery is so low that it actually looses its memory are mere seconds, i.e. when the power-warning pops up you better shut off IMMEDIATELY or else you have a memory loss. If the device is doing some lengthy operation in that very moment and thus not reacting for a few seconds it might already be too late and memory loss strikes - happened to me more that once :-( ).

Thus my wish:

what I would like to see, is some checkbox that allows ME to choose, whether I want this uid & pwd in volatile or non-volatile memory.

Alternative wish:

If it at least would memorize the userid, so I would only have to enter a single word or string only!

Alternative wish 2:

Memorize uid&pwd but allow to enter some PIN-number to lock it. When having to log on again present a full-screen numeric keypad where the user can quickly enter that PIN and if it matches send the stored uid&pwd. If it does not match for, say, 3 times, erase uid and pwd and fall back to the initial uid & pwd entry mode.

That would replace the tedious entry of a uid & password on that miniscule keyboard by by quickly entering a number on a calculator-like keyboad. If you wonder why I use that keyboard: entering text in password mode (i.e. without visual feedback of what has been recognized by the character recognition or transcriber/calligrapher) practically always failed for me, so I am using that onscreen keyboard when having to enter passwords.