He was unable to connect to his local Unix server using a local wireless access point with a Windows Mobile 6.1 Smartphone.  “ Your product seems to be trying to go out the internet, instead of doing a simple local connect,” commented the user.

Our CTO, Charles Wilde responded:

Thanks for reporting your experience with Aton Connect. We have just done some testing with 802.11 (Wi-Fi) using two wireless access points. One access point is connected directly to the Internet, the other to our domain LAN. The LAN contains a server supporting TN5250 and TN3270 protocols.

We found in our testing that the wrong access point (Internet rather than LAN connected) may be selected by the mobile phone under certain circumstances through the Windows Mobile Connection Manager. A wireless access point can be designated in Windows Mobile to be associated with “Work” or “The Internet” in the “Configure Wireless Network” dialog in the Windows Mobile Settings.

If the URL to access the LAN based TN3270 server is specified as an IP address, then it contains periods. This makes it look like an Internet address. The Windows Mobile Connection Manager sees the periods in the URL and then assumes that a request for the Internet network path is desired, rather than the local network path.

Our product is required to utilize the Windows Mobile Connection Manager to qualify for Windows Mobile logo certification. Aton Connect for Windows Mobile is tested by an independent testing company to assure that our product conforms to Microsoft standards for applications.

Here’s the solution to the problem:

To connect with the local network path with a URL containing period characters, the URL must be specified as an exception in the “Select Networks (Network Management)” dialog in the Windows Mobile Settings.

We are continuing to test this configuration and will provide an update if it is needed.