can't wireless sync, see network

I have been trying without success to sync my Jornada 690 HPC (CE 2.11) via wireless. My primary network uses a Belkin Pre-N router, but it uses WPA, and the Orinoco Gold card in the Jornada only does WEP. So, I added an old Linksys router to the system, set for WEP. The Belkin assigns 192.168.0... addresses and the Linksys assigns 192.168.1... addresses. With the HPC talkng to the Linksys, and the Linksys connected to the Belkin, and the Belkin connected to the cable modem, I can access the Internet with the HPC, but I can't see any network shares (should I be able to?) Nor can I sync the HPC with my laptop across the network.

I've tried tuning off DHCP on the Linksys, which should make it serve as an access point and pass along IP addresses from the Belkin, and tried setting the IP address on the HPC explicitly and setting the subnet mask to 255.255.0.0, which should let me see both subnets, but not only does it not work but I lose Internet access.

I've tried setting the WINS server to the laptop's IP address, which makes no difference.

[I installed a secondary wireless card in the laptop, and set it up as an ad hoc network. The HPC connects, but I still can't sync.

In all cases, in Connection Settings, I have "Allow network" checked and it says "network is available, but in the "Get Connected" dialog it's not shown, only the COM (which does work), USB and IR, which aren't applicable.

I have no problems syncing with the serial cable via a USB-serial adapter, but its so s-l-o-o-o-w!

I wonder, would a USB IR adapter work better than serial?

Network shares require a wins server accross subnets, try \\<ip>\share instead of \\server\share.

You can't change subnet mask on one device it has the be the same on all devices.

My understanding was that setting a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0 instead of 255.255.255.0 on a device meant that it could see anything with the same first two numbers instead of the same first three numbers, no?

I tried \\<ip>\share instead of \\server\share, but it didn't work either.

No it means that you can have 2^16 -2 hosts on a subnet instead of 2^8 -2 hosts. If your entire network were in a 255.255.0.0 subnet then they would be addressable.

Well, the problem is solved... and the first half of it was a real stupid one. Setting the second router to not do DHCP was correct, but I had the cable to the primary router plugged into the wrong place... I mistakenly assumed (from using ethernet switches at work) that the "WAN" port on the second router was the same as the "uplink" port on a switch (it's not). Once I moved the network cable to the correct port, the HPC can see the network shares, and some other flaky network problems (not HPC related, which is why I started digging again) also went away.

However, I still couldn't sync. I've set up a partnership with the slow serial cable, then configured Activesync on the PC to use the network. On the HPC, I start activesync, select "network connection" and the computer name, and get "Connecting to Desktop... PC contacted. Locating connection agent. Please wait...". So I wait, and wait, and wait... nothing. Tried it again with the PC's firewall turned off, and whaddya know... it connects right away. So a bit more digging, and according to that site I unblocked ports 990, 999, 5678, and 5679, turned the firewall back on again... and I'm in business.

I'm Doomed. I might as well just sit on the bus and type out the Bible = (