How do the UITS mail setting requirements affect the use of PDAs?

All Indiana University DHCP networks require authenticated SMTP for mail destined to leave the IU mail domains. Since DHCP includes the IU Bloomington and IUPUI VPN subnets, older PDAs (e.g., Pocket PC and Palm devices) that use the IU 802.11b WLAN (wireless) are affected.

Note: This information does not apply to BlackBerry devices.

Older email clients that ship on the following PDA operating systems will not work:

• Palm OS 5.x
• Microsoft Pocket PC 2002
• Pocket PC Phone Edition 2002

The out-of-the-box email clients VersaMail 2.5/2.6 and Pocket Outlook do support authenticated SMTP. However, tests indicate that they do so using clear text, which is unacceptable on the IU network and therefore not supported.

VersaMail versions 2.7 and newer support SSL and AUTH SMTP, which allows you to send and receive mail from the Palm device. To check whether you can upgrade your Palm device to the latest version of VersaMail, check with your vendor or the Palm web site related to your device.

If you use Palm or Pocket PC, you may try to use the wireless HotSync (Palm) or ActiveSync (Pocket PC) capabilities of your device. This will require that you configure a desktop PC according to vendor directions, with a compatible desktop email client. UITS has typically not supported this configuration, as it requires you to keep a desktop computer running and to stay logged into your mailbox. This dependency can be problematic if the desktop computer freezes or reboots, or has other problems. Consequently, UITS has neither used nor tested this configuration to a great extent.

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