Networking Options
Once you have chosen a PDA platform, how do you connect it to the network? Among the options are infrared, Ethernet, 802.11b, Bluetooth, wireless WANs and modems. These are all supported by Palm and Pocket PC. Many Linux devices have support for some or all of these networking standards.
Which networking solution is right for your enterprise? That depends on your requirements. Ethernet has great speed but leaves users tethered to cables. Infrared operates at relatively slow speed and requires line of sight, but it allows for more mobility. 802.11b and Bluetooth allow for mobility but are vulnerable to RF interference (a big issue for manufacturing environments). Wireless WAN access may not be available in all areas, can be expensive and is slow.
For the security conscious, VPNs can be implemented for use with PDAs. In addition to Microsoft's integrated VPN client, third-party solutions, such as Certicom's movianVPN, are available for Pocket PC and Palm. From a performance standpoint, Pocket PC 2002 tends to have better network I/O performance than Palm. This may be because the Palm OS was not designed with high-speed networking performance in mind. Performance may increase with Palm OS 5, though there are now no clear performance tests for Palm OS 5 or the various Linux OSs.
What The Future Holds
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