How does push mail really work? - Touch Diamond, MDA Compact IV General

Hi!
I have tried to wrap my head around this but have not succeded yet. I think I have the system actually set up and working. I have push mail on in the comm manager and I have set up our exchange server in activesync. Mail seems to arrive in the phone from time to time so I guess it works. My question is more about how it works.
I am using the spb GPRS monitor so I see there is traffic beeing logged. In the sync settings it is set to "when items arrive" (I have swedish language but I think the english says something similar). Does the phone go out and log into the mailserver and checks for mail? This hardly seems like "push" email.
If thats not how it works, how does the mailserver send the email to my phone - more true to the meaning of "push".
If someone savvy in the subject took some time to explain I would be very happy

essentially you keep a connection open constantly to your email server and as soon as the server gets new messages the client (your mobile phone in this case) is notified and downloads the email. its quite battery intensive since the phone has to keep a data connection with the server at all times.
for a complete explanation read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Push_email

Ok I see, I am like a normal Outlook client logged in at all times. Its clearer now.
In regards to the battery drain, what does drain more, 3G or Edge connection?

Great tip thanks

Another quick question - since it uses EDGE when getting email, what happens when I enter and log into a WiFi network. Does it abandon EDGE in favour for the, mostly, free WiFi internet thus saving me money?

Related

Direct Push issues

Hi everyone
Have been using the Diamond for a few days now and have noticed a few quirks here and there. Mostly are software issues that I think will be ironed out in later releases of the ROM but for now there are a few issues that I was wondering if anyone else was having.
I have my own Exchange server running and have Direct Push/3G on constantly. The only issue is that sometimes i get the mail come through via Direct Push while sometimes it doesnt. In those situations I have to push "sync" in active sync for it to grab the new mails.
My settings are on "as item arrives" for both peak and offpeak and the status in active sync is shown as connected. This worked perfectly on my Trinity and Direct Push has never missed a beat once.
Anyone else experiencing similar issues?
The only time I ever experienced this is when O2 had a data outage in the UK yesterday. Other than that it has worked flawlessly.
Have my own exchange aswell, and haven't any problems so far !
Have you tried checking the peak times in the options for activesync?
not Diamond-related at all (since I don't have one yet) - but are you perhaps roaming networks sometimes?
had a customer with this issue and there is an extra option 'sync when roaming' (at least in WM5) - syncing manually worked in other networks without option enabled
HKC\Software\HTC\Manila:
PushMailOn : default value is "0" ( OFF)
PLease chech this value in your registry. I wonder if this settings might affect push mail avaiability for you.
I would set to "1" and soft reset to confirm.
I have the problem also! I had no problems with a TyTN II being used on the same Exchange server, but the diamond has a mind of it's own.
The peak time is on the default 8am to 8pm and reverse for off peak. But I dont think this affects it since I have it on "as item arrives" for both.
I dont have "use above settings when roaming" ticked since I'm in a very well covered 3G zone. The "H" icon is constantly on where I am.
I havent tried the reg edit yet SecureGSM, thanx for the tip. I will try to isolate the problem and do that for a last resort.
Is your problem consistent or inconsistent vas79?
I have noticed something but not sure if my paranoia or what but I have a feeling the time size affects it. If you have it large at the default size the mail comes in fine. But when you minimise the time to see more calendar items, the mail does not direct push. I'm still testing this so i'll post result after a few days of use in both.
Well it consistently doesn't work!
I very rarely hear the email alert when the phone is in standby. When I turn the phone on a unlock no email then within 10 seconds email will come in and get the little icon by the Mail saying how many new emails.
Alternatively I'd go to Activesync and it would say last sync'd at XXX rather than connected. I then select Sync which it does then it stays connected until next time.
If I go to the comm manger it says Direct Push is on and Data Connection on.
I can live with it, because i assume it's a bug and it will get fixed!..
My major gripe is it doesn't ring straight away, takes 3/4 rings to get going and ring. I have missed so many calls because of this!
i have been using Diamond with Exchange Server 2007 pushmail via GPRS since 1st June. There is no problem so far.
I am using BlackBerry at the same time. Basically pushmail arrives later than blackberry for 1.5 secs, I am sure all mails can be arrived to my Diamond in these 2 weeks.
vas79 said:
Well it consistently doesn't work!
I very rarely hear the email alert when the phone is in standby. When I turn the phone on a unlock no email then within 10 seconds email will come in and get the little icon by the Mail saying how many new emails.
Alternatively I'd go to Activesync and it would say last sync'd at XXX rather than connected. I then select Sync which it does then it stays connected until next time.
If I go to the comm manger it says Direct Push is on and Data Connection on.
I can live with it, because i assume it's a bug and it will get fixed!..
My major gripe is it doesn't ring straight away, takes 3/4 rings to get going and ring. I have missed so many calls because of this!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hmmm ok, seems like you have a different problem to me. Mine actually says "connected" but mail just doesnt get pushed out or rather Diamond doesnt get the message. Have you made sure that you have "as item arrives" in the schedule (in activesync) for both peak and off peak?
yuhaohuang said:
hmmm ok, seems like you have a different problem to me. Mine actually says "connected" but mail just doesnt get pushed out or rather Diamond doesnt get the message. Have you made sure that you have "as item arrives" in the schedule (in activesync) for both peak and off peak?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, everything says "as item arrives" also tried ticking even when roaming, when i'm not!!
Actually today it has said connected everytime I've checked!
Only thing I changed yesterday was one of the registry tweaks to improve touchflo 3d performance.
When the UK rom drops and we can load it I will see then!
UK Rom here and seeing exactly the same issues!
Mine has been working fine too...

[APP] Seven - very fast e-mail pushing service

So i was just introduced to this program the other day. It works great, i get my e-mails on my phone just a few seconds later. It doesn't seem to lower my battery life much at all, and it was very easy to setup.
http://community.seven.com/main.php
register and download the beta. I've been using this for about 3 days and i've gotten about 50 e-mails through this service and i always check the times and it's never more than a minute later.
I would like to get a consensus about how well this works for others. I'm using Gmail and it forwards very fast.
UPDATE: Just wanted to add, do not install this if you have XpressMail installed on your device as they use some of the same files they both will become unusable.
before i try
how does it work?
is it constantly connected to data? or does it send as a text or what?
i knew i forgot something, i've got my Touch pro on a constant Edge connection with constant data enabled. I'm not 100% positive the data connection is needed but i think you do. Other Idle Imap apps, i've tried needed constant connection.
I've been using this for a while now and it does require a constant connection, but it is a lot less power hungry than other push solutions or even the native POP / IMAP connections. Seven basically creates e-mail accounts within the native messaging application, so there's no need to have an additional application. It allows you to setup multiple e-mail accounts to be pushed, including Google Apps.
And for those of us that change roms regularly, Seven saves your account information (sans passwords) so that you don't have to start from scratch everytime you flash a new rom.
One thing to note is that Seven is essentially in permanent beta, so there will be times when it goes down for upgrades, maintenance or bugs. But that doesn't happen very often and they are usually pretty good about communicating what is going on and when to expect a solution.
Been using this for a year and it's the best! Woohoo! I love this!
I tried emoze, pushconsilient, and web2mail. I like "SEVEN" out of all of them. I get my email on my phone before my outlook does on my pc.
Thanks!!
It's really COOL and i can now check the gmail and even the company mail (OWA)!
Very nice!!
does it do "better"then Emoze?
I use Emoze now for a year and i have no problem.
Does it use less more power?
i've just tested, but i like Emoze more then Seven.
Emoze connects een fast as seven, but now i get also mine appointpents ect. synced.
So i keep it with emoze.
Seven is the dev company that supplies AT&T with Good Mobile Messaging and such. They sell the product (serverside) to the Cell carriers, who inturn rebrand it and "sell/offer" the service to the carrier's susbcribers.
I have been using it for 3 years for multiple accounts... no more desktop redirectors.
It currently uses a data connection, but in the future it will work via SMS triggers
gr8 share thank you
A few days ago, I started using it for both my Gmail and my company mail (via OWA).
At first, it took a few minutes for new mail to show up in either. Now, I'm finding that new messages in my gmail are showing up almost instantly (under a minute at least), but work messages are taking between 5-15 minutes (I can confirm via the desktop that they are indeed in the inbox).
Anyone else see this sort of delay?
is this based on Exchange 2007 aka HTML emails? Doesn't seem to let me into the FAQ's before creating an account...
I use this service and i love it.
i'm glad to see so many people who support and use this App, and those of you who don't use it i recommend it.
I tried it for 2 days, I love it... However, since it used data constantsly, it heats up my device badly... so I uninstalled it.
Thanks for the share thou.
goes this get around the gmail issue where sent messages also appear as new unread emails?
bravo261 said:
goes this get around the gmail issue where sent messages also appear as new unread emails?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seven does not have this problem. Additionally, the sent messages get saved in your sent folder on gmail.
pandaboyy said:
I tried it for 2 days, I love it... However, since it used data constantsly, it heats up my device badly... so I uninstalled it.
Thanks for the share thou.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you keep HSDPA going? I keep it on an EDGE connection and i don't get much heat at all.
It's a shakey time for anyone who sees this thread to try it out, though. They did some sort of heavy maintenance Monday, and although their status updates say everything's back, I'm not sure it is. I'm seeing big delays in getting my gmail via imap through them. I suspect it will be worked out soon, though.

Instant Messenger clients always disconnecting, please help

Does anyone know exactly what is causing this problem because it continues to happen across different ROMs and different Radios. Is there some fundamental reason why the X1 can't maintain a connection with IM clients?
I'm on T-mobile in the UK and running the valkyrie_V3 WWE ROM. Windows live messenger will disconnect if i put the phone into standby for as little as a minute and sometimes even when I'm in the middle of messaging. I keep getting messages saying "wireless connection not available trying to reconnect" or something similar.
I've tried IM+ and while that doesn't give disconnection messages it's doing the same thing as i have tested it using different accounts.
I can't get ebuddy working on this ROM because it won't let me enter the password for some odd reason but that has had the same problem with other ROMS in the past.
Has anyone found a solution to this or is it something to do with T-mobile settings?
I should point out that throughout all this i maintain a good signal of at least 2 bars and according to the phone the data connection hasn't dropped.
Any advice is appreciated, thanks.
i used to use AOL's own mobile-based IM/chat client for AIM, and it always kept me connected without problems no matter what. only problem was it was INSANELY slow.
i've switched to slick, which i'm not crazy about, and i'm having the same problems as you. i'll randomly get disconnected with the phone sitting with full HSDPA reception, not going into sleep or standby....i thought it was just slick's crappy programming
Which network are you on?
Also are you 100% sure AOL used to stay connected because i thought the same thing about IM+ but a lot of my messages weren't getting returned. I signed into 2 different accounts, one on PC one on phone to test and it turned out the same thing was happening just not as obviously.
This is really frustrating, my old K800i used to stay connected to windows live for days at a time, my friends blackberry also has no trouble staying connected.
i too have the same problem, we need the xda gurus to fix this, hopefully they would be able to do so in the near future
Solaris81 said:
Which network are you on?
Also are you 100% sure AOL used to stay connected because i thought the same thing about IM+ but a lot of my messages weren't getting returned. I signed into 2 different accounts, one on PC one on phone to test and it turned out the same thing was happening just not as obviously.
This is really frustrating, my old K800i used to stay connected to windows live for days at a time, my friends blackberry also has no trouble staying connected.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
pretty sure it was connected constantly. i had some pretty lengthy text sessions and i never got any error messages (IM not received, user not on, signed off, etc). i mean, i can never be 100% sure, but pretty sure. i only used it fo ra couple weeks before getting rid of it, it was creeping death slow for some reason
I'm too really desperate for a solution to this problem. My device is a HTC Touch Pro2 running Windows Mobile 6.5.
The case is that I will launch a new business site in just a few weeks whos customers are for the biggest part young intellectuals more often than seldomly really integrated with the modern IT-development. Hence I've always wanted to add the Windows Live messenger plugin to the site so that our customers can have a live chat completly anonymously without having their IP traced and logged which is the case for the markets paid services. Furthermore, the msn live plugin is completly ad free and doesn't cost a penny. The paid services out there that other corporations use for their live chat often comes with an URL to the host even though the customer are paying for their live chat module. The most important part though, is that I can bring with me Windows Live Messenger wherever I go which for the most part is a complex and not even that usual solution in the paid service segment. I think you can understand my problem now =) I'm just desperate to have my live messenger in the phone ALWAYS and ALWAYS stay connected.
For an example of the plugin I'm refering too have a look at my personal website:
martinandersson.com
A little more specific information describing what really happens with my device:
Windows Live version: 10.7.0061.0500.2000. Language: Swedish (Also the language of my OS).
I am running the client non-exclusivly. It always stays in the taskbar and never quit on me unlike what happens to programs that stay open running in the background for a longer period of time. In that way, it works great.
The main Windows Live window's (which are displayed and runned as a seperate program) options/settings are set to sync my e-mail although the frequency are set to "manual" and the other options below this drop box are for some reason greyed out. I guess this has to be interpreted as if live doesn't sync my mail at all, which I like being that I do not have an hotmail account or need this feature in any way.
The status of my phone always always show two small 3G icons (one just '3G' and one '3G' above a meter) and if I click in this field I see a ticking clock which shows that it is indeed connected to internet ever since my phone's last reboot. This has never been in any other way. Still, I did download the DiamondTweak and enabled the "internet always on" feature, but again, I do not think that really was the issue and from what I can tell, the DiamondTweak just hasn't made any difference at all.
One detail of great importance is this; Whenever I browse the internet, update my rss feeds or switch to the messenger contact list window through the taskbar, the 3G symbols changes to display an H. That tells me that this "H" must show for the phone to have a "real" internet connection? Could this be the trick, one has to find a fix to always have the H show? If that would be the case, I just can't understand why the phone says it is indeed connected to the internet when there's just a 3G-symbol in the status. Anyways..
Even though the messenger dies completly and just as what this threads owner wrote, shows a "wireless connection lost" message when I swich to its contact list window, it sometimes live for quite a while. The thing is that it just doesn't get the message instantly. The phone can be in standby mode (really haven't figured that thing out, everybody keeps saying "standby" mode but for what I can tell all that happens is that the display goes of) for sure, and then I write myself a message through the live chat plugin on my site but it takes about 6 to 10 minutes for the phone to give a sound and notice me of this message. And again, for the most part the live messenger doesn't stay alive for that long, the sites plugin goes offline and then if I turn the phone's display on and access the live messenger it says that the wireless connection has been lost and reconnects.
Moreoever, it never gets my plugin to go back online either. For that part to happen, I have to first get online with a desktop client and then again login with my phone. For if I stay online with the desktop client, the phone's client is indeed alive, but won't receive any messages. I have to reconnect with my phone so that my desktop client gets thrown out. But of course, is just a matter of time before my live chat module and my phone's client gets offline and I have to do everything over again. The really annoying part is that the phone's client dies a long time before the site's plugin catch up and goes offline. Hence I might loose a lot of customers who think they are chatting with me but never get a reply.
Given the description above, I think the problem really is that live messenger doesn't ping or talk with its server that often, IF the phone is in standby mode. If it isn't, if the display is turned on, I recieve my messages instantly and everything works just fine. Sure there must be an easy fix for this problem, a small edit to be done in a config file somewhere?
All help and all problem experience is much appreciated.

Push technology?

Hey guys, I've been lurking around the forums for a while, (rooted my G1 the day I got it, thanks guys!)
Before my G1, I had a blackberry, with "push email". It seemed cool, I could send an email to my blackberry address, and get it in seconds. It might have taken longer, I just didn't realize it because I had no web-access to my blackberry address.
Now, with the G1, I get that you have control over whether or not your gmail syncs (seems to be every 5 minutes), but I keep hearing about "push gmail", suggesting that gmail sends a token to your phone telling it you have new gmail.
This doesn't seem to be the case, because my phone doesn't tell me I have new gmail until it "syncs" again.
Do I just have an idiotic fantasy-land idea about "push technology"? Is the ability to have your cell phone's gmail app check for new mail every 5 minutes what they mean when they say "push"?
Because if my mail client still has to check every 5 minutes, that still sounds like "pull".
Not trying to start any arguments, android is awesome!
umaro said:
Hey guys, I've been lurking around the forums for a while, (rooted my G1 the day I got it, thanks guys!)
Before my G1, I had a blackberry, with "push email". It seemed cool, I could send an email to my blackberry address, and get it in seconds. It might have taken longer, I just didn't realize it because I had no web-access to my blackberry address.
Now, with the G1, I get that you have control over whether or not your gmail syncs (seems to be every 5 minutes), but I keep hearing about "push gmail", suggesting that gmail sends a token to your phone telling it you have new gmail.
This doesn't seem to be the case, because my phone doesn't tell me I have new gmail until it "syncs" again.
Do I just have an idiotic fantasy-land idea about "push technology"? Is the ability to have your cell phone's gmail app check for new mail every 5 minutes what they mean when they say "push"?
Because if my mail client still has to check every 5 minutes, that still sounds like "pull".
Not trying to start any arguments, android is awesome!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try Seven. It's the best that I can think of at the moment.
http://community.seven.com/main.php
Gmail is push. Check Settings --> Data Synchronization. Note that there is NO time setting. Check Gmail --> Settings --> Labels. Note that the ONLY time setting is in DAYS, which indicates the time period over which you should have sync, i.e., things older than X days won't sync (though they WILL download.
Also note: If your network connection drops, then the connection with the gmail server is broken and push email will be broken until the connection can be re-established. Naturally, you don't want the thing to keep on trying over and over again (draining your battery) to make a connection when it isn't available, so it just tries every once in a while. Once the connection with the gmail server is back, THEN push comes back.
For example, I have no data plan since in canada it just costs so much that it simply isn't worth it -- which means that all my data goes over wifi. In order to conserve battery, I have it set to turn wifi OFF when it is both unplugged AND screen off. During this time, it obviously doesn't get push email. When the connection comes back, it may take a little while before it logs back in to gmail and restarts synchronization. If it is already signed in, then email delivery is literally within a couple of seconds.
Note: it signs in upon forced synchronization (manual or periodic), which is why you observe that email is delivered only after a synchronization. It doesn't synchronize unless it is either disconnected, or you initiate a manual forced synchronization.
Email is pull. This is a separate app from gmail and should not be confused. This would have the option under Account Settings --> Email check frequency.
If you want non-GMAIL push email, I suggest k9mail BETA. It does, of course, have the same limitations as the gmail app in that it can't synchronize unless there is a network connection present.
umaro said:
Hey guys, I've been lurking around the forums for a while, (rooted my G1 the day I got it, thanks guys!)
Before my G1, I had a blackberry, with "push email". It seemed cool, I could send an email to my blackberry address, and get it in seconds. It might have taken longer, I just didn't realize it because I had no web-access to my blackberry address.
Now, with the G1, I get that you have control over whether or not your gmail syncs (seems to be every 5 minutes), but I keep hearing about "push gmail", suggesting that gmail sends a token to your phone telling it you have new gmail.
This doesn't seem to be the case, because my phone doesn't tell me I have new gmail until it "syncs" again.
Do I just have an idiotic fantasy-land idea about "push technology"? Is the ability to have your cell phone's gmail app check for new mail every 5 minutes what they mean when they say "push"?
Because if my mail client still has to check every 5 minutes, that still sounds like "pull".
Not trying to start any arguments, android is awesome!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

[Q] Why Gmail its not full push email?

i love gmail but im wondering why its not full push e-mail?
all will say yes its push mail but you need leave all day "sync" on to get notifications if you turn off the sync you will not have instant e mail.
leaving all day "sync" will drain a little more the battery, so if you get a mail when you have "sync" off you will nit have any notification UNTIL you turn on, there is program like shutupbattery that will sync every X time but whats the point of push mail?
get instant right? i guess using k9 will work better (not sure) but why not in stock gmail app?
That's what push is. It is a constant low bandwidth connection kept open waiting for Google to send notifications.
The gmail servers cannot just send a message to your phones IP or anything like that, because trying to get that to work with all the various operators and different networking setups in the world would be impossible.
That's how push works on a windows mobile phone, and maybe even a blackberry (but I cannot be sure of that since they run special software on the telco's side)
Clarkster said:
That's what push is. It is a constant low bandwidth connection kept open waiting for Google to send notifications.
The gmail servers cannot just send a message to your phones IP or anything like that, because trying to get that to work with all the various operators and different networking setups in the world would be impossible.
That's how push works on a windows mobile phone, and maybe even a blackberry (but I cannot be sure of that since they run special software on the telco's side)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i didint test it or dont remember if chrome to phone works without sync but if all works in that way why google bother to toggle "sync" yea i know its a low bandwith connection instead always check as poll but you need leave all day sync on to all work well and that will drain a little battery too
Well, you should test, that IS how Chrome to Phone works. It uses the push notification system Google developed. Which uses the push data connection.
The point is, apps written for 2.2 and up should use this system when possible. Instead of having your widgets, twitter apps, chat apps, mail apps all doing their own push or periodic checking, they can all use the one Google connection. Saving battery over 4 apps doing their own checking.
And of course it uses the battery. If you want push on ANY device it will use the battery a lot more. If you want your battery to last longer, don't use any push features.
zen kun said:
i didint test it or dont remember if chrome to phone works without sync but if all works in that way why google bother to toggle "sync" yea i know its a low bandwith connection instead always check as poll but you need leave all day sync on to all work well and that will drain a little battery too
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude, you ever tried to get your ISP to turn on your internet connection on your home laptop when you get a mail?
Well, since you (hopefully) understood what kind of gibberish it is, maybe you'll understand why the data connection is always on in the phone? Because it's your internet, and without it you WON'T HAVE ANY DATA AT ALL.
If you choose to disable this connection for battery savings - it's your personal problem that you won't get any service that comes from the internet, including mails. That's how it works, and Google has nothing to do with it.
Jack_R1 said:
Dude, you ever tried to get your ISP to turn on your internet connection on your home laptop when you get a mail?
Well, since you (hopefully) understood what kind of gibberish it is, maybe you'll understand why the data connection is always on in the phone? Because it's your internet, and without it you WON'T HAVE ANY DATA AT ALL.
If you choose to disable this connection for battery savings - it's your personal problem that you won't get any service that comes from the internet, including mails. That's how it works, and Google has nothing to do with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FYI, they aren't talking about turning off data, rather have gmail push without having to keep sync on. With sync on, the apps regularly poke at the servers to get info about new emails, etc. In contrast, Blackberry push email works is a different way... the server pushes notifications to the app. Chrome to Phone works in this way and I guess it would be quite viable to have other Google apps do the same...
That is[/is] how Google apps do it. My phone tends to notify me of email before Thunderbird picks it up, and they're both push.
craigacgomez said:
FYI, they aren't talking about turning off data, rather have gmail push without having to keep sync on. With sync on, the apps regularly poke at the servers to get info about new emails, etc. In contrast, Blackberry push email works is a different way... the server pushes notifications to the app. Chrome to Phone works in this way and I guess it would be quite viable to have other Google apps do the same...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Spoken by someone who never tried to confirm what he writes, and the same goes for the OP. The easiest way to understand that you're wrong is - position your phone in place with 3G / WiFi reception, and send yourself a mail on the PC. How much time it takes until you receive it on the phone? My measurements were from 5 sec to 1.5 min, and mostly stayed within half a minute from sending time. So, if your theory was correct, it would mean that the Gmail "pokes at the servers" more than once a minute.. Which is obviously wrong, and if you monitor traffic (in the easiest way possible - just look at your "H" symbol, if you have a custom ROM), you'll see that it doesn't happen.
"Sync" is a general term. Sync can be done in multiple ways. One of them is push sync. It just so happens that Gmail is push sync. And the "Sync" switch is just to enable/disable the sync for Google apps, it doesn't say anything about it being push/pull/whatever.

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