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A Few iPhone Exchange ActiveSync Gotchas

Started by sfoskett · 7 months ago

I’ve been running OS 2.0 on my (first-generation) iPhone for a week and a half now, and as I mentioned before, Exchange ActiveSync push email, calendaring, and contacts was one of the main things Iwas looking for when I upgraded.  That article on setting up ActiveSync ha ... Continue reading »

24 comments

  • dgeedgee

    11 months ago

    It is strange that in the Activesync setup they decided to have the phone try to guess the server name and make you wait for it to fail before giving you the opportunity to put in the server name.
    reply
  • sfoskett

    11 months ago

    Dgeedgee,

    Yes this is indeed highly weird! In fact, I'm not sure exactly how they're trying to guess it, or where they're looking, but I know of no standard method of determining the correct server based only on an email address. Maybe there is some protocol specified by Microsoft, but it's a mystery to me. Anyone else?

    Stephen
    reply
  • jungleboy84

    11 months ago

    Very useful post. And like you I came to the same conclusion, though I use hourly updates for the Fetch.

    In my case, I am on a number of company email lists which receive messages every 5 minutes - killing my battery. I do have filters (including server side ones, set through Outlook Web Access over Internet Explorer on a Windows XP VM!) to move messages addressed to me or cc'd to me in to a specific folder. But the general flood of messages was killing the iPhone's battery.

    My IT admin tells me that Outlook has specific push settings that allow users to set rules that say "push" specific emails. For example, you can set a rule to only push messages with to/cc set to your email address.
    I haven't found these settings yet. I am looking at Outlook Web Access over Internet Explorer on Windows XP VM for the same - but no luck yet.

    Anybody know about said Outlook push settings?
    reply
  • PhilH

    7 months ago

    Options - Mail Setup - Send/Receive - Select All Accounts and press Edit - Account Properties - Remote Mail Tab - Filter

    This will enable you to filter out anything that doesn't meet certain criteria.
    reply
  • jungleboy84

    11 months ago

    More on the subject from MSFT, comparing implemented features:

    http://blogs.msdn.com/jasonlan/archive/2008/07/...

    and from Apple:

    http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/Enterprise_...
    reply
  • https://me.yahoo.com/pixelmyst

    11 months ago

    Thanks for this great information. I have a 3G iPhone on order, and one thing I can't seem to find a firm answer on is whether or not you really do need AT&T's more expensive PDA Enterprise data plan, as opposed to its cheaper PDA Personal data plan, in order to sync with Exchange. The official word from AT&T, via their sales personnel, their website, and some online reviewsof the phone would have you believe that you need the more expensive plan, but I've also seen evidence to the contrary. So, does the cheaper data plan do the trick?
    reply
  • sfoskett

    11 months ago

    I can't imagine that AT&T would be able to tell whether you were using ActiveSync or IMAP, so I can't imagine you need an enterprise plan to use it on technical grounds. I'm using the same data plan as before...
    reply
  • https://me.yahoo.com/pixelmyst

    11 months ago

    Stephen,

    If I understand correctly, there was, and is, only one data plan for the original iPhone, like yours. There are two data plans for the new phone, and of course the cheapest of those is more expensive than your plan, presumably because the new phone can pump more data through AT&T's 3G network. But, regardless of price, the fact that they are even offering two plans, the more expensive of which is deemed an "Enterprise" plan, gives me pause. I have decided to be optimistic about being able to access Exchange, and use the phone's VPN connectivity while operating under the cheaper data plan. Now, if my backordered phone would only hurry up and get here so I could find out for sure. . .

    Steve
    reply
  • sfoskett

    11 months ago

    Steve,

    I think trying it out on the cheaper plan is the right choice. My understanding was that the Enterprise plans were for businesses who would presumably need extra support and would sign up customers in bulk.

    The iPhone is different from the BlackBerry, where you need to get AT&T;'s enterprise plan to use BES instead of BIS.

    Please do try it and report back here on how it goes. I'm sure lots of others would love to know! And of course, you can always upgrade your plan if you need to.
    reply
  • https://me.yahoo.com/pixelmyst

    11 months ago

    Steve,
    I finally got my 3G iPhone and I’m happy to report that that cheaper (PDA Personal) data plan works just fine with Exchange. So, you were right: AT&T’s enterprise plan probably provides the same functionality for corporate customers, but at a higher price. Sort of like buying a land line: if you’re buying it for home, you pay less than if you’re buying it for a business.

    I can’t believe I am the only person who has been confused by AT&T’s website, as well as some online reviews, regarding the new iPhone’s data plan. At any rate, all’s well that ends well.

    Steve
    reply
  • sfoskett

    11 months ago

    Pixelmystic,

    Great news! Let me know if they change their policies, ok?

    I've been confused by AT&T;'s plans for all of the 8+ years I've used them! :-)
    reply
  • Bryan

    3 months ago

    I've got a hosted exchange product through CBeyond and have not been able to connect using the active sync and am stuck with an IMAP email connection to CBeyond which does not support any of the exchange collaboraton tools for scheduling. The CBeyond set-up want's a "SAM Account ID" which i don't have and CBeyond can't give me. Any idea what this is and/or how I get a round this problem?
    reply
  • sfoskett

    3 months ago

    Make sure you are including your activesync domain name in your username - perhaps its sam\bryan.cbeyond or some such combination of things.
    reply
  • Hutch

    3 months ago

    I have looked at all of the setup that you have discussed. I am able to access the OMA address from Internet Explorer but I continue to get a cannot connect to server error when trying to connect the iPhone to my exchange server. Any other hints would be greatly appreciated.
    reply
  • sfoskett

    3 months ago

    You put the exact same address into mail setup that you used in IE? With no VPN? And what did you get? Just because it gives you outlook web access (your mailbox in a browser) doesn't mean ActiveSync is up and running. If people use Windows Mobile phones to access it it should work. But otherwise it might not. Remember, IMAP will probably work as a fallback...
    reply
  • mgrantzau

    3 months ago

    Got a question (if this is the right place to ask)... :-)

    While my Exchange 2003 server (SP2) is a single server setup my addresses is as follows:

    OWA: domain.com/owa
    OMA: domain.com/oma
    RPC: domain.com

    How would I enter the server-name on the iPhone? I think that's where my problem lies...

    Thanks for the great article! :-)
    reply
  • sfoskett

    3 months ago

    I think you want the OMA address. You can type a backslash by hitting ".?123" then "#+=" and you will find it in the "S" position.
    reply
  • carrie

    1 month ago

    Im trying to add my miscrosoft exchange email to my iphone ! I cant get it to work.. can you help me? i tried doing what you said.. but its not working. maybe im missing something? i have my other emails on, just not this one.
    reply
  • michael massey

    2 weeks ago

    iphone and activesync is driving me crazy

    ok so I had an issue with ssl and form based auth I first that with this document (method three) http://www.petri.co.il/problems_with_forms_base...

    now using this new folder I can access my exchange using my firefox ... www.domain.com/OMA I get a warning that is not support and I click continue.
    using the iphone browser I can also access the same site.

    I get not support click continue

    I can see my mail.

    but from the mail application it will just not work.
    I have my OMA on the same server as my exchange thus www.domain.org/oma which works fine like I said. Just not in the mail application

    I have included the server with the / as mentioned in the post below use 123 and the S key.

    I am the exchange administrator

    Michael
    reply
  • michael massey

    2 weeks ago

    I did it without the OMA and now it works... I am also using the IP address of the server directly but I do not think that matters ... just tested it does not matter

    I guess the iphone must guess the OMA folder...
    reply
  • sfoskett

    2 weeks ago

    I had the same issue with my new Exchange setup. The official address was exchange.blah.com/owa, but that didn't work with the iPhone. Instead I had to use just exchange.blah.com!
    reply
  • Nicki Hattingh

    2 weeks ago

    Brilliantly helpful procedure - thankyou. Not only do you say what to do, but you put it all into context and in a layman's language that even I could understand. I now have emails if and when I want them and I understand how to facilitate what I require.

    many thanks - Nicki Hattingh
    reply
  • Jeff B

    1 week ago

    Stephen:

    I did a google search on Exchange reconciliation on the iphone and one of the results was your page here. I have a question that I cannot find an answer to.

    I have no issues with EAS and my Exchange Host; email is pushed down in about under a minute or so, not bad at all. However, when I have deleted or moved entries while in Outlook connected to Exchange, even hours later the emails I moved or deleted are still sitting in my iphone mail box.

    How do I get them to reconcile with Exchange???

    Thanks.
    reply
  • Michael Massey

    1 week ago

    Did you try the update on the mail application. The middle one between new and whatever... this will force the server to check for new mail.
    reply

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