Once you install PdaNet, you will notice a Proxy Mode in addition to the classic Dialup Mode
(also called Phone-As-Modem mode that we have had in previous versions of PdaNet). The way
Proxy Mode works is that it routes network traffic of selected applications on your computer/laptop
to the smartphone and uses a network application on the smartphone to send and receive data.
To use Proxy Mode, add network applications to the "PdaNet Proxy Launcher" and launch it from
there once PdaNet is connected.
Both connection modes support EVDO. Although we are still trying to improve performance of the
Proxy Mode, we do expect it to be a bit slower than the Dialup Mode (but very close). This is
because all network traffic goes through the TCP/IP stack on the smartphone device which has
a much slower CPU than the PC. The current version of Proxy mode also cannot support UDP or
incoming connections. These will be supported later.
The million dollar question is: "Why do we need Proxy Mode if Dialup Mode is working perfectly well; or even better?"
Well, when you use your Treo device for Phone-As-Modem on your laptop, your carrier might require you to pay for
an additional Phone-As-Modem plan on top of the usual data plan. PdaNet works without this extra data plan but, you never know. There is always a concern that your carrier might not be happy and make changes. On the other hand, with Proxy Mode,
PdaNet basically acts as a regular network application on the device and does not use your device for Phone-As-Modem.
As long as you have network access on your smartphone, Proxy Mode will always work.
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