About Cookies on PalmOS and PocketPC Devices

Some users have reported problems with smart phones and PDAs based on PalmOS or PocketPC not retaining the cookie used to track login information. This affects some Treo 300, Treo 600, Samsung SCH-i600, BlackBerries, and other smart phones. The most annoying symptom is that all attempts to reach the main menu require a login.

The most common cause of this problem is that some phone browsers fail to handle cookies properly when issued after a server redirect caused by using a server alias. Make sure you are using the following URL to reach WxServer:

http://avwx.net/

If that fails, try bookmarking a url with the login information in the querystring.

For a user id of xyz and a password of abc, the format of the url would be:

http://avwx.net/wap/?mode=login/xyz/abc

...where xyz is your user ID and abc is your password.

While this appears to solve the problem on many phones we will continue to research the underlying cookie problem with these phones and modify the site as soon as possible.

Security Implications: As a general rule putting passwords in querystrings is a security risk, but there is almost no sensitive user information in WxServer. The one exception to that might be if you have put your cell phone number into the WxDelivery address in the User Profile. If you don't use the scheduled METAR delivery feature, then removing it should be no problem.