So I’ve gotten a chance to spend some time tinkering with Boingo mobile on my Windows Mobile phone. If you recall, Boingo recently entered into an agreement with Fring to include IM and voice messaging into their application.

At first, I must admit that I was a bit skeptical of the application. I’ve had a Windows Mobile phone for over two years and rarely use the wireless internet to surf the web because of the complexity of configuring wifi on a Pocket PC. In addition, adding new applications on a handheld can be risky as they tend to shorten battery life and interfere with other applications.

Overall I was very impressed with how Boingo implemented their application. It can run as a taskbar icon and takes up virtually no processor time. I’ve had it installed for nearly a week and not seen any issues with battery drain either. Next is where the real genius comes in. As soon as you launch Boingo , it allows you to turn on and off your wifi right from the utility. This means it’s incredibly easy to turn off the wifi when you’re done surfing to conserve battery. If you’re connecting to a Boingo wireless hotspot, the utility will automatically log you in. Otherwise you can use their fast and light tool to manage your wifi keys and access any access point. I did notice that it does not automatically sense other wifi keys that you input through your control panel, but that’s a relatively minor issue.

Boingo has over 60 thousand hotspots in the US. They’re a mix of some airports, many hotels and virtually every McDonalds. They also provide service in some Barnes & Nobles and a few independent bars. While this makes it easy to find a hotspot, I’m not sure I would want to work from a McDonalds. Nevertheless, this is perfect for the traveler who needs reliable wifi anywhere that they go.

Here’s where the rub comes in.

I’ve used Windows Mobile 5, 6 and now 6.1. I even put a brand new install on my HTC Wizard so that I could benchmark the battery drain while using wifi and give Boingo the benefit of the doubt. However in over two years and three versions of Windows Mobile on my Pocket PC, my wifi has never connected correctly. This is true even after using the scores of utilities that claim to reconfigure registry settings that can keep you from connecting to wireless g access points.

So while I was very impressed with the Boingo application and coverage, I’m not able to provide benchmarking on battery life. I’ve asked a number of other HTC owners and they all seem to have problems configuring wifi, but aren’t really concerned about it because of the battery drain. If you know a solution for this HTC wifi issue, please drop a link in the comments. If it works, I’ll even write a post promoting your remarkable wit and sheer brilliance.

• Boingo x Fring: Two Steps Ahead
• Google2Go for Windows Mobile
• Google Opening My Location API to Developers