Patent ID: 8644176

Claim:
A method comprising: an access device receiving, from a client device, a packet, wherein the packet contains a field indicating that a real-time quality of service (QOS) is requested for the packet; the access device determining that a communication session between the client device and a destination device has not been established for the packet; in response to the packet containing the field indicating that the real-time QOS is requested for the packet and the communication session between the client device and the destination device having not been established for the packet, the access device determining whether a network condition is met; if the network condition is met, the access device marking the packet with an enhanced best-effort QOS, and applying the enhanced best-effort QOS to the packet when forwarding the packet to the destination device, wherein the access device forwards packets marked with the real-time QOS with higher priority than packets marked with the enhanced best-effort QOS; and if the network condition is not met, the access device marking the packet with a best-effort QOS, and applying the best-effort QOS to the packet when forwarding the packet to the destination device, wherein the access device forwards packets marked with the enhanced best-effort QOS with higher priority than packets marked with the best-effort QOS.