Patent ID: 7665130

Claim:
A system of providing network access comprising: a processor; a first network interface coupled to the processor; a second network interface coupled to the processor; a storage media accessible by the processor; a set of computer instructions executable by the processor to: receive a network communication at the first network interface from a device associated with a user; determine if the network communication is associated with an authenticated user; and if the network communication is not associated with an authenticated user, does not identify an address within a walled garden, and a pre-authentication URL is not specified, direct the user to an authentication interface; receive credentials from the user; authenticate the user based on the credentials; and receive a user profile if the user is authenticated; wherein the set of computer instructions are further executable by the processor to: intercept an unauthenticated client access to a server outside of the walled garden; determine whether an authentication token is present in the client request; direct the client to an authentication URL if the authentication token is present; and direct the client to the pre-authentication URL if the authentication token is not present.