Patent ID: 8751647

Claim:
A method comprising: blocking a port on a packet forwarding device to prevent a user connected to the port from sending and receiving data packets, the port belonging to a plurality of virtual local area networks (VLANs), wherein blocking comprises setting a port state of the port on the packet forwarding device to unauthorized for one or more of the plurality of VLANs to which it belongs; generating an authentication Internet Protocol (IP) address capable of being used to authenticate the user connected to the blocked port from an endstation belonging to one of the plurality of VLANs for which the port is blocked; authenticating the user connected to the port via the authentication IP address assigned to the user by an authentication server; and in response to successfully authenticating the user, unblocking the port to enable the user to send and receive data packets, wherein unblocking comprises setting the port state of the port on the packet forwarding device to authorized for the VLAN to which the endstation belongs.