Patent ID: 7689716

Claim:
A network gateway having an IP address and a hardware address, configured to process packets communicated from a browser operating on a user host device, the user host device having configuration information specifying at least a MAC address of the user host device, the network gateway comprising: a database configured to be populated with configuration information; a redirection-determination module in communication with the database, the redirection-determination module responsive to packets communicated from the browser to determine whether to redirect the browser to a web-server configured to present a login portal, wherein the redirection determination is based on the MAC address of the user host device and configuration information in the database; a user-device-location-detection module that determines a network location of the user host device, the user-device-location-detection module configured to communicate information to the web-server about the network location, so that the web-server can provide network-location-specific information on the login portal; and a network-packet-translation module configured to modify at least one user network packet transmitted from the user host device to an external network location, the at least one user network packet being modified so that the source IP address corresponds to the network gateway, the network packet translation module further configured to modify at least one external network packet transmitted from the external network location to the network gateway, the external network packet being modified so that the destination IP address corresponds to the user host device.