Patent ID: 8363626

Claim:
A method for interworking between a wireless local area network and at least one of 3GPP, 3GPP2 and IEEE 802.16 network, comprising: receiving in an end user access device a signal indicating that an extended set of information about a wireless local area network is available before the end user access device actually authenticates and associates to a wireless point of attachment in the wireless local area network; sending from the end user access device an information request signal containing a request for available information from the extended set of information; receiving in the end user access device an information response signal containing the available information requested from the extended set of information; and deciding in the end user access device whether to authenticate and associate to the wireless point of attachment in the wireless local area network based at least partly on the available information received in the information response signal, wherein the available information comprises at least one of internet connectivity and Internet protocol address type support, and wherein the information request signal does not comprise a probe request.