Patent ID: 8665871

Claim:
A method comprising: detecting, at a first base station, initial entry of subscriber equipment into a wireless network based on a unique identifier of the subscriber equipment; generating a network tag for the subscriber equipment to create an association of the subscriber equipment with the first base station; providing to one or more other base stations a plurality of unique identifiers and corresponding network tags that include the network tag for the subscriber equipment and the unique identifier of the subscriber equipment; configuring a network connection for the subscriber equipment at the first base station based on the network tag such that the network tag associates the network connection with the first base station; and upon the subscriber equipment reentering the wireless network through a second base station of the one or more other base stations, resuming the network connection at the second base station based on the network tag for the subscriber equipment as provided to the second base station, wherein the second base station retrieves the network tag based on the unique identifier received from the subscriber equipment during reentry through the second base station, and the network connection maintains the association of the subscriber equipment with the first base station based on the network tag.