Patent ID: 7174564

Claim:
A method for operating a local area network (LAN), comprising: requesting access to a wired LAN; generating a first authentication message including validating information about an access point directly connected to the wired LAN; transmitting the first authentication message from the access point to a wireless device over a wireless channel; validating the access point by analyzing the first authentication message without going through a firewall means responsive to the requesting; generating a second authentication message including validating information about the wireless device and a wireless device operator; transmitting the second authentication message from the wireless device to the access point; validating the wireless device by analyzing the second authentication message without going through the firewall means responsive to the requesting; transmitting the first and second authentication messages to an authentication server after validating the access point and the wireless device without going through the firewall means; validating the operator, the wireless device, and the access point without going through the firewall means responsive to the requesting; and enabling a data channel between the wireless device and other devices on the wired LAN after validating the operator, the wireless device, and the access point, where validating the access point, the wireless device, and the operator occurs at an authentication server.