Patent ID: 8913559

Claim:
A method for online sign up (OSU) provider selection, comprising: receiving, by a mobile station, a pre-association message, the pre-association message including OSU selection information; accepting, by the mobile station, a selection of an OSU provider in accordance with the OSU selection information; and connecting, by the mobile station, to a server of the OSU provider in accordance with the selection, wherein the OSU selection information indicates a relationship between the OSU provider and a basic service set (BSS), the relationship between the OSU provider and the BSS specifying (i) whether the BSS is a preferred BSS for the OSU provider, (ii) whether the BSS is an own-deployed BSS for the OSU provider, (iii) a BSS priority order for the OSU provider, (iv) whether the OSU provider is a preferred OSU provider for the BSS, or (v) an OSU provider priority order for the BSS.