Patent ID: 7546632

Claim:
A method, comprising: receiving, from a remote device, a connection attempt to access a network; performing an authentication exchange with the remote device comprising; identifying a configuration selection characteristic associated with the remote device; determining a device configuration to be applied to the remote device based on the configuration selection characteristic; and providing the determined device configuration to the remote device during the authentication process to facilitate the remote device installing the determined device configuration prior to being allowed access to the network, where the authentication exchange also comprises: performing an extensible authentication protocol (EAP)-based exchange between the remote device and an authentication server; where providing the determined device configuration comprises: creating an extensible authentication protocol configuration message (EAPCM) to transport the determined device configuration to the remote device, where the EAPCM is created as an extension message to a PEAP protocol or a TLV-FAST protocol, the extension message comprising a sub-type field that specifies at least one of, a configuration request to the remote device and a configuration response from the remote device, where the EAPCM facilitates an authentication server providing the determined device configuration to a remote device within the PEAP or TLV-FAST protocol, and where the EAPCM facilitates the authentication server receiving a configuration response message from the remote device indicating a status of installation of the determined device configuration in the remote device; populating the EAPCM with the determined device configuration; and transmitting the EAPCM to the remote device during the authentication exchange between the authentication server and the remote device to facilitate the remote device receiving and installing the determined device configuration.