Patent ID: 8259613

Claim:
A method of selecting a network connection for use with a data processing system, comprising: selecting a most recently used known environment when an amount of time elapsed since a last power on or system reset is less than a threshold; when the amount of time elapsed since the last power on or system reset is greater than the threshold: absent using network information, and based upon specified hardware elements attached and time of day information, detecting environmental information indicative of a current environment in which the data processing system is operating; determining whether the current environment is a known environment, including accessing a data structure containing historical network connection information, said historical information including records, wherein each record identifies an environment and a network connection used in conjunction with said environment; responsive to determining that the current environment is absent from said data structure invoking a standard network connection; and responsive to determining that the current environment is a known environment present in said data structure, establishing a specific network connection associated with the known environment.