Patent ID: 7657239

Claim:
A communication device, comprising: a multimode wireless transceiver for accessing a plurality of wireless access technologies; and a controller for managing operations of the multimode wireless transceiver, wherein the controller is programmed to enable the multimode wireless transceiver to scan a select one of the wireless access technologies when the communication device detects that it is near a known location of a wireless access point, wherein prior to the enabling step the multimode wireless transceiver is disabled to scan the select one of the access technologies in order to conserve energy, wherein the controller is programmed to: monitor a location of the communication device; detect that the communication device is near the known location of the wireless access point; and enable scanning in response to said detection, and wherein when the controller detects that a signal strength is undesirable, the controller is programmed to check for a manual override from an end user of the communication device, and when the end user forces a scan, the controller enables communications with the wireless access point.