Patent ID: 8140686

Claim:
A method comprising: transmitting an interrogation to an access point on a network, wherein the interrogation is transmitted by a client device that is suitably configured to request a connection to the network, and wherein the interrogation requests the connection between the client device and the network without the client device initially utilizing a browser; determining if an authorization for the client device is required before connecting the client device to the network, wherein said determining if the authorization for the client device is required before connecting to the network is performed by the client device: transmitting a request for a connection to a known defective uniform resource identifier (URI), wherein the known defective URI is an invalid address that is unable to present resources to any requester; and receiving a valid response to the request for the connection to the known defective URI, wherein the valid response indicates that the request to the known defective URI was automatically directed to a valid login page; in response to determining that the authorization for the client device is required before connecting the client device to the network, obtaining, by the client device, authorization to connect the client device to the network; and in response to determining that the authorization for the client device is required before connecting the client device to the network, disabling any user applications on the client device that are not needed for establishing the connection to the network, wherein the user applications remain disabled until the client device is connected to the network.