Patent ID: 7646745

Claim:
A mobile device capable of communicating with a cellular telephone network over a licensed spectrum, and capable of accessing alternate wireless access networks, the mobile device comprising: a user interface subsystem, wherein the mobile device invokes the user interface subsystem upon at least one of: an initial powering on of the device, each powering on of the device, and in response to user input, the user interface subsystem comprising: a connection request component, the connection request component configured to receive input from the user, wherein the user interface subsystem infers from the input that the user desires the mobile device to implement an alternate wireless access network mode; a tutorial component, the tutorial component providing information related to content of a tutorial and a display of the tutorial to the user, wherein the tutorial describes one or more elements of the alternate wireless access network mode of the mobile device, and wherein the tutorial of the tutorial component is displayed to the user when the user interface system infers that the user desires the mobile device to implement the alternate wireless access network mode; a stored network component, the stored network component containing one or more settings that enable the mobile device to attempt to connect to an alternate wireless access network when the user interface system infers that the user desires the mobile device to implement the alternate wireless access network mode, and wherein the one or more settings include identifications or addresses of predetermined access points; and a connection subsystem capable of connecting the mobile device to an alternate wireless access network, wherein the alternate wireless access network operates on licensed, semilicensed or unlicensed wireless spectrum, and wherein the connection subsystem comprises: a scanning component configured to determine one or more available alternate wireless access networks to be connected to the mobile device; and an alternate wireless access network ordering component configured to order the determined one or more alternate wireless access networks based on a measure of network signal strength, wherein the connection subsystem connects to a one of the alternate wireless access networks highest in the order of alternate wireless access networks, and either adds the identification and address of the alternate wireless access network to a database stored in the mobile device or prompts the user whether to add identifications or addresses of the determined one or more alternate wireless access networks to a database stored in the mobile device.