Patent ID: 8897255

Claim:
A method for managing a wireless network, comprising: receiving, at a first base station, a first packet from a subscriber station in a wireless network, the first packet originating from subscriber equipment accessible through the subscriber station, the first packet including an identifier of the subscriber equipment; obtaining, from a table, a network tag based on the identifier of the subscriber equipment, wherein the network tag identifies a network connection associated with a second base station at which the subscriber station first entered the wireless network, the table comprising a plurality of network tags corresponding to identifiers of subscriber equipment; assigning, at the first base station, the network tag to the first packet; forwarding the first packet from the first base station to a destination address included in the first packet; receiving, at the first base station, a second packet addressed to the subscriber equipment from the destination address, the second packet including the network tag; and removing the network tag from the second packet before the second packet is forwarded to the subscriber equipment through the subscriber station.