Patent ID: 8281015

Claim:
A network device, comprising: a processor configured to: detect a network link, alternatively and successively attempt, based on the detected network link, to establish a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) connection or a point-to-point protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE) connection over the detected network link for a predetermined number of iterations, when the attempt to establish the DHCP connection is unsuccessful, the processor is configured to attempt to establish the PPPoE connection a first time independent of receiving a request to establish the PPPoE connection, when the attempt to establish the PPPoE connection the first time is unsuccessful, the processor is configured to attempt to establish the DHCP connection a second time, independent of receiving a request to establish the DHCP connection, when the attempt to establish the DHCP connection the second time is unsuccessful, the processor is configured to attempt to establish the PPPoE connection a second time independent of receiving a request to establish the PPPoE connection, and when the attempt to establish the PPPoE connection the second time is unsuccessful, the processor is configured to attempt to establish the DHCP connection a subsequent time independent of receiving a request to establish the DHCP connection, establish the DHCP connection when the attempt to establish the DHCP connection is successful, and establish the PPPoE connection when the attempt to establish the PPPoE connection is successful.