Patent ID: 7587512

Claim:
A device for dynamically allocating network bandwidth on a per user basis comprising: a processor; a first network interface coupled to the processor; a second network interface coupled to the processor; a hardware storage medium accessible by the processor; a set of computer instructions stored on the storage medium, executable by the processor to: retrieve a set of user profiles, wherein each user profile corresponds to a specific user in a set of users; establish at least one network bandwidth limit for each user in the set of users based on the corresponding user profile for that user; for each user in the set of users, regulate network bandwidth usage associated with that user based on the at least one network bandwidth limit established for that user; receive a network communication from a network application running on a first user device communicatively coupled to the first network interface, wherein the network communication is destined for a second device on a second network coupled to the second network interface; retrieve a first user profile for a first user associated with the first user device from an authentication database based on user credentials provided by the first user; initiate a control session for the first user; based on attributes in the first user profile, establish user specific rules and conditions that are bound to the first user during the control session based on the first user device and the user credentials provided by the first user for the control session; and dynamically update the at least one network bandwidth limit for at least one user from the set of users to account for the first user gaining access to the second network.