Patent ID: 7688981

Claim:
An access point, comprising: a wireless receiver configured to receive a request to access the distribution network from a wireless station; a wireless transmitter; and a table associating broadcast keys with virtual local area networks (VLANs) maintained at the access point operatively coupled to the wireless receiver and wireless transmitter; and a connection to a distribution network communicatively coupled with an authentication server; wherein the access point is responsive to the request to access the distribution network from the wireless station to communicate with the authentication server to authenticate the wireless station and to grant access to the wireless station; wherein if access is granted to the wireless station by the authentication server, the access point receives data from the authentication server identifying which VLAN should be associated with the wireless station; responsive to receiving the data the access point accesses the table to determine a broadcast key corresponding to the VLAN for the wireless station and transmits the broadcast key corresponding to the VLAN for the wireless station to the wireless station.