Authorizing secured wireless access at hotspot according to user-specific access credential received from client device during predetermined sign-up process

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9961548-B2
Application number	US-201715438914-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 22, 2017
Priority date	Jun 22, 2012
Publication date	May 1, 2018
Grant date	May 1, 2018

Abstract

A hotspot provides an open wireless network and a secure wireless network. The open wireless network has no network-level encryption and allows open association therewith. The secure wireless network employs network-level encryption and requires authentication of a received access credential from a client device before allowing association therewith. A system for authorizing the client device for secured access at the hotspot includes an access controller configured to establish an encrypted connection between the client device and a login portal of the hotspot over the open wireless network, and to store a user-specific access credential transmitted via the encrypted connection as a valid access credential in a credential database. The credential database is accessed by wireless access points of the hotspot to authenticate the received access credential from the client device in response to a request from the client device to associate with the secure wireless network.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of authorizing secured wireless access at a hotspot, the method comprising:
providing an open wireless network having no network-level encryption and allowing open association therewith by a client device;
establishing an encrypted connection between the client device and a login portal of the hotspot over the open wireless network;
requiring a user of the client device to perform a predetermined sign-up process at the login portal;
receiving, by the login portal during the predetermined sign-up process, at least part of a user-specific access credential, wherein the at least part of the user-specific access credential is transmitted from the client device to the login portal over the encrypted connection;
adding the user-specific access credential as a valid access credential in a credential database, wherein the credential database stores a plurality of valid access credentials acceptable for gaining secure wireless access at the hotspot;
providing a secure wireless network employing network-level encryption and requiring successful completion of an authentication process before allowing association therewith by the client device;
transmitting instructions from the login portal to the client device instructing the user of the client device to switch the client device to a service set identifier (SSID) of the secure wireless network at the hotspot and to authenticate with the secure wireless network utilizing the user-specific access credential, wherein the instructions are displayed to the user by the client device and include both the service set identifier (SSID) of the secure wireless network and the user-specific access credential that is acceptable for associating with that service set identifier (SSID);
receiving a request from the client device to associate with the secure wireless network after the user-specific access credential has been added to the credential database;
receiving the user-specific access credential from the client device as a part of the authentication process performed before the client device is allowed to associate with the secure wireless network;
accessing the credential database to check whether the user-specific access credential received from the client device during the authentication process corresponds to one of the valid access credentials stored in the credential database; and
allowing the client device to associate with the secure wireless network only when the user-specific access credential received from the client device during the authentication process corresponds to one of the valid access credentials stored in the credential database.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the at least part of the user-specific access credential is a password chosen by the user of the client device; and
the login portal generates a unique username for the user, the unique username forming another part of the user-specific access credential.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user-specific access credential is transmitted in its entirety from the client device to the login portal over the encrypted connection.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the user-specific access credential comprises a username and a password chosen by the user of the client device.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising allowing the client device to access an external network over the secure wireless network after the client device has successfully associated with the secure wireless network until an access expiry time is reached.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising causing a web browser running on the client device to establish a hypertext transfer protocol secure (HTTPS) connection with the login portal over the open wireless network after the client device has associated with the open wireless network.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
preventing the client device from accessing a particular network resource over the open wireless network; and
allowing the client device to access the particular network resource over the secure wireless network.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising disconnecting the client device from the secure wireless network in response to a predetermined time period expiring.

9. A system for authorizing secured wireless access at a hotspot, the system comprising:
one or more access points providing an open wireless network having no network-level encryption and allowing open association therewith by a client device;
a computer server having one or more processors executing software in order to provide a login portal;
a storage device coupled to the computer server and storing a credential database, the credential database storing a plurality of valid access credentials acceptable for gaining secure wireless access at the hotspot; and
one or more access points providing a secure wireless network employing network-level encryption and requiring successful completion of an authentication process before allowing association therewith by the client device;
wherein the login portal is operable to establish an encrypted connection with the client device over the open wireless network and require a user of the client device to perform a predetermined sign-up process;
the login portal is further operable to receive at least part of a user-specific access credential during the predetermined sign-up process, wherein the at least part of the user-specific access credential is transmitted from the client device to the login portal over the encrypted connection;
the login portal is further operable to add the user-specific access credential as a valid access credential in the credential database;
the login portal is further operable to transmit instructions to the client device instructing the user of the client device to switch the client device to a service set identifier (SSID) of the secure wireless network at the hotspot and to authenticate with the secure wireless network utilizing the user-specific access credential; wherein the instructions are displayed to the user by the client device and include both the service set identifier (SSID) of the secure wireless network and the user-specific access credential that is acceptable for associating with that service set identifier (SSID); and
the one or more access points providing the secure wireless network are operable to:
receive a request from the client device to associate with the secure wireless network after the user-specific access credential has been added to the credential database;
receive the user-specific access credential from the client device as a part of the authentication process performed before the client device is allowed to associate with the secure wireless network;
access the credential database to check whether the user-specific access credential received from the client device during the authentication process corresponds to one of the valid access credentials stored in the credential database; and
allow the client device to associate with the secure wireless network only when the user-specific access credential received from the client device during the authentication process corresponds to one of the valid access credentials stored in the credential database.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein:
the at least part of the user-specific access credential is a password chosen by the user of the client device; and
the login portal is further operable to generate a unique username for the user, the unique username forming another part of the user-specific access credential.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the user-specific access credential is transmitted in its entirety from the client device to the l

Assignees

• Guest Tek Interactive Entertainment Ltd

Inventors

• Bryksa Ellison W
• Macmillan Andrew T

Classifications

• H04L63/168

  above the transport layer · CPC title

• H04W84/12

  WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks] · CPC title

• H04L63/108

  when the policy decisions are valid for a limited amount of time · CPC title

• G06Q2220/00

  Business processing using cryptography · CPC title

• H04L63/105

  Multiple levels of security · CPC title