Automatic client authentication for a wireless network protected by PEAP, EAP-TLS, or other extensible authentication protocols

1. A method for automatic client authentication for a wireless network protected by an authentication protocol, comprising:

detecting the wireless network;

obtaining confirmation, a username and a domain from a user before connecting to the wireless network when it is the first connection to the wireless network and when it is a subsequent connection to the wireless network skipping the confirmation step before connecting to the wireless network;

attempting to authenticate the user using a default authentication protocol to access the wireless network; wherein attempting to authenticate the user includes transmitting via the default protocol the username and the domain;

determining when the authentication protocol is unsuccessful to access the wireless network, and when unsuccessful, automatically attempting authentication using a different authentication protocol and transmitting via the different protocol the username and the domain.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein attempting to authenticate the user using the default authentication protocol, further comprises: obtaining information used to authenticate the user.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein obtaining the information used to authenticate the user, further comprises: obtaining a username and domain.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein obtaining information used to authenticate the user further comprises using a UI to obtain the information.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein obtaining information used to authenticate the user further comprises retrieving the information from a data store.

6. The method of claim 3 , further comprising obtaining a password.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the default authentication protocol is PEAP.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the different authentication protocol is TLS.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein a certificate associated with the user and the TLS protocol is automatically chosen.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the user selects a certificate.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining when the authentication is unsuccessful further comprises receiving an error indicating that the authentication is unsuccessful.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining when the wireless network is unprotected and connecting to the network without 802.1× enabled.

13. A system for automatically authenticating a user on a wireless network protected by an authentication protocol, comprising:

a processor and a computer-readable medium;

an operating environment stored on the computer-readable medium and executing on the processor;

a wireless interface layer operating under the control of the operating environment and configured to connect with another device; and

an authentication device operating under the control of the operating environment and operative to perform actions, including:

obtaining confirmation, a username and a domain from the user before connecting to the wireless network when it is the first connection to the wireless network and when it is a subsequent connection to the wireless network skipping the confirmation step before connecting to the wireless network;

attempting to authenticate the user on the wireless network using a default authentication protocol when the wireless network is detected; wherein attempting to authenticate the user includes transmitting via the default authentication protocol the username and the domain; and

determining when the authentication of the user on the wireless network is unsuccessful, and when unsuccessful, automatically attempting authentication using a different authentication protocol and transmitting via the different authentication protocol the username and the domain.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein attempting to authenticate the user using the default authentication protocol, further comprises using a display to obtain information used to authenticate the user.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein obtaining the information used to authenticate the user, further comprises: obtaining the information from a data store used to authenticate the user.

16. The system of claim 13 , wherein the default authentication protocol is PEAP.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the different authentication protocol is TLS.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein a certificate associated with the user and the TLS protocol is automatically chosen.

19. The system of claim 13 , wherein determining when the authentication is unsuccessful further comprises receiving an error from another device indicating that the authentication is unsuccessful.

20. The system of claim 13 , further comprising determining when the wireless network is unprotected and connecting to the network without 802.1× enabled.

21. A tangible computer-readable medium having computer executable instructions for automatically authenticating a user on a wireless network protected by an authentication protocol, comprising:

detecting the wireless network;

obtaining confirmation, a username and a domain from the user before connecting to the wireless network when it is the first connection to the wireless network and when it is a subsequent connection to the wireless network skipping the confirmation step and obtaining a new username and domain from the user before connecting to the wireless network;

attempting to authenticate the user on the wireless network using a default authentication protocol; wherein attempting to authenticate the user includes transmitting via the default authentication protocol the username and the domain that are formatted according to the default protocol authentication;

obtaining another username and domain from the user if the username and domain is not accepted;

when the username and the domain name are accepted, request an authentication using a first protocol; and

determining when the authentication is unsuccessful, and when unsuccessful, automatically attempting authentication using a different authentication protocol and transmitting via the different authentication protocol the username me and the domain that are formatted according to the different authentication.

22. The computer-readable medium signal of claim 21 , wherein attempting to authenticate the user using the default authentication protocol, further comprises using a display to obtain information used to authenticate the user until the information is saved.

23. The computer-readable medium of claim 21 , wherein the default authentication protocol is PEAP.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 23 , wherein the different authentication protocol is TLS.

25. The computer-readable medium of claim 24 , wherein a certificate associated with the user and the TLS protocol is automatically chosen.

26. The computer-readable medium of claim 21 , further comprising determining when the wireless network is unprotected and connecting to the network without 802.1× enabled.