Enterprise wireless local area network switching system

1. A method of employing a network device for controlling a flow of data associated with a wireless network, the method comprising facilitating:

receiving data from a wireless device via one access point of a plurality of access points, wherein the data comprises a client identifier for the wireless device;

mediating authentication of the wireless device with an authentication server;

periodically polling for a status of the wireless device from the access point;

receiving a request from a transferring wireless device through a first access point of the plurality of access points, wherein the transferring wireless device was previously associated with a second access point of the plurality of access points;

monitoring usage by wireless devices of at least two of the plurality of access points, wherein coverage areas of the at least two of the plurality of access points overlap; and

prompting the at least two of the plurality of access points to change the usage by the wireless devices such that a load carried by the at least two of the plurality of access points is approximately balanced,

wherein the network device is operable to facilitate exchanging information relating to configuration, status, and client session statuses of one or more access points through a messaging protocol.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising facilitating evaluating data packets received from at least one portion of the wireless network and from at least one access point; and

wherein evaluating comprises filtering the received data packets, such that filtered data packets can be dropped to limit an effectiveness of a denial of service attack.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein mediating comprises facilitating restricting access to the wireless network by the wireless device based on a category of user determined from the client identifier.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein restricting comprises restricting access based on a type of device to which the wireless device belongs.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein mediating comprises facilitating restricting access to the wireless network by the wireless device based on an hour and a day of the week in which the data was received from the wireless device.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein restricting comprises restricting access based on at least one of a type of device to which the wireless device belongs and on a category of user determined from the client identifier.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein mediating comprises facilitating restricting access to the wireless network by the wireless device based on a physical location of the one access point of a plurality of access points.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein mediating comprises facilitating restricting access to the wireless network by the wireless device based on a type of an application, running on the wireless device, seeking network access for the wireless device.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising facilitating forwarding updates to the configuration of the one or more access points to the one or more access points from a single site on the wireless network through a single update.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method allows the load carried by the at least two of the plurality of access points to be determined by at least one of a number of wireless devices using the at least two of the plurality of access points, a number of packets transmitted and received by the at least two of the plurality of access points and an average bandwidth carried by the at least two of the plurality of access points.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method allows the load carried by the at least two of the plurality of access points to be determined by at least one of priorities of packets recently transmitted and received by the at least two of the plurality of access points, a type of application running on the wireless devices and communicating with the at least two of the plurality of access points and a signal strength provided to the wireless devices provided by the at least two of the plurality of access points.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising facilitating:

evaluating data packets received from portions of the wireless network and from at least one of the plurality of access points; and

passing the received data packets to portions of the wireless network and to the access points, based on the evaluation of the received data packets,

wherein said passing comprises maintaining a priority indicated by the data packets and tagging the data packets with a priority tag to be evaluated by the access points.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising facilitating:

evaluating data packets received from portions of the wireless network and from at least one of the plurality of access points; and

passing the received data packets to portions of the wireless network and to the access points, based on the evaluation of the received data packets,

wherein passing comprises establishing a prioritization policy based on filtering of the data packets and tagging the data packets with a priority tag to be evaluated by the plurality of access points based on the established prioritization policy.

14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising facilitating: establishing a bandwidth usage policy for the wireless devices and instructing the plurality of access points to follow the established bandwidth usage policy.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the request is a re-association request, the method further comprising facilitating:

providing session information for the transferring wireless device to the first access point; and

updating a routing table with a routing location of the transferring wireless device.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising encapsulating received data packets with Internet protocol information associated with the first access point and updating routing information in a local routing table.

17. The method of claim 1 , further comprising facilitating:

receiving a re-association request from a transferring wireless device through an access point of the plurality of access points, wherein the transferring wireless device, which sent the re-association request, was previously associated with an alternate access point in communication with the wireless network through an alternate network device;

sending a request for configuration information for the transferring wireless device, which sent the re-association request, from the alternate network device; and

forwarding access point configuration data, determined from the configuration information received from the alternate network device.

18. A network device for controlling a flow of data associated with a wireless network, the network device comprising:

receiving means for receiving data from a wireless device via one access point of a plurality of access points, wherein the data comprises a client identifier for the wireless device;

receiving means for receiving a request from a transferring wireless device through a first access point of the plurality of access points, wherein the transferring wireless device was previously associated with a second access point of the plurality of access points;

mediating means for mediating authentication of the wireless device with an authentication server;

polling means for periodically polling for a status of the wireless device from the access point;

means for monitoring usage by wireless devices of at least two of the plurality of access points, wherein coverage areas for the at least two of the plurality of access points overlap; and

means for prompting the at least two of the plurality of access points to change the usage by the wireless devices to allow a load carried by the at least two of the plurality of access points to be approximately balanced,

wherein the network device is operable to facilitate exchanging information relating to configuration, status, and client session statuses of one or more access points through a messaging protocol.

19. An apparatus comprising:

a network device for controlling a flow of data associated with a wireless network, the network device configured to facilitate:

receiving data from a wireless device via one access point of a plurality of access points, wherein the data comprises a client identifier for the wireless device;

mediating authentication of the wireless device;

periodically polling for a status of the wireless device; and

receiving a request from a transferring wireless device through a new first access point of the plurality of access points, wherein the transferring wireless device was previously associated with a second access point of the plurality of access points;

monitoring usage by wireless devices of at least two of the plurality of access points, wherein coverage areas for the at least two of the plurality of access points overlap; and

prompting the at least two of the plurality of access points to change the usage by the wireless devices to allow a load carried by the at least two of the plurality of access points to be approximately balanced,

wherein the network device is configured to facilitate exchanging information relating to configuration of one or more access points through a messaging protocol.