Method and system for selecting VPN connections in response to wireless network identifiers

1. A wireless local area network (WLAN) access point comprising:

a wireless communication interface for wirelessly communicating with terminals over an air interface;

at least one network interface for coupling with at least one communications network;

virtual private network (VPN) client logic applicable by the access point to have a plurality of VPN tunnels over the at least one communication network; and

tunnel-selection logic applicable by the access point to detect a service set identifier (SSID) that the access point receives from a given terminal via the wireless communication interface and, based on the SSID, to then select a corresponding one of the plurality of VPN tunnels,

wherein the SSID is used to associate the given terminal with the access point for wireless communication between the given terminal and the access point, and

wherein the access point sends at least one communication from the given terminal via the selected VPN tunnel.

2. The access point of claim 1 , further comprising:

data storage,

wherein, in advance of the access point receiving the SSID from the given terminal, the data storage holds VPN security settings for establishing the plurality of VPN tunnels, and

wherein the VPN client logic uses the VPN security settings to establish the plurality of VPN tunnels.

3. The access point of claim 2 , wherein the VPN security settings include, for each VPN tunnel of the plurality of VPN tunnels, a network address of a respective remote VPN endpoint and a digital certificate for sending to the respective remote VPN endpoint.

4. The access point of claim 1 , wherein the access point receives the SSID in an access request from the given terminal, and wherein the at least one communication comprises a given communication that the access point receives after the access request.

5. The access point of claim 1 , wherein the access point sends the at least one communication from the given terminal via the selected VPN tunnel to a VPN terminator.

6. The access point of claim 1 , further comprising a processor, wherein the tunnel-selection logic comprises machine language instructions executable by the processor.

7. The access point of claim 6 , further comprising data storage, wherein the machine language instructions are stored in the data storage.

8. The access point of claim 1 , wherein the access point communicates with the given terminal over the air interface according to a WLAN protocol.

9. The access point of claim 8 , wherein the WLAN protocol is a protocol selected from the group consisting of 802.11, an 802.11-variant, Bluetooth, and HomeRF.

10. The access point of claim 1 , wherein the at least one network interface comprises an interface selected from the group consisting of (i) an Ethernet network interface, (ii) a cable modem and coaxial cable port and (iii) a DSL modem and RJ-11 port.

11. The access point of claim 1 , wherein

the tunnel-selection logic is applicable by the access point to detect a first SSID that the access point receives from a first terminal via the wireless communication interface and to responsively select a first VPN tunnel corresponding with the first SSID, and

the tunnel-selection logic is applicable by the access point to detect a second SSID that the access point receives from a second terminal via the wireless communication interface and to responsively select a second VPN tunnel corresponding with the second SSID,

wherein the first SSID is different than the second SSID, and the first VPN tunnel is different than the second VPN tunnel.

12. The access point of claim 11 , further comprising:

data storage,

wherein, in advance of the access point receiving the first SSID from the first terminal and the second SSID from the second terminal, the data storage holds first VPN security settings for establishing the first VPN tunnel and second VPN security settings for establishing the second VPN tunnel,

wherein the VPN client logic uses the first VPN security settings to establish the first VPN tunnel, and the VPN client logic uses the second VPN security settings to establish the second VPN tunnel.

13. An access point comprising:

a processor;

a wireless communication interface for wirelessly communicating with terminals over an air interface;

a network interface for coupling with a communications network;

virtual private network (VPN) client logic executable by the processor to have a plurality of VPN tunnels over the communications network, each VPN tunnel extending from the access point to a respective remotely located VPN terminator;

connection logic executable by the processor (i) to detect a first service set identifier (SSID) received from a first terminal over the air interface and, based on the first SSID, to select a first one of the VPN tunnels over which to send a first communication from the first terminal and (ii) to detect a second SSID received from a second terminal over the air interface and, based on the second SSID, to second a second one of the VPN tunnels over which to send a second communication from the second terminal,

wherein the first SSID is different than the second SSID, and the first VPN tunnel is different than the second VPN tunnel, and

wherein the first SSID is used to associate the first terminal with the access point for wireless communication between the first terminal and the access point, and the second SSID is used to associate the second terminal with the access point for wireless communication between the second terminal and the access point.

14. The access point of claim 13 , wherein the access point communicates with the first and second terminals over the air interface protocol according to a wireless local area network (WLAN) protocol.

15. The access point of claim 14 , wherein the WLAN protocol is a protocol selected from the group consisting of 802.11, an 802.11-variant, Bluetooth, and HomeRF.

16. The access point of claim 13 ,

wherein the connection logic is executable by the processor to detect the first SSID in a first access request from the first terminal and to detect the second service SSID in a second access request from the second terminal,

wherein the access point receives the first communication from the first terminal after receiving the first access request from the first terminal, and the access point receives the second communication from the second terminal after receiving the second access request from the second terminal.

17. A method comprising:

an access point storing virtual private network (VPN) logic for having a plurality of VPN tunnels over at least one communication network;

the access point receiving a first service set identifier (SSID) from a first terminal via an air interface between the wireless access point and the first terminal, wherein the first SSID is used to associate the first terminal with the access point for wireless communication between the first terminal and the access point;

the access point responsively selecting from the plurality of VPN tunnels a first VPN tunnel corresponding with the first received SSID, and the access point sending over the selected first VPN tunnel at least one communication that the access point receives from the first terminal via the air interface;

the access point receiving a second SSID from a second terminal via an air interface between the wireless access point and the second terminal, wherein the second SSID is used to associate the second terminal with the access point for wireless communication between the second terminal and the access point;

the access point responsively selecting from the plurality of VPN tunnels a second VPN tunnel corresponding with the second received SSID, and the access point sending over the selected second VPN tunnel at least one communication that the access point receives from the second terminal via the air interface,

wherein the first SSID is different than the second SSID, and the first VPN tunnel is different than the second VPN tunnel.