Network connectivity methods and systems

1. A device comprising:

a plurality of network connectivity interfaces on one or more components in the device, wherein at least two of said network connectivity interfaces use different connectivity technologies;

a processor programmed to perform:

a) a first network connectivity test using a first of said network connectivity interfaces to verify end-to-end connectivity between the device and a first server reachable through a static Internet Protocol (IP) address and on another network;

b) a second network connectivity test using the first said network connectivity interfaces to verify end-to-end connectivity between said device and another server through a static uniform resource locator (URL) on another network;

wherein the network-enabled device is preset with default network connectivity rules and is configured to subsequently update the rules with location-based rules once network access has been established using the default rules;

wherein said network connectivity rules vary by time and determine a network connectivity factor based upon time taken to receive data packets from said first server and said another server.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein the first connectivity test comprises running a command in a protocol in OSI layer three.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein the first connectivity test comprises running a command in a protocol in OSI layer seven.

4. The device of claim 1 further comprising a sample analyzer.

5. The device of claim 1 , wherein at least one of said network connectivity interface and said another network connectivity interface is a non-cellular, wireless data interface while the other is a cellular data interface.

6. The device of claim 1 , wherein the programmable processor is programmed to establish connectivity based on at least one criterion selected from the group consisting of a bandwidth of the another network provider, cost to maintain connectivity to the another network provider, cost to transmit information with the aid of the another network provider, a download rate of the another network provider and an upload rate of the another network provider.

7. The device of claim 6 , wherein the at least one criterion is location-based, time based or bandwidth-based.

8. The device of claim 1 , wherein the programmable processor is programmed to determine whether to maintain connectivity to the additional network provider is based on whether a response was received by the network device from the first server and whether a response was received by the network device from the second server.

9. The device of claim 1 , wherein the static Internet Protocol (IP) address of the first server is pre-loaded on the device and does not need to be downloaded through a network connection.

10. The device of claim 1 , wherein the programmable processor is programmed to have a priority of connection to the static URL, static IP address, or other reliable, stable identifier based on information downloaded to set connection preferences.

11. The device of claim 1 , wherein the programmable processor is programmed wherein not all of the connections are checked simultaneously, but are instead check in groups having at least one or more connections.

12. A device comprising:

a plurality of network connectivity interfaces on one or more components in the device, wherein at least two of said network connectivity interfaces use different connectivity technologies;

a processor programmed to perform:

a) a first network connectivity test using a first of said network connectivity interfaces to verify end-to-end connectivity between the device and a first server reachable through a static Internet Protocol (IP) address and on another network;

b) a second network connectivity test using the first said network connectivity interfaces to verify end-to-end connectivity between said device and another server through a static uniform resource locator (URL) on another network;

wherein the network-enabled device is preset with default network connectivity rules and is configured to subsequently update the rules with location-based rules once network access has been established using the default rules;

wherein said network connectivity rules vary by time and determine a network connectivity factor based upon time taken to receive data packets from said first server and said another server;

wherein each the network connectivity interfaces is on the device.

13. A device comprising:

a plurality of network connectivity interfaces on one or more components in the device, wherein at least two of said network connectivity interfaces use different connectivity technologies;

a processor programmed to perform:

a) a first network connectivity test using a first of said network connectivity interfaces to verify end-to-end connectivity between the device and a first server reachable through a static Internet Protocol (IP) address and on another network;

b) a second network connectivity test using the first said network connectivity interfaces to verify end-to-end connectivity between said device and another server through a static uniform resource locator (URL) on another network;

wherein the network-enabled device is preset with default network connectivity rules and is configured to subsequently update the rules with location-based rules once network access has been established using the default rules;

wherein said network connectivity rules vary by time and determine a network connectivity factor based upon time taken to receive data packets from said first server and said another server;

at least one component that supports a plurality of network interfaces on one component.