Wireless access point resource availability, notification, and network management

1. A method comprising:

receiving input from a user operating a first mobile communication device, the user operating the first mobile communication device to access a remote network;

retrieving a notification indicating a respective magnitude of available wireless bandwidth associated with each of multiple wireless access points, the notification including user satisfaction information indicating a degree to which users of mobile communication devices other than the first mobile communication device are satisfied with wireless bandwidth provided by the multiple wireless access points to access the remote network; and

establishing a wireless communication link between the first mobile communication device and a wireless access point selected from the notification to access the remote network.

2. The method as in claim 1 ,

wherein a corresponding magnitude of available bandwidth associated with the selected wireless access point is based on feedback from a set of mobile communication devices other than the first mobile communication device.

3. The method as in claim 1 , wherein the notification indicates availability of bandwidth associated with a first wireless access point based on: i) first feedback received from a first communication device in communication with the first wireless access point, the first feedback indicating wireless link quality of the first communication device communicating with the first wireless access point, and ii) second feedback received from a second communication device in communication with the first wireless access point, the second feedback indicating wireless link quality of the second communication device communicating with the first wireless access point; and

wherein the first wireless access point is the selected wireless access point.

4. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:

subsequent to establishing the wireless communication link, transmitting a request for content over the wireless communication link through the selected access point to the remote network; and

in response to transmitting the request for content, receiving the content as specified by the request over the wireless communication link from the selected wireless access point.

5. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:

at the first mobile communication device, receiving input from the multiple wireless access points indicating their availability to the first mobile communication device to access the remote network, each of the multiple wireless access points residing within wireless communication range of the first mobile communication device.

6. The method as in claim 5 , wherein retrieving the notification includes transmitting identities of the multiple wireless access points to a connection manager resource, the connection manager resource ranking the multiple wireless access points for use by the first mobile communication device based on expected bandwidth availability.

7. The method as in claim 1 , wherein a connection manager resource ranks the multiple wireless access points based on performance information indicating a degree of congestion associated with conveyance of communications between the mobile communication devices accessing the remote network through the multiple wireless access points.

8. The method as in claim 1 , wherein a connection manager resource ranks the multiple wireless access points based on performance information indicating a degree to which users of the mobile communication devices other than the first mobile communication device are satisfied with wireless bandwidth provided by the multiple wireless access points to access the remote network.

9. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:

initiating display of the notification on a display screen of the first mobile communication device operated by the user, the displayed notification indicating each of the multiple wireless access points based on wireless bandwidth each of the multiple wireless access points has available to provide the user access to the remote network.

10. The method as in claim 9 , wherein the available wireless bandwidth for each of the multiple wireless access points is based on performance information received from users of the multiple communication devices, the performance information indicating an ability of the multiple wireless access points to provide a prospective new user operating a client device access to the remote network through the wireless access point.

11. The method as in claim 1 , wherein the user satisfaction information is generated by the users of the mobile communication devices other than the first mobile communication device.

12. The method as in claim 1 , wherein the notification indicates: i) an identity of a first wireless access point of the multiple wireless access points, and ii) an identity of a second wireless access point of the multiple wireless access points; and

wherein the user satisfaction information indicates: i) a first user-generated level of quality metric indicating user satisfaction of wireless communications supported by the first wireless access point, ii) a second user-generated level of quality metric indicating user satisfaction of wireless communications supported by the second wireless access point.

13. The method as in claim 12 , wherein the notification indicates: i) a first bandwidth metric indicating bandwidth available from the first wireless access point, and ii) a second bandwidth metric indicating bandwidth available from the second wireless access point.

14. The method as in claim 12 , wherein the notification further indicates a respective service provider identity associated with each of the multiple wireless access points.

15. The method as in claim 1 , wherein the notification includes a ranking of the multiple access points based on feedback provided by respective users of the mobile communication devices.

16. The method as in claim 1 , wherein the feedback is performance information generated by respective users as input to the multiple communication devices.

17. The method as in claim 1 , wherein the notification is based on feedback of respective users operating the mobile communication devices, the feedback indicating, from users' perspectives, an amount of bandwidth provided to the users.

18. The method as in claim 1 , wherein the notification indicates an anticipated amount of wireless bandwidth to be provided to the first mobile communication device.

19. A system comprising:

a first mobile communication device operable to:

receive input from a user operating the first mobile communication device, the user operating the first mobile communication device to access a remote network;

retrieve a notification indicating a respective magnitude of available wireless bandwidth associated with each of multiple wireless access points, the notification further including user satisfaction information indicating a degree to which users of other mobile communication devices are satisfied with wireless bandwidth provided by the multiple wireless access points to access the remote network; and

establish a wireless communication link between the first mobile communication device and a wireless access point selected from the notification to access the remote network.

20. The system as in claim 19 ,

wherein a corresponding magnitude of available bandwidth associated with the selected wireless access point is based on performance feedback from a set of mobile communication devices other than the first mobile communication device.

21. The method as in claim 19 , wherein the notification indicates availability of bandwidth associated with a first wireless access point based on: i) first feedback received from a second communication device in communication with the first wireless access point, the first feedback indicating wireless link quality of the second communication device communicating with the first wireless access point, and ii) second feedback received from a third communication device in communication with the first wireless access point, the second feedback indicating wireless link quality of the third communication device communicating with the first wireless access point; and

wherein the first wireless access point is the selected wireless access point.

22. The system as in claim 19 further comprising:

subsequent to establishing the wireless communication link, transmitting a request for content over the wireless communication link from the first mobile communication device through the selected access point to the remote network; and

in response to transmitting the request for content, at the first mobile communication device, receiving the content as specified by the request over the wireless communication link from the selected wireless access point.

23. The system as in claim 19 further comprising:

at the mobile communication device, receiving input from the multiple wireless access points indicating their availability to the mobile communication device to access the remote network, each of the multiple wireless access points residing within wireless communication range of the mobile communication device.

24. The system as in claim 23 , wherein retrieving the notification includes transmitting identities of the multiple wireless access points to a connection manager resource, the connection manager resource ranking the multiple wireless access points for use by the mobile communication device based on expected bandwidth availability.

25. The system as in claim 19 further comprising:

a connection manager resource operable to rank the multiple wireless access points based on performance information indicating a degree of congestion associated with conveyance of communications between other communication devices accessing the remote network through the multiple wireless access points.

26. The system as in claim 19 further comprising:

a connection manager operable to rank the multiple wireless access points based on performance information indicating a degree to which users of other mobile communication devices are satisfied with wireless bandwidth provided by the multiple wireless access points to access the remote network.

27. The system as in claim 19 , wherein the mobile communication device is further operable to:

display the notification on a display screen of the communication device operated by the user, the displayed notification indicating identities of each of the multiple wireless access points and an amount of corresponding wireless bandwidth each of the multiple wireless access points has available to provide the user access to the remote network.

28. The system as in claim 27 , wherein the available wireless bandwidth for each of the multiple wireless access points is based on performance information received from users of the multiple communication devices indicating an ability of the multiple wireless access points to provide a prospective new user operating a client device access to the remote network through the wireless access point.

29. Computer-readable storage hardware having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when carried out by computer processor hardware, cause the computer processor hardware to:

receive input from a user operating a first mobile communication device, the user operating the first mobile communication device to access a remote network;

retrieve a notification indicating a respective magnitude of available wireless bandwidth associated with each of multiple wireless access points, the notification including user satisfaction information indicating a degree to which users of mobile communication devices other than the first mobile communication device are satisfied with wireless bandwidth provided by the multiple wireless access points to access the remote network; and

establish a wireless communication link between the first mobile communication device and a wireless access point selected from the notification to access the remote network.