Abstract: A facility is provided for establishing a relatively low-speed path from a user desiring to access the well-known Internet and establishing a high-speed path from the Internet to the user so that the data speed accommodates both the user's requests and a response from an Internet web/host site. Moreover, a user may be mobile, in which case the low-speed path is a conventional wireless path. In most cases, a predetermined spectrum of frequencies, such as one or more television channels, is used as the high-speed path from Internet.

Abstract: A network intermediate system authenticates end systems attached to ports of the intermediate system. An authentication routine is called on a port each time an intermediate system detects any interruption in the physical connection with the port, including reboot of the end system connected to the port. Network data is not fully transmitted or received to any port that has not been authenticated. The invention distributes a user authentication to the point where an end system initially connects to a network, to prevent an authorized reception or transmission of network data that is not prevented under existing network login systems. The invention may be incorporated into an intermediate system, into intermediate system software, or into applications specific integrated circuits designed for use in an intermediate system. The invention may include components that interact specifically with installed components in an end system or elsewhere in a network.