Abstract: An adaptive standby access point in a local area communication network includes an interface operable to communicate with other access points, at least one radio operable to communicate with user devices utilizing at least one antenna, and a processor operable to receive a message over the interface from one of the other access points that is experiencing traffic overload. The message indicating to the standby access point that the one other access point requires traffic demand assistance, whereupon the processor will activate and direct the radio to send out beacons to solicit user devices within the coverage area of the overloaded access point to instead association with the standby access point.

Abstract: A technique for self-testing of services in an access point of a communication network includes providing a table that has a mapping between a service test, packets to be sent for testing, and packets that should be received in response to the testing, emulating and marking the test packets to be sent, placing the marked test packets in an Rx queue, processing the test packets normally by the access point to provide response packets and marking these response packets, delivering the marked response packets to a Rx queue, retrieving the marked response packets from the Rx queue, and comparing the service test response packets to the list of packets that should have been received in the response to the testing in order to validate that service on the access point.

Abstract: A technique for mitigating excessive operations attacks in a wireless communication network includes receiving message requests from stations, detecting an excessive operation attack, checking if a received request is a first request or a retry request, and ignoring any first requests. The method can also include saving information about the first request, and wherein if checking reveals that the received request is a retry request, the method further confirms that the retry request and the saved information about the first request meet matching conditions, whereupon the retry request is further processed as normal. Since attacks rarely utilize retry requests, this technique effectively ignores attack messages.

Abstract: A method and device enables detecting a spoofing attack in a wireless communication network (100). The method includes receiving at the primary access point (105) a beacon signal transmitted from an alternative access point (115), where the beacon signal includes an alternative access point identification. The primary access point (105) then compares the alternative access point identification with an actual identification of the primary access point (105). It is then determined at the primary access point that the alternative access point (115) is conducting a spoofing attack if the alternative access point identification matches the actual identification of the primary access point (105).