Schemes for connecting to wireless network

A method performed under control of an end device, the method comprising:

• generating, by the end device, a fake media access control (MAC) address for the end device;
• transmitting, by the end device to an access point, a probe request that includes the fake MAC address;
• receiving, by the end device from the access point, a probe response that includes information regarding the access point;
• determining, by the end device, that the access point is an authenticated access point based, at least in part, on the information in the probe response being indicative that the access point was connected with the end device previous to when the access point received the probe request transmitted by the end device;
• and
• transmitting, by the end device to the access point determined to be the authenticated access point, a connection request that includes an authentic device identifier for the end device.

A method performed by an end device, the method comprising:

• obtaining, by the end device, an authenticated access point list that includes information regarding one or more access points;
• generating, by the end device a media access control (MAC) address for the end device that is distinct from an actual MAC address for a hardware network interface of the end device;
• transmitting, by the end device to at least one access point, a probe request that includes the generated MAC address;
• receiving, by the end device from the at least one access point in response to the probe request, a probe response that includes information regarding the at least one access point;
• determining, by the end device based at least, in part, on the information regarding the at least one access point, that the at least one access point is an authenticated access point,
• wherein determining that the at least one access point is the authenticated access point includes determining that the information regarding the at least one access point is included in the authenticated access point list;
• and
• transmitting, by the end device to the at least one access point after determining that the at least one access point is the authenticated access point, a connection request that includes an authentic device identifier for the end device.

An end device, comprising:

• a hardware network interface associated with an actual media access control (MAC) address;
• a processor coupled to the hardware network interface and operable to generate a MAC address for the end device that is distinct from the actual MAC address;
• a transmitter coupled to the processor and operable to transmit to an access point, a probe request that includes the generated MAC address;
• and
• a receiver coupled to the processor and operable to receive, from the access point, a probe response that includes information regarding the access point,
• wherein the processor is further operable to determine that the access point is an authenticated access point based, at least in part, on the information regarding the access point being indicative that the access point was connected with the end device previous to when the access point received the probe request transmitted from the transmitter, and
• wherein the hardware network interface is operable to connect, in response to determination that the access point is the authenticated access point, the end device to a wireless local area network provided by the access point.