System and method for passive scanning of authorized wireless channels

In a wireless device, a method comprising the steps of:

• passively scanning for a wireless signal transmitted from an access point, wherein the scanning is performed using a default set of frequencies;
• determining if a selected access point is providing a geographical indicator to the wireless device, wherein the geographical indicator informs the wireless device where the access point is geographically located;
• utilizing the geographical indicator to determine if the wireless device is authorized to communicate with wireless signal frequencies in addition to the default set of frequencies;
• re-scanning for a wireless signal transmitted from an access point, wherein the re-scanning is performed using the wireless signal frequencies in addition to the default set of frequencies;
• in response to the re-scanning step, selecting an access point to communicate through to the network backbone;
• and
• the wireless device communicating with the selected access point utilizing any of the default set of frequencies and the wireless signal frequencies in addition to the default set of frequencies;
• wherein the wireless device determines if it is authorized to communicate with the selected access point with wireless signal frequencies in addition to the default set of frequencies by determining if has loaded a certificate indicating such authority.