A system and method supporting access to multimedia information based upon
user-defined quality of service criteria is disclosed. A broadband access
gateway may coordinate network behavior during the transition of an
access device among communication pathways having different available
capacities. Adjustments in bit rates and levels of compression may be
made based upon the user-defined quality of service criteria. The user
may be notified when network conditions disallow support for the desired
quality of service, and may choose to override selected criteria. The
user-defined quality of service criteria may be stored within the gateway
and associated with a user, or may be located in the access device and
accessible to the gateway.