An access point to be installed in a wireless network is automatically
discovered and associated with an authentication center adapted to
provide remote authentication services for the wireless network. This may
be accomplished by executing an address resolution protocol scan of nodes
on the wireless network and identifying from the scan results the access
point to be installed. Configuration information regarding the access
point is then transmitted to the authentication center and the access
point is configured to use the authentication center for 802.1x
authentication services for the wireless network.