Selecting an optimum access point based on location

Operating a mobile device 1 to selectively connect to a wireless network, comprising the steps of: monitoring the location of the mobile device, e.g. using GPS module 50; determining if the location is a known location; if the location is a known location, determining if there are known wireless network access points 4 associated with the location; and if there are known wireless network access points (hot-spots) associated with the location, selecting the best access point on the basis of a predetermined criterion, and enabling a wireless network transceiver to initiate communication with the selected access point. If no access points are available in a known area the wireless network transceiver is disabled to save power and battery life. Access points in the local vicinity are identified using local database 40 or remote database (45, figure 2). A Quality Indicator for each access point may be calculated based on an average Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) and an average Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) for each access point. The access points may include Wi-Fi, WiMax or EvDo.