The elements of network system 10 may support any one or more of a variety of protocols, such as Internet Protocol (IP), Frame Relay, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), Ethernet, Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP), Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE), GPRS tunneling protocol (GTP), Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP), and virtual local area network (VLAN)-related protocols, among others. Using any one or more of these protocols, any of subscriber devices 18 may present authentication credentials to edge routers 30-32 to request access to a service provider network 20 service. For example, subscriber device 18A may broadcast credentials, such as a username and password, to edge router 30 to request access to a service provided by service provider network 20. Subscriber devices 18 may broadcast credentials using, for instance, a PPPoE Active Discovery Initiation (PADI) packet to edge routers 30-32.