It is important that QoS is maintained, not just before and after a handover, but also during the handover, and this can be achieved by using MIH to plan ahead. Before a handover is required, the MIHFs communicate to identify which access points using which wireless technologies are within range and what QoS is available from them. MIH can also be used to pre-authenticate the mobile device with alternative potential access points and to reserve capacity prior to handover. For instance WiMAX allows resources to be reserved for a session before they are actually allocated to that session. When a handover becomes necessary, much of the ground-work is therefore already in place and the session can be handed over with minimal delay and packet loss. Incoming packets to the mobile device that are delivered to the old access point after the handover can be forwarded via the new access point, thus further reducing packet loss.