Patent ID: 7634802
Filing Date: 2009-12-15
Classification: H04L,H04W

Abstract:
1. A method for authorizing a first device to participate in a secure network, the first device having been newly acquired by a user from a provider facility including at least one of an e-commerce organization, a direct sales company, or a mail order warehouse, wherein at the provider facility, provider network access information for the first device and a user identifier for the user are provided to an authentication database the method comprising the steps of: (a) receiving network access information for a first device including receiving the network access information at a secure router in the secure network, the network access information being encoded in an optically scanable linear or two dimensional barcode, and wherein the network access information comprises one or more of a media access control address, a security mode, or a security key, and wherein receiving network access information for the first device comprises reading the optically scanable linear or two dimensional barcode using a barcode scanner that is integral to the router or that is a detachable peripheral device receivable by the router, such that a user must be in close proximity to the router to use the barcode scanner; (b) based on the received network access information, identifying the first device on the secure network; (c) verifying that the first device matches the network access information by verifying the network access information against the provider network access information at the authentication database; (d) verifying that the first device is associated with the user by verifying the user identifier at the authentication database; and (e) as a result of identifying that the first device matches the network access information, verifying that the first device matches the network access information; and verifying that the first device is associated with the user, allowing the first device to provisionally participate in the secure network for a predetermined amount of time during which a user may arrange non-provisional authorization for the first device to access the secure network.