Patent ID: 8411587

Claim:
A system for configuring a network comprising: a network access point operable to broadcast a message to signal the presence of the network access point; and an information handling system communicatively coupled to the network access point via a wireless transmission and including a computer-readable medium having stored thereon identifying information associated with one or more network devices communicatively coupled to the network access point, the identifying information being stored in the computer-readable medium prior to delivery to a user, and the information handling system operable to: listen for the message to signal the presence of the network access point; and in response to detecting the message to signal the presence of the network access point, initiating a secure communication channel with the network access point; wherein the network access point encrypts a challenge message based on identifying information associated with the network access point and communicates the encrypted challenge message to the information handling system via the secure communication channel; wherein the information handling system receives the encrypted challenge message from the network access point, decrypts the encrypted challenge message based on the identifying information stored on the computer-readable medium, and communicates the decrypted challenge message to the network access point; wherein at least one of the network access point and the information handling system determines whether the information handling system is associated with the network access point; and wherein the network access point and the information handling system cooperate to automatically configure, via the wireless transmission, network parameters for communication among the network access point, network devices and the information handling system in response to a determination that the identifying information stored on the information handling system is associated with the network access point.