Patent ID: 8627420

Claim:
An apparatus, comprising: a memory including, identification information for identifying a client device when connecting the client device to a wireless network, wherein the apparatus is physically separate from the client device, and an authorization credential associated with the client device, wherein the identification information and the authorization credential are globally unique to the client device on the wireless network; and a controller coupled to the memory and configured to: receive the identification information from the client device; and automatically provide the identification information and the authorization credential to a host device of the wireless network upon becoming communicatively connected with the host device, wherein the host device is configured to: automatically associate the client device with the wireless network using the identification information and the authorization credential, and automatically disassociate the client device with the wireless network when the apparatus is detected to be no longer in close proximity to or physically connected to the host device, wherein the apparatus is one of a near-field radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, a universal serial bus (USB) drive manufactured with write-protected encrypted bits, an optical disk with manufactured keys, or a secure digital (SD) memory card with digital rights management (DRM) features.