Patent ID: 7702732

Claim:
A method of configuring a first network device for connection to a communications network subnet having a second network device, the method comprising: determining, with a configuration determination module of the first network device, configuration attributes for operably connecting the first network device to the subnet based on configuration information for the subnet detected by the first network device, wherein at least a portion of the configuration information is detected by passively listening to control traffic and at least a portion of the configuration information is detected by direct communication with another network device; and configuring the first network device, with an auto configuration module of the first network device, according to the configuration attributes so that the first network device is operably connected to the subnet; and wherein the configuration attributes comprise an Internet Protocol (IP) subnet mask determined based upon the configuration information unique to the subnet and derived from passively listening to control traffic detected by the first network device at interfaces between the first network device and the subnet, and at least a one of Spanning Tree Group information, Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) server addresses, Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) timer information, Routing Information Protocol (RIP) broadcast timer information, and Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP) information.