Patent ID: 8019878

Claim:
A method of connecting devices on a network comprising: receiving, by an address registration server, a communication from a host device including a public network address of the host device, and a communication from an endpoint device including a public network address and a private network address of the endpoint device; determining, by the address registration server, whether the host device and the endpoint device are connected to a single local area network based on the public network addresses of the host device and a public address of the endpoint device, and whether the host device and the are each executing a compatible application; facilitating a network connection between the endpoint device and the host device over the local area network by providing the private network address of the endpoint device to the host device if it is determined that the endpoint device and the host device are connected to the local area network and each executing a compatible application; and upon receiving the private network address, modifying a security policy of the host device to allow communication between the host device and the endpoint device over the local area network.