Patent ID: 8234358

Claim:
A computer-implemented method at a network interface device, the method comprising: establishing a communication link to a server device connected to a public network, the communication link established via a communication port at the network interface device, and the communication link being identified by a connection identifier that includes a communication port identifier of the communication port and a public network address corresponding to the network interface device; receiving a communication for a first device that is initiated from a second device connected to the public network, the communication routed via the public network from the second device to the network interface device bypassing the server device and received at the communication port of the network interface device, the second device having previously requested the connection identifier of the communication link from the server device, received the connection identifier that includes the communication port identifier and the public network address from the server device, and initiated the communication for the first device directed to the communication port at the network interface device according to the connection identifier; and determining that the communication port correlates to a private address of the first device to route the communication that is received from the second device to the first device that is connected to the network interface device via a private network.