Patent ID: 8898474

Claim:
A method of operating a device configured as an access point, the access point being provisioned with a plurality of pre-shared keys, and the method comprising: receiving a request for a connection to the access point from at least one client device, the request comprising a portion generated with a key; determining whether the portion comprises information that matches information generated with a key from the plurality of pre-shared keys provisioned to the access point, wherein the plurality of pre-shared keys comprises a plurality of pre-shared keys having different complexities, and wherein a complexity of at least one key from the plurality of pre-shared keys having different complexities depends on a lifetime of the at least one key; when it is determined that the information of the portion matches the information generated with the key from the plurality of pre-shared keys, allowing the connection; and when it is determined that the information of the portion does not match the information generated with the key from the plurality of pre-shared keys, disallowing the connection.