Patent ID: 8295215

Claim:
A universal femto cell comprising: a radio transceiver for communicating with a wireless communication device; a user configurable component in communication with the radio transceiver and configured to enable a user to configure the universal femto cell to operate on any one of a plurality of wireless carrier communication networks; a storage unit for storing information used in configuring the universal femto cell; a network communication component for connecting the universal femto cell to a network; and a user interface component in communication with the storage unit and configured to receive a first input from the user, wherein one of the radio transceiver and the network communication component automatically receives a carrier configuration list that includes information about a set of wireless carriers from a network server in response to the universal femto cellular connecting to the network, and wherein the first input and the carrier configuration list are used by the user configurable component to configure the universal femto cell to operate on a user selected wireless communication network, wherein the user interface component is further configured to receive a second user input that includes user account information associated with the user selected wireless carrier; wherein the carrier configuration list includes: a carrier configuration information of the user selected wireless carrier selected from the set of wireless carriers, the carrier configuration information including first instructions to configure the universal femto cell to operate on a wireless communication network operated by the user selected wireless carrier; wherein the carrier configuration information is provided responsive to a request for carrier configuration information, wherein the request includes authenticating information sufficient to authenticate one or more of the user and the universal femto cell, and the wireless carrier accepts the authenticating information.