Patent ID: 8504819

Claim:
A wireless LAN relay device comprising: a wired communications interface; a wireless communications interface; a preset-values storage section storing at least one predetermined encryption key and one predetermined encryption method, for encrypted-packet based communications by the relay device; an encryption-settings storage section storing at least one current encryption key and one current encryption method, for the encrypted-packet based communications by the relay device; and a central processing unit (CPU) configured to function as a communications section for carrying out wired communications with an external communications device via said wired communications interface, and for network-connecting, and carrying out packet-based wireless communications with, wireless-communications enabled external devices via said wireless communications interface, the communications section being configured to operate in an initialized state of the relay device in which the communications section carries out unencrypted-packet based communications with wireless-communications enabled external devices, and to operate in an packet-encrypting state of the relay device in which the communications section carries out encrypted-packet based communications with wireless-communications enabled external devices; and a control section, responsive to an external communications device connected to the relay device via said wired communications interface, for transmitting to the external communications device, upon reception of a security-status request from the external communications device, the at least one current encryption key and at least one current encryption method and the at least one predetermined encryption key and one predetermined encryption method, and upon reception of an updating instruction from the external communications device, for overwriting the at least one current encryption key and at least one current encryption method stored in the encryption-settings storage section either with the at least one predetermined encryption key and one predetermined encryption method stored in the preset-values storage section, in case the relay device is in the initialized state, or an external-communications-device provided updated encryption key and an external-communications-devise provided updated encryption method, in case the relay device is in the packet-encrypting state.