Centralized access point provisioning system and methods of operation thereof

Abstract

A computer-implemented method of centrally provisioning access points is disclosed. The method comprises detecting, using a first access point (AP), a hardware address of a client device; transmitting the hardware address of the client device to one or more servers; matching the hardware address of the client device with a previously stored hardware address from a database; and retrieving a network identifier and a network password associated with the hardware address from the database, wherein the network identifier and the network password are associated with a second AP. The method further comprises generating, at the one or more servers, a customized provisioning profile with the network identifier and the network password; transmitting the customized provisioning profile to the first AP; downloading, at the first AP, the customized provisioning profile; and broadcasting a first wireless network at the first AP configured using the customized provisioning profile.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A centralized access point provisioning system, comprising:
 a first access point (AP) comprising a first AP processor, a first AP communication interface, and a first AP storage, wherein the first AP processor is programmed to:
 detect a hardware address of a client device broadcast by the client device, 
 transmit the hardware address of the client device to one or more servers, 
   wherein the one or more servers further comprises one or more server processors, one or more server memory units, and one or more server communication interfaces, and wherein at least one of the server processors is programmed to:
 match the hardware address of the client device with a previously stored hardware address from a database accessible to the one or more servers, 
 retrieve a network identifier and a network password associated with the hardware address from the database, wherein the network identifier and the network password are associated with a second AP, 
 generate a customized provisioning profile, wherein the customized provisioning profile comprises the network identifier and the network password, 
 transmit the customized provisioning profile to the first AP using at least one of the server communication interfaces; and 
   wherein the first AP processor is further programmed to:
 download the customized provisioning profile received from the one or more servers, and 
 broadcast a first wireless network at the first AP configured using the customized provisioning profile, wherein the first wireless network allows the client device to connect to the first wireless network without intervention from a user of the client device. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the server processors is programmed to:
 receive the network identifier, the network password, and the hardware address of the client device from the second AP prior to the client device being in communication with the first AP,
 wherein the network identifier and the network password were previously used to provision a second wireless network at the second AP; 
   store the network identifier, the network password, and the hardware address in the database, and   associate the hardware address with the network identifier and the network password in the database.   
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the server processors is further programmed to:
 retrieve a different network identifier and a different network password associated with the hardware address of the client device;   generate a different customized provisioning profile, wherein the different customized provisioning profile comprises the different network identifier and the different network password;   securely transmit the different customized provisioning profile to the first AP through the server communication interface;   broadcast an additional wireless network at the first AP configured using the different customized provisioning profile; and   periodically enable or disable the broadcast of at least one of the first wireless network and the additional wireless network at the first AP to prevent unauthorized intrusions.   
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the first AP processor is further programmed to disable the broadcast of the first wireless network when the hardware address of the client device is not detected by the first AP after a predetermined time period. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the first AP detects the hardware address of the client device from a probe request broadcast from the client device. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the hardware address is a media access control (MAC) address of the client device. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the network identifier is a service set identifier (SSID). 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the first AP processor is further programmed to transmit a report of a successful connection by the client device to the one or more servers. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first AP and the second AP is a WiFi router. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first AP and the second AP is a WiFi hotspot. 
     
     
         11 . A computer-implemented method of centrally provisioning access points, comprising:
 detecting, using a first access point (AP) processor of a first AP, a hardware address of a client device broadcast by the client device;   transmitting the hardware address of the client device to one or more servers;   matching, using one or more server processors of the one or more servers, the hardware address of the client device with a previously stored hardware address from a database accessible to the one or more servers;   retrieving, using the one or more server processors, a network identifier and a network password associated with the hardware address from the database, wherein the network identifier and the network password are associated with a second AP;   generating, using the one or more server processors, a customized provisioning profile, wherein the customized provisioning profile comprises the network identifier and the network password;   transmitting the customized provisioning profile to the first AP using at least one server communication interface of the one or more servers;   downloading, using the first AP processor, the customized provisioning profile received from the one or more servers; and   broadcasting a first wireless network at the first AP configured using the customized provisioning profile, wherein the first wireless network allows the client device to connect to the first wireless network without intervention from a user of the client device.   
     
     
         12 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11 , wherein the hardware address is a media access control (MAC) address of the client device and the network identifier is a service set identifier (SSID). 
     
     
         13 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 receiving, using the at least one server processor, the network identifier, the network password, and the hardware address of the client device from the second AP prior to the client device being in communication with the first AP,
 wherein the network identifier and the network password were previously used to provision a second wireless network at the second AP; 
   storing the network identifier, the network password, and the hardware address in the database, and   associating the hardware address with the network identifier and the network password in the database.   
     
     
         14 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 retrieving, using the one or more server processors, a different network identifier and a different network password associated with the hardware address of the client device;   generating, using the one or more server processors, a different customized provisioning profile, wherein the different customized provisioning profile comprises the different network identifier and the different network password;   securely transmitting the different customized provisioning profile to the first AP through the server communication interface;   broadcasting, at the first AP, an additional wireless network configured using the different customized provisioning profile; and   periodically enabling or disabling the broadcast of at least one of the first wireless network and the additional wireless network at the first AP to prevent unauthorized intrusions.   
     
     
         15 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11 , further comprising disabling, at the first AP, the broadcast of the first wireless network when the hardware address of the client device is not detected by the first AP after a predetermined time period. 
     
     
         16 . A non-transitory readable medium comprising computer executable instructions stored thereon, wherein the computer executable instructions instruct one or more processors to:
 receive a hardware address of a client device from a first access point (AP);   match the hardware address of the client device with a previously stored hardware address from a database;   retrieve a network identifier and a network password associated with the hardware address from the database, wherein the network identifier and the network password are associated with a second AP;   generate a customized provisioning profile, wherein the customized provisioning profile comprises the network identifier and the network password; and   transmit the customized provisioning profile to the first AP,
 wherein the customized provisioning profile comprises instructions to provision the first AP to broadcast a first wireless network at the first AP, and 
 wherein the first wireless network allows the client device to connect to the first wireless network without intervention from a user of the client device. 
   
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein the hardware address is a media access control (MAC) address of the client device and the network identifier is a service set identifier (SSID). 
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory readable medium of  claim 16 , further comprising computer executable instructions instructing the one or more processors to:
 receive the network identifier, the network password, and the hardware address of the client device from the second AP prior to the client device being in communication with the first AP,
 wherein the network identifier and the network password were previously used to provision a second wireless network at the second AP; 
   store the network identifier, the network password, and the hardware address in the database, and   associate the hardware address with the network identifier and the network password in the database.   
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory readable medium of  claim 16 , further comprising computer executable instructions instructing the one or more processors to:
 retrieve a different network identifier and a different network password associated with the hardware address of the client device;   generate a different customized provisioning profile, wherein the different customized provisioning profile comprises the different network identifier and the different network password;   transmit the different customized provisioning profile to the first AP through the server communication interface, wherein the different customized provisioning profile comprises instructions to broadcast an additional wireless network at the first AP; and   periodically transmit commands to enable or disable the broadcast of at least one of the first wireless network and the additional wireless network at the first AP to prevent unauthorized intrusions.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory readable medium of  claim 16 , further comprising computer executable instructions instructing the one or more processors to transmit commands to the first AP to disable the broadcast of the first wireless network when the hardware address of the client device is not detected by the first AP after a predetermined time period.