Hewlett-packard Development Company, L.P.

Brett Williams

Duane Edward Mentze

Nathan Harmon

John R Reilly

Richard Kunze

Wireless network access methods, communication device configuration methods, configuration devices, communications systems, and articles of manufacture are described. According to one aspect, a wireless network access method includes providing a communications device, providing a wireless network including access to a service, storing wireless network access data and service access data using a configuration device, communicating the wireless network access data and the service access data to the communications device using the configuration device, communicating the wireless network access data to the wireless network using the communications device to establish the communications device as a node on the wireless network, communicating the service access data to the wireless network using the communications device, and accessing the service using the communications device responsive to the communicating the service access data.

Wireless communications systems and wireless communications methods

Wireless network monitoring methods, configuration devices, communications systems, and articles of manufacture are described. According to one aspect, a wireless network monitoring method includes providing a communications device, providing a wireless network, storing wireless network access data using a configuration device, communicating the wireless network access data to the communications device using the configuration device, communicating the wireless network access data to the wireless network using the communications device to provide access of the communications device to the wireless network, and monitoring the access of the communications device to the wireless network.

Wireless network monitoring methods, configuration devices, communications systems, and articles of manufacture

In an embodiment of the invention, a method for providing a visitor safe wireless printer access point, includes: connecting a wireless computing device to a wireless network, where the wireless network provides an access point to a print spooling device; determining available printers in a secure wired network; selecting one of the available printers for printing; establishing a print path through the spooling device to the selected printer; sending a print job via the wireless network to the spooling device; spooling the print job on the spooling device; and sending the print job via the secure wired network to the selected printer.

Visitor safe wireless printer access point

In one embodiment of the invention, a method for printer driver initialization for a non-Microsoft Windows system, includes: copying a selected printer driver from a remote system to a local system, and installing the printer driver on the local system; initializing the printer driver on the local system and generating initialization information for the initialized printer driver; cloning the initialization information, and storing the cloned initialization information on the remote system; and binding the cloned initialization information to the selected printer driver. The remote system may be a non-Microsoft Windows system. The local system may be a Microsoft Windows system.

Printer driver initialization

Wireless network communications methods, communications device operational methods, wireless networks, configuration devices, communications systems, and articles of manufacture are described. According to one aspect, a wireless network communications method includes providing wireless network access data and network security data using a configuration device, wherein the wireless network access data corresponds to a respective wireless network, communicating the wireless network access data and the network security data to a communications device using the configuration device, providing access of the communications device to a first portion of the wireless network using the wireless network access data, communicating the network security data to the wireless network using the communications device, and providing access of the communications device to a second portion of the wireless network using the network security data.

Wireless network communications methods, communications device operational methods, wireless networks, configuration devices, communications systems, and articles of manufacture

In an embodiment of the invention, a method of distributing software, includes: browsing, by a hardware device, into a peripheral device that is connected to the hardware device via a medium that can be used to communicate with the hardware device by using a conventional protocol (e.g., HTTP over an Ethernet network); being redirected from the peripheral device to a backend system; providing peripheral device configuration information and hardware device install information to the backend system; and based upon the peripheral device configuration information and hardware device install information, distributing, from the backend system to the hardware device, hardware device installation and configuration software.

Distribution of hardware device installation and configuration software

A method for locating and installing peripheral drivers has steps of creating a driver profile, creating a resources profile, and of looking to potential driver sources on a prioritized list for drivers that match the driver profile. The driver profile may comprise information such as the peripheral model number, the operating system version number, and the operating system language determined through automated queries. The resources profile generally describes the resources available to the operating system in terms of access to the potential driver sources on the list, and may be used to eliminate sources from the list that are not accessible. The remaining sources on the list are checked in descending priority order until a driver matching the driver profile is found. Once a matching driver is found, it is installed on the operating system.

Peripheral driver installation method and system

A method and system for updating routes in a route table on a personal computer operatively connected to at least one peripheral device. The method includes the steps of determining whether a first Device Internet Protocol address in a maintenance list is communicating with the client computer, creating a NIC IP list for all Network Interface Card Internet Protocol addresses bound to a Device Internet Protocol address on the client computer when the first Device Internet Protocol address is not communicating with the client computer, and adding a route table entry including the first Device Internet Protocol Address and an Network Interface Card Internet Protocol address from the NIC IP list to the route table.

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Roseville, CA, United States of America

Brett Williams