Community-based communication network services

A service infrastructure comprising one or more computing devices, at least one of the computing devices being configured to:

• maintain data on a plurality of communication networks, including, for each communication network of the plurality of communication networks, an identification of the communication network and at least one secret value associated with the communication network, wherein the communication network is accessible by one or more passwords, at least one of the one or more passwords being generated by application of a cryptographic function parameterized with the at least one secret value to the identification of the communication network;
• maintain data on a plurality of client devices;
• distribute information on the identifications of the plurality of communication networks and said at least one secret value to at least one of the plurality of client devices;
• update the at least one secret value associated with a first communication network of the plurality of communication networks;
• generate a new password by applying the cryptographic function parameterized with the updated at least one secret value to the identification of the first communication network;
• and
• send the new password to a provider of the first communication network to enable the provider to set up the first communication network with the new password, thereby enabling access to the first communication network using the new password.

A service infrastructure comprising one or more computing devices, at least one of the computing devices being programmed to perform steps comprising:

• maintaining data on a plurality of communication networks, including, for each communication network of the plurality of communication networks, an identification of the communication network and at least one secret value associated with the communication network, wherein the communication network is accessible by one or more passwords, at least one of the one or more passwords being generated by application of a cryptographic function parameterized with the at least one secret value to the identification of the communication network;
• maintaining data on a plurality of client devices;
• distributing information on the identifications of the plurality of communication networks and said at least one secret value to at least one of the plurality of client devices;
• receiving an identification of a further communication network that is not included in the plurality of communication networks;
• generating a password by applying a cryptographic function parameterized with a further secret value to the identification of the further communication network;
• and
• sending the password to a provider of the further communication network to enable the provider to set up the further communication network with the password, thereby enabling access to the further communication network using the password.

A method for managing access to communication networks, comprising:

• maintaining data on a plurality of communication networks, including, for each communication network of the plurality of communication networks, an identification of the communication network and at least one secret value associated with the communication network, wherein the communication network is accessible by one or more passwords, at least one of the one or more passwords being generated by application of a cryptographic function parameterized with the at least one secret value to the identification of the communication network;
• maintaining data on a plurality of client devices;
• distributing information on the identifications of the plurality of communication networks and said at least one secret value to at least one of the plurality of client devices;
• updating the at least one secret value associated with a first communication network of the plurality of communication networks;
• generating a new password by applying the cryptographic function parameterized with the updated at least one secret value to the identification of the first communication network;
• and
• sending the password to a provider of the first communication network.