Authenticator device and method for securely identifying a valid device in an offline wireless environment

A method to authenticate a wireless device in an offline environment, the method comprising:

• connecting an authenticator device to a cloud network;
• receiving an authentication key and a certificate by the authenticator device from the cloud network;
• storing the authentication key and the certificate in an internal memory of the authenticator device;
• establishing a connection by the authenticator device to a mobile device when the authenticator device is not connected to the cloud network, the mobile device including a mobile application that communicates with a remote device;
• and
• authenticating the remote device by the authenticator device via the mobile application utilizing the authentication key.

An authentication system, comprising:

• an authenticator device including memory and a controller wherein the controller receives an authentication key and a certificate from a cloud network via a communications interface, and stores the authentication key and the certificate in the memory,
• a mesh node device configured to participate in a mesh network;
• and
• a mobile device including a mobile application that communicates with the authenticator device and the mesh node wireless remote-device,
• wherein when the authenticator device is not connected to the cloud network:
• the mobile application attempts to communicate with the mesh network to effectuate changes to the mesh node device;
• and
• wherein the authenticator device authenticates the mobile application using the authentication key and the certificate to permit the mobile application to communicate with the mesh network.