Method and apparatus for providing conditional access based on channel characteristics

A system comprising:

• one or more circuits for use in a first network device of a network, said one or more circuits being operable to:
• discover one or more values of one or more parameters corresponding to a plurality of links and/or a plurality of devices of said network;
• and
• compare said discovered one or more values of said one or more parameters to an expected one or more values of said one or more parameters;
• and
• determine whether to transmit data onto a network path between said first network device and one of said plurality of devices based on a result of said comparison, wherein at least one of said plurality of links and/or plurality of devices are not part of said network path, wherein said first network device is an Internet Protocol low noise block downconverter (IPLNB) that is collocated with a satellite dish.

A system comprising:

• a network coordinator of a multimedia over coax alliance (MoCA) network, said network coordinator being coupled to a plurality of network devices, and said network coordinator being operable to:
• upon one of said plurality of network devices requesting access to said MoCA network, discover one or more values of one or more parameters of said MoCA network;
• generate a network fingerprint utilizing said discovered one or more values of said one or more parameters;
• compare said generated network fingerprint to a known-valid network fingerprint for said MoCA network;
• accept said request if said generated network fingerprint matches said known-valid network fingerprint;
• and
• deny said request if said generated network fingerprint does not match said known-valid network fingerprint, wherein said one or more parameters comprise a plurality of modulation profiles utilized by one or more of said plurality of devices.