Network configuration device

1. An article of manufacture, comprising:

an interface component configured to couple to a first computer, the first computer being part of a home network having a gateway device to which multiple end user devices are coupled using wireless security settings for the home network; and

a key configured to couple to the first computer and to extract the wireless security settings for the home network in response to the first computer being connected to the home network, wherein the key includes computer-implementable instructions that, when executed by a processor, output network-device-setup instructions to a display device coupled to the first computer in response to the first computer not being connected to the home network, wherein one of the network-device-setup instructions includes a notification that the first computer is not connected to the home network, and wherein the key is configured to be physically coupled to a second computer and to load the wireless security settings for the home network from the first computer into the second computer without communicating with the first computer or the gateway device.

2. The article of claim 1 wherein the interface component is configured to physically couple with the first computer.

3. The article of claim 1 , wherein:

the interface component is configured to couple to an electronic device to enable the electronic device to join the network; and

the computer-implementable instructions, when executed by a processor in the electronic device, perform the step of joining the electronic device to the network using gathered network configuration information from the gateway.

4. The article of claim 1 , further comprising:

gathering network configuration information, wherein gathering the network configuration information comprises writing the information to the memory component in an extensible markup language file.

5. The article of manufacture of claim 1 , further comprising:

communicating an instructing to insert the key into a third device that is connected to the home network if the first computer is not connected to the home network.

6. The article of manufacture of claim 1 , wherein the key is a universal serial bus (USB) key.

7. The article of manufacture of claim 1 , wherein the network-device-setup instructions include instructions to load the wireless security setting for the home network and connect the first computer to the home network using the key if the key includes the wireless security settings for the home network and instructions to obtain the wireless security setting and connect the first computer to home network if the key does not include the wireless security settings for the home network.

8. An article of manufacture, comprising:

an interface component configured to couple to an electronic device that contains wireless security settings for a network having a gateway device to which multiple end user devices are coupled, wherein the electronic device includes wireless security settings for the home network; and

a key having a memory component containing non-transitory computer-implementable instructions that, when executed by a processor in the electronic device, extracts the wireless security settings for the network in response to the electronic device being connected to the home network and outputs network-device-setup instructions to a display device coupled to the electronic device in response to the electronic device not being connected to the home network, wherein one of the network-device-setup instructions includes a notification, and wherein the key is configured to be inserted into a personal computer to load the wireless security settings from the electronic device for the network into the personal computer without communicating with the gateway device or the electronic device.

9. The article of claim 8 wherein the interface component is configured to physically couple with the electronic device.

10. The article of claim 8 wherein:

the interface component is configured to couple to a computer, the computer being part of the network; and

the computer-implementable instructions, when executed by the processor in the computer, perform the step of gathering network configuration information from a gateway device.

11. The article of claim 10 wherein gathering the network configuration information comprises writing the information to the memory component in an extensible markup language file.

12. A system, comprising:

a network component; and

a key, comprising:

an interface component configured to couple to a computer, the computer being part of a network having a gateway device, wherein the computer contains wireless security settings for the network; and

a memory component containing non-transitory computer-implementable instructions that, when executed by a processor in the computer, extracts wireless security settings for the network from the computer in response to the computer being connected to the home network and outputs network-device-setup instructions to a display device coupled to the first computer in response to the computer not being connected to the home network, wherein one of the network-device-setup instructions includes a notification that the first computer is not connected to the home network, and wherein the key is configured to be inserted into a first electronic device to load the wireless security settings from the computer for the network into the first electronic device without communicating with the computer or the gateway device.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein the interface component is configured to physically couple with the computer.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein:

the interface component is configured to couple to a network component; and

the computer-implementable instructions, when executed by the network component, perform the step of joining the network component to the network using the gathered network configuration information.

15. The system of claim 12 wherein the first electronic device comprises a printer.

16. A method comprising the steps of:

connecting a key to a first computer that includes wireless security settings for a network, wherein the network includes a gateway device, the key configured to obtain the wireless security settings for the network from the first computer in response to the first computer being connected to the network and to output network-device-setup instructions to a display device coupled to the first computer in response to the first computer not being connected to the network, wherein one of the network-device-setup instructions includes a notification that the first computer is not connected to the home network; and

connecting the key to a second computer, wherein the key is configured to load the wireless security settings for the network into the second computer without communicating with the first computer or the gateway device.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the second computer, perform the step of joining the second computer to the network using the gathered network configuration information.