A hosted network management solution for communications over a computer network supports data communication across a network in accordance with a network message protocol such that communications are established between a network host and a node device. The and the node device performs a self-configuring operation in which the network host identifies a network owner associated with the hosted network, and maintains a persistent network connection path between the network host and the node device for the exchange of network packet messages. The network host retrieves message data from the network packet messages it receives from the node device and performs network management operations to provide a user management interface to the identified network owner. The hosted network management enables more convenient setup and configuration for the network owner and provides more complete and effective network management tools.
