A system and method of security authentication and key management scheme in a multi-hop wireless network is provided herein with a hop-by-hop security model. The scheme adapts the 802.11r key hierarchy into the meshed AP network. In this approach, a top key holder (R0KH) derives and holds the top Pairwise Master Key (PMK.sub.--0) for each supplicant wireless device after the authentication process. All authenticator AP take the level one key holder (R1KH) role and receive the next level Pairwise Master Key (PMK.sub.--1) from R0KH. The link level data protection key is derived from PMK.sub.--1 via the 802.11i 4-way handshaking.