Patent ID: 7606529

Claim:
A method for facilitating wireless communications, the method comprising: providing at least one set-top box that is capable of facilitating bi-directional wireless communications with one or more endpoints, wherein the set-top box includes an up-down frequency converter coupled to a cellular antenna, and a splitter module capable of separating or combining cable signaling from cellular signaling; providing for the communication of a first set of data through a cable out-of-band (OOB) frequency channel in a coaxial communications network to the set-top box, wherein the data can be received by the one or more endpoints; down converting, by the up-down frequency converter, a frequency of cellular signaling included in the first set of data for communication in the OOB frequency channel in the coaxial communication network; providing for the communication of a second set of data from the set-top box through the OOB frequency channel; and up converting, by the up-down frequency converter, a frequency of cellular signaling included in the second set of data communicated in the OOB frequency channel in the coaxial communication network to communicate with at least one of the one or more endpoints over the air using the cellular antenna.